The Best Pies in NYC to Pick Up for Thanksgiving (or, You Know, Tuesday)
In a perfect world, we’d all be Great British Baking Show–level savants when it comes to baking the picture-perfect dessert. In reality, though, we’re busy New Yorkers who barely have time to toast a bagel. Lucky for us, the city is full of gorgeously golden, flaky, filled-to-the-brim pies to get you through Thanksgiving and beyond. Here’s where to find them.
1. Ovenly x Erin McDowell
If you follow PureWow’s food content, you know that our recipe developer, Erin McDowell, has something of a magic touch when it comes to desserts. Now she’s partnering with one of our favorite local bakeries on a few special holiday creations: black-bottom pecan pie and caramel pumpkin pie.
Multiple locations; oven.ly. Order by November 24 for Thanksgiving.
2. Bien Cuit
The beloved Brooklyn bakery just opened a new outpost in Crown Heights, which means another place to pick up one of its creative, expertly baked Thanksgiving creations: miso caramel pumpkin pie with gingersnap streusel and smoked chocolate custard pie with espresso caramel and wood-fired marshmallows.
Multiple locations; biencuit.com
3. Four Winters
Skip the middleman and get the ice cream right in your pie, courtesy of the new LIC outpost of this international treat shop. Along with classic baked pies (apple cranberry, pumpkin and pecan) the selection includes three frozen versions: sweet potato, chocolate cream and baklava.
47-38 Vernon Blvd., Queens; fourwinters.co. Order by November 22 for Thanksgiving.
4. Petee’s Pie Company
This bakeshop, which has locations in the LES and Clinton Hill, serves some of our fave pies year-round, and Thanksgiving means we get to eat twice as much. Choose from options like maple-whiskey walnut, salty-chocolate chess and pear streusel, and embrace the inevitable food coma.
Multiple locations; peteespie.com. Order by November 24 for Thanksgiving.
5. Zaro’s Family Bakery
The fourth-generation, family-owned institution has a well-rounded Thanksgiving roster that includes pecan, pumpkin, apple, apple crumb, berry and coconut custard. We also wouldn’t mind a basket of Zaro’s cornbread on our table.
Multiple locations; zaro.com. Order by 5 p.m. November 26 for Thanksgiving.
6. Palais by Perfect Pie
Opened by former White House pastry chef (!) Bill Yosses, this UES bakeshop will be turning out pies fit for a president, including pumpkin, pecan, apple salted caramel and huckleberry.
134 E. 61st St.; perfectpie.com. Call 917-406-0347 to order; order by November 22 for Thanksgiving.
7. Four & Twenty Blackbirds
If you haven’t tried the Salty Honey pie from this sister-owned Brooklyn bakeshop, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Pick one up from any of its three locations, along with salted-caramel apple, bittersweet chocolate pecan or brown-butter pumpkin.
Multiple locations; birdsblack.com. Order by November 26 for Thanksgiving.
8. Pies ’n’ Thighs
Your Thanksgiving table needs a sour-cherry-and-pear crumble and a banana cream pie. Don’t try to fight it.
166 S. Fourth St., Brooklyn; piesnthighs.com. Order by November 24 for Thanksgiving.
9. Bubby’s
Looking for a pumpkin pie with a little extra? The pumpkin caramel praline at this comfort-food mainstay oughta do the trick. And while it’s not exactly a traditional Thanksgiving dish, the chocolate peanut butter pie is legendary.
Two locations in Manhattan; bubbys.com. Order by November 24 for Thanksgiving.
10. Breads Bakery
Two words: babka pie. Yep, our BFFs at Breads have taken Thanksgiving to 11 with the pie-ified version of their signature offering, along with pumpkin, apple crumb, bourbon pecan and flan pie.
Multiple locations; breadsbakery.com