The $7 Trader Joe’s Dessert I’m Bringing to Thanksgiving

When Thanksgiving rolls around, I’m often on dessert duty, which is no cake walk. Seeking out the perfect holiday pie the whole table will love is not a task I take lightly. I’m the kind of eater whose highest compliment for a dessert is that it’s not too sweet, so I’m always on the hunt for a dessert that will appeal to the pumpkin pie crowd, but also bring a bit of brightness to the dessert spread.

With that particular Venn diagram in mind, it’s hard to beat Trader Joe’s Nantucket-Style Cranberry Pie, which is precisely the bright ray of sunshine a dessert table needs after all those holiday neutrals.

The first thing you should know is that this isn’t a traditional pie. There’s no crust here, but rather a lush, buttery almond-and-vanilla cake that’s studded with walnuts and topped with jammy cranberries. It’s like an upside-down cake meets a cobbler.

The generous amount of cranberries give it the tangy flavor I’m after in a Thanksgiving dessert. It’s the perfect ending to your turkey dinner, and also makes a great candidate for breakfast, topped with a dollop of yogurt.

This dessert is great served as is, or topped with whipped cream, ice cream, or a simple dusting of powdered sugar. But the best part for a busy Thanksgiving cook might be the fact that you don’t have to bake this pie. Although you can warm up the dessert in the oven, you can also flip it onto a serving plate (a la pineapple upside-down cake) and let it defrost at room temperature for one to two hours, leaving the oven free for the turkey and all of those delicious sides.

Find it in stores: Nantucket-Style Cranberry Pie, $6.99 for 16.5 ounces

This post originally ran on Kitchn. See it there: The $7 Trader Joe’s Dessert I’m Bringing to Thanksgiving This Year.