Pumpkin or apple? America's fiercest Thanksgiving dessert debate heats up

'Tis the season for the hottest dinner table debate: apple or pumpkin pie?

While there might not be anything quite as American as apple pie, for a small sliver of the year, the classic dessert gets edged out by a seasonal star featuring the orange gourd.

But at Thanksgiving, the tables briefly turn and pumpkin takes the cake, said Haney, who is the author of the upcoming cookbook, "The Hoosier Mama Book of Breakfast Bakes."

"Pumpkin pie outsells apple at Thanksgiving nearly two-to-one," she said. "For this one little space in time, people want pumpkin."

And recent national surveys find the same. 

The data, which was based on 2024 orders with the online grocery and delivery service, also found that, while apple pie holds strong year-round, pecan, sweet potato and cherry soar at Thanksgiving. It also revealed that the South leans toward sweet potato and pecan, and parts of the Midwest favor chocolaty French silk.

About 90% of the nation's canned pumpkin is grown in Illinois, Haney noted. So for Chicagoans, "there's a little local pride in every slice," she said.

"Most people do not like the texture of pumpkin pie," Smith told Fox News Digital. "But it has to be on the buffet or something just doesn't seem right … it's just not Thanksgiving without it."

But Haney finds that pumpkin has its loyal fans, too.

"People will request a pumpkin pie in July," she said. "Anything with pumpkin sells - we make pumpkin muffins, we make pumpkin bread, we make pumpkin scones, and people just go crazy."

And it's versatile, she said. Hoosier Mama Pie Company whips pumpkin for a chiffon pie, blends it with ginger for a cheesecake, swirls it together with chocolate for a twist on chess pie, and even fuses it with apple for a sour cream Dutch apple pie with walnuts. 

Smith has also seen mashups like pecan-pumpkin pie and caramel apple variations becoming increasingly popular. 

Haney recommends making pie dough a day or two ahead and parbaking the crust to keep it crisp. She advises cooling pumpkin pies slowly to prevent cracking - or disguising cracks with decorative dough cutouts, or repairing them with a knife dipped in hot water once the pie has cooled.

Even a store-bought pie can taste homemade with freshly whipped cream with a touch of vanilla extract and maybe some pumpkin pie spice, she added.

And for Smith, nothing is left out. When asked if his dessert table would consist of pie this year, he said, "Lord, honey, yassss!"

"My dessert lineup always consists of several pies," he said. "Cinnamon bourbon sweet potato pie, bacon pecan pie, triple chocolate mousse pie, creamy cheesecake pumpkin pie … and apple stack cake - an old Southern tradition."