Sugar is commonly used in many popular Thanksgiving dishes, especially sides and desserts. Classic dishes like sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, candied yams, and various cakes, cookies, and puddings frequently feature sugar as a key ingredient.
Classic Dishes with Sugar
- Sweet potato casserole is made with brown sugar, sweet potatoes, and sometimes topped with marshmallows or pecan streusel.
- Candied sweet potatoes or yams use brown sugar or maple syrup for their signature sweetness.
- Pumpkin pie uses sugar in the spiced pumpkin filling, making it a staple dessert for the holiday.
- Pecan pie and variations, including cakes inspired by the pie, all use sugar (white or brown) in both the filling and the crust.
- Corn pudding blends corn with sugar for a creamy, subtly sweet side dish.
Thanksgiving Desserts
- Traditional apple pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, bread pudding, pound cake, and red velvet cake are sweetened with sugar and are Thanksgiving favorites.
- Cookies, including sugar cookies and brown butter sugar cookies, use sugar in their dough and sometimes for decoration.
- Unique cakes such as spiced pumpkin cake, apple spice cake, and various other Thanksgiving-inspired cakes also use sugar in their batters and frostings.
Sweet Breads and Rolls
- Cornbread, which can be made on the sweeter side, is often included at Thanksgiving and features sugar in the recipe.
- Sweet dinner rolls and honey wheat rolls incorporate sugar or honey for extra flavor.
Sugar enhances the flavor profile and balances savory and spiced ingredients in classic Thanksgiving recipes, making it essential for both side dishes and desserts alike.
