Thanksgiving Dessert Inspiration

I mentioned in passing last week that it’s always my job to decide on the dessert menu and bake up a spread of deliciousness for Thanksgiving dinner at my mother’s house each year. With that in mind, I spent some time this weekend rounding up ideas of things I’d like to bake and clicking through the starred items saved in my Google Reader (an astonishing percentage of which are food-related posts) to narrow down my options. I thought I’d share a few of the ideas that are playing around in my head right now in the event you’re also on the hunt for dessert ideas this week.

At the moment, I’m tentatively planning on one traditional pie paired with a small selection of other treats, and possibly a little mini cake all packaged up in a cute bakery box for each guest to take home. (I may or may not be in over my head, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.) Here are a few of the things that have me inspired to turn this week into a baking marathon…

{Pumpkin Cream Cheese Streusel Muffins from Playing House.}

{Cranberry upside down cake on Kitchenography.}

{Maple Syrup Scones on 101 Cookbooks.}

{Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread on Joy the Baker.}

{Miniature pies for guests to take home with leftovers. Photos from pbody on Flickr.}

{A classic pumpkin pie from Smitten Kitchen.}

{A pretty apple tart. Recipe on Smitten Kitchen, photo by Sarah Cady.}

{Flourless chocolate torte from Food Network.}

I love desserts around the holidays! What are you baking this week?