Thanksgiving Recipes
Ok everyone let’s try this again! If you didn’t know, I had been writing this blog post throughout last week because I wanted to get ahead and make sure I could give you guys a great post. The universe had other plans, however. My whole blog post ended up getting deleted and I was devastated. I put so much time and effort into this post and it was all gone into thin air. I cried, as I do when inconveniences occur, and pouted. Then I realized that no matter my attitude, the situation was the situation and nothing was going to change the fact that my work was gone and I would have to go through the process again. So, here I am now. I have decided that this gives me a time to make sure all the recipes are perfect and just the way I want to present them. Things happen… move on.
I know we are in December so don’t worry I will hopefully have tons of fun and festive ideas to write about, but for now, I want to share my Thanksgiving recipes. I cooked for three days straight and had the best time. I love cooking and spending time with my family and the end result feels so much more special because you made many of the dishes on your plate.
Appetizers
Baked brie:
OMG this is a must make for sure. My sister and I threw this together last minute because we had been wanting to make baked brie for years. It always feels like there is so much food at Thanksgiving that you would never want appetizers. Let me tell you this combo of creamy and crunchy, sweet and savory, with a hint of herb totally changes my mind about appetizers before Thanksgiving.
Ingredients:
Brie wheel
Puff pastry
Blackberries, large container
Brown sugar, less than 1/4 cup
2 sprigs rosemary
1 sprig thyme
Honey
Baguette
Olive oil
Salt
Recipe:
Preheat oven to 350 °F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place your puff pastry on the parchment and the brie wheel on top of that. Cut an X on the brie (not too deep). Set this aside.
In a saucepan on high, combine blackberries, herbs, and brown sugar. Stir until desired consistency.
Pour the compote on the brie until the top is fully covered with a pile of compote. Drizzle honey then wrap up the brie with the puff pastry.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes and then continue baking if it needs more time.
While baking, cut your baguette into slices. Drizzle with olive oil and top with salt. In a sauté pan, grill each piece of bread until crispy.
Eat the brie with a baguette and prepare to go to heaven.
Tip: Serve with the compote on the side as well so guests can choose to add more if they would like.
Rating: This was one of my favorite things I ate on Thanksgiving because of the perfect mixture of flavors and textures. I would highly recommend this not just for Thanksgiving or holidays, but for any party. 1000000/10
Cacio e Pepe cheese puffs:
While my family and I were in California celebrating my mom’s birthday this summer, I tried cacio e pepe for the first time. Cacio e pepe is the most amazing pasta you have ever eaten, yet so insanely simple. It means cheese and pepper in Italian and the ingredients are pretty much as simple as that. As soon as I saw the recipe for these cheese puffs I knew I had to make them.
Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup water
4 eggs
1/2 cup Pecorino cheese, plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Extra egg for egg wash
Recipe: adapted from Ina Garten
Tip: Start by putting the salt and pepper into a bowl so you will be ready to add it to your saucepan. Similarly, put the eggs and cheeses into the food processor so when you finish on the stove you will be ready to pulse.
Preheat oven to 425 °F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a saucepan, heat the milk, butter, salt, and pepper until right before it boils.
Add the flour and stir constantly until combined. Then, lower the temperature and continue stirring for 2 minutes.
Add this mixture to a food processor and immediately add in the eggs and cheeses and pulse together.
Put this mixture into a piping bag or a Ziploc bag with the end cut off. Pipe the cheese puffs and add sprinkles of Pecorino on top. Bake for
Rating: I wish I ate these when they were hotter because they definitely would have been better. I still liked them a lot just not as much as the other dishes. 6.5/10
Side dishes
Sweet potato casserole:
I know this is an extremely controversial dish, but it is personally one of my favorites. Who doesn’t like sweet potato with spices and sugar?! I also realized that fresh sweet potatoes make all the difference. Last year I used canned organic sweet potatoes and they didn’t come close to comparing to the fresh ones. Most people serve their sweet potato casserole with either crumble or marshmallows, but why choose? I serve mine with both because go big or go home.
Ingredients:
For the sweet potato:
2 pounds sweet potatoes
Between 1/4 and 1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
For the topping:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 ounces of marshmallows
optional: pecan pralines
Recipe: adapted from Broma Bakery
Preheat oven to 375 °F and grease a casserole dish.
Peel the sweet potatoes and boil until fully cooked. Drain the water and add the ingredients. Mash together, taste/ make adjustments, and then put this mixture in the casserole dish.
In another bowl, combine the topping ingredients (without the pecans). Pour this evenly on the casserole and then add as many marshmallows as humanly possible.
Bake until the marshmallows are brown.
Tip: originally I made a mistake and forgot to add the pecans to the topping, but this ended up working out for the best. Instead of adding pecans within the casserole, I chopped up pecan pralines and added them to my individual slice.
Rating: This and green bean casserole are my two favorite dishes. I love the camping vibes I get from this and how crunchy and yummy the marshmallows on top are. It all comes perfectly together with the spices. 1000000/10
Green bean casserole:
I have never made or eaten a green bean casserole until this year and it was amazing. I couldn’t make the traditional version with cream of mushroom soup because I had to Ellavate it. I’m obsessed with fried onions so this recipe was made for me.
Ingredients:
2 ½ pounds green beans (I used 2 bags)
1 pound cremini mushrooms
2 large shallots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced into half-moons
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt/ pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 quart heavy cream
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon Better Than Bouillon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 ¾ cups shredded or grated Parmesan
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 bags fried onions
Recipe: adapted from New York Times Cooking
Preheat oven to 400°F and grease a casserole dish. prepare 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
Slice your mushrooms, chop your onion, and mince the garlic. Add these and the green beans to the sheet pans. Bake until desired.
While baking, in a saucepan melt the butter and add the flour. Whisk constantly until the roux is golden in color.
Add heavy cream and whisk every so often while it thickens for around 8 minutes. Add the seasonings and 1 1/2 cups of Parmesan. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Once the green beans and mushrooms are done, add them to the dish and pour the roux over them.
In a bowl combine bread crumbs, fried onions (use as much or as little as you want), and the rest of the Parmesan.
Broil for 1-2 minutes or bake until golden.
Rating: Loved loved loved this. It wasn’t too heavy and had just the right amount of flavor. 1000000/10
Cornbread dressing:
Let’s settle the debate… is it dressing or stuffing? I think of dressing and stuffing as two different dishes. Stuffing reminds me of stale bread in a dish with some sort of stock and celery and onions and herbs. On the other hand, when I think of dressing I think of this family recipe made with cornbread. We have made this recipe every single Thanksgiving that we have been in town and it is so special. I’m going to warn you it sounds very odd and the directions are strange, but in the end it turns out fabulous.
Ingredients:
Jiffy cornbread, crumbled
2 cans chicken broth
1 onion
A few pieces of celery
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 stick butter, melted
15 crumbled saltines
1 slice crumbled bread (no crust just the middle)
Recipe:
Bake your cornbread as directed on the package. Then preheat your oven to 350 °F and grease a casserole dish.
Chop and sauté your onion and celery.
Add all of the items to a bowl and mix. Then, add to a casserole dish.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Rating: This dish is always my favorite at Thanksgiving, but this year the other casseroles won my heart. I would still recommend this dish 100% but it gets an 8/10.
Brussels Sprouts:
I wanted a veggie that would be super simple. Simple to eat, simple to make, just overall simple. I didn’t want anything heavy because I knew we had that covered with the other dishes.
Ingredients:
2 bags Brussels sprouts
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Recipe:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and place the Brussels on them.
Add olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast until desired.
Rating: I think it’s impossible to rate this dish in comparison to the other dishes because it’s just Brussels sprouts, but they were yummy. I’ve learned that it isn’t pivotal to get in another green during Thanksgiving. Most people are not going to eat it, and you probably aren’t going to want to.
Salad:
I’m going to be real with you guys I didn’t make this on actual Thanksgiving because there were so many other dishes I didn’t think this would get the attention it deserved. However, I made it a few days later and it was delicious.
Ingredients:
Arugula
Granny smith apple, thinly sliced
Fennel, sliced
Hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
3 tablespoons hazelnut oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Dalmatia fig spread
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 –1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Recipe:
Add arugula, apples, fennel, and hazelnuts to a salad bowl.
Whisk together the other ingredients and drizzle on the salad.
Rating: I used a different fig jam than what I recommended and I think it will be much better this way but still a great combo of flavors 7.5/10.
Dessert:
Vanilla cake with Biscoff buttercream:
The best thing I have/will ever put in my mouth. You know the cookies you get when you go on the plane? Well that is what’s in the buttercream. Biscoff cookies have been the highlight of my flights for a long time now, and I had the brilliant idea of incorporating Biscoff butter into a buttercream. Since I was just going to be making a vanilla cake, it had to be perfect so I scoured the internet and found a moist beautiful cake. You need a food scale for this recipe because everything is measured very precisely, but it is so worth it. At first, I almost strayed from the recipe because the amount of each ingredient scared me, but i’m so glad I followed through.
Ingredients for the cake:
113 g whole milk (to be mixed with the oil)
85 g canola oil
170 g whole milk (to be mixed with the eggs)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I add a splash extra)
3 eggs room temperature
368 g cake flour (yes cake flour, not regular flour. This is what makes the cake light.)
368 g granulated sugar
14 g baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
227 g butter, room temperature
Recipe for the cake: adapted from sugargeekshow.com
Preheat oven to 335 °F. Grease and add parchment paper to three 8" cake pans.
In one bowl place the milk and the oil. In another bowl, place the remaining milk with the eggs. Add vanilla and whisk together.
In a mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Turn the mixer onto the slowest setting and add chunks of butter while mixing. Continue mixing until it looks like sand.
Add the milk and oil mixture and mix on medium for exactly 2 minutes. Then scrape the edges of the bowl.
Add in the milk and egg mixture mixing on low until just combined.
Divide into pans (you can weigh each pan if you want them to be perfectly even).
Bake for 30 minutes and check to see if they are ready.
Ingredients for the buttercream:
1 jar Biscoff butter
2 cups butter, softened
6 cups powdered sugar
A splash of water
A splash of milk
Recipe for the buttercream:
Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until fluffy.
Assemble:
Frost the cake depending on how much frosting you like (I LOVE frosting so I put tons).
Add decorations. I bought mini Biscoff cookies and put them all around the side of the cake.
Rating: One of the best cakes i’ve ever eaten and I’m a tough cake critic. When you take a bite it feels like world peace has been solved. 1000000000000/10
Pecan pie with a brownie crust:
Until this year, I had never had pecan pie and technically I still haven’t had a traditional pecan pie, but i’m pretty sure this recipe is better. My mom always said that packaged brownies were the best brownies, and I have to agree. I feel like no brownie recipe is better than the Ghiradelli boxed brownie so that’s what I used!
Ingredients:
Ghiradelli Supreme Chocolate brownie mix
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup light (or medium) brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups chopped pecans
Recipe:
Preheat oven to whatever it says on your boxed brownie mix. Then grease a pie pan, make your brownies, and pour it into the pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes then let it cool.
In the meantime combine the rest of the ingredients and once the brownie has cooled for around 10 minutes, add this on top. Bake for about 30 more minutes.
Rating: Not too sweet, and I normally don’t like nuts in my dessert but this changed my mind. The chocolatey goodness with the sweet pecan pie filling created a magical dessert. 10/10