8 Thanksgiving pies to choose by filling

A familiar pie can anchor Thanksgiving dessert. If you want two, let the second change the plate: smooth pumpkin next to cranberry fruit, or apple pastry next to chocolate custard.

The eight choices below have different fillings, not eight decorations for the same pie. Each linked creator supplies the complete crust, filling, baking and serving method.

John Kanell combines pumpkin purée, evaporated milk, eggs, brown sugar and warm spices for a custard filling. This is the plain pie, without the optional pastry leaves or sugared cranberries on his page.

If this is the pie everyone expects, let it be the anchor. Add cranberry or apple if a second slice should look and taste clearly different from another orange custard.

John Kanell uses chopped pecans with eggs, corn syrup, butter and vanilla. In the version shown here, a few pecan halves sit loosely on top, without a decorative pattern.

The chopped nuts give the cut slice a different bite from pumpkin or buttermilk custard. It earns its place when the table wants pecans at the center, not just scattered over another dessert.

John Kanell pairs thin apple slices with cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon in a double crust. The version here has a solid pastry lid with simple vents, one of the top treatments his recipe allows.

The pastry hides the apple until the first cut, when the softened fruit layers show. Chocolate chess makes a distinctly different partner if you want a second pie.

Jaclyn uses baked orange sweet potatoes, browned salted butter, evaporated milk, brown sugar and warm spices. Her page includes a butter-crust recipe. The version here has no optional whipped cream or marshmallow topping.

Browned butter is the detail that distinguishes this recipe from the pumpkin choice. If you make one orange custard, treat sweet potato as the swap; fruit or chocolate gives a second pie more contrast.

John Kanell combines chopped and whole cranberries with orange zest, cinnamon, ginger and vanilla. His primary pastry lattice leaves some of the red berry filling in view; the optional streusel is not used here.

If pumpkin or buttermilk is already planned, this adds fruit and a tart note instead of another custard. The berries make that difference clear before anyone cuts a slice.

John Kanell makes the filling with cocoa, eggs, butter and evaporated milk in a pastry crust. His written result is smooth and brownie-like; the version shown here has no added topping.

The plain dark surface makes chocolate the unmistakable choice. Put it beside apple or cranberry when the second pie should change both flavor and filling.

Stacey Little uses cultured buttermilk, butter, eggs, flour, vanilla and nutmeg in a deep pastry shell. This exact recipe leaves out cornmeal, and the version here has no optional berries or whipped cream.

Its pale set surface may look quiet beside a decorated pie, but cultured buttermilk gives it a tangy dairy character. It makes room for a simpler custard when chocolate or pecans already dominate dessert.

John Kanell flavors an egg custard with coconut milk and toasted sweetened shredded coconut. It goes into a baked pastry crust, then gets whipped cream and the optional toasted coconut shown here.

The cream topping makes a very different cut slice from apple or pecan. It is not an entirely no-bake pie: the shell is baked and the custard cooked before the assembled pie chills.