Although we do have plenty of pumpkin-y ideas
Photo: Rocky Luten; Food Styling: Makinze Gore
Whenever we arrive at sweater weather, it's clear that there's no better way to warm up than making a bunch of cozy
desserts. After all, isn't that the point of
fall? Okay, so maybe there are other things to look forward to, but for Team Delish, it's all about maximizing all our favorite fall flavors, like
pumpkin,
maple,
apple, and cinnamon. No matter what fall flavor team you're on, these 80 fall dessert recipes will have you more than ready to pre-heat the oven to bake up
pumpkin pies,
honey cake,
maple butter blondies, and
French apple tarts.
We love all the ways people all around the world celebrate fall and the autumn holidays (especially the treats that go with them).
Mooncakes are a popular sweet treat to consume during the mid-autumn festival in Chinese culture to celebrate the harvest season and the fullest moon. They're a perfect project recipe that are as delicious as they are impressive. The same is true of
pan de muerto, a Mexican sweet bread is eaten during the weeks around
Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead).
1. Apple Cider Donuts
Photo: Rocky Luten; Food Styling: Makinze Gore
As soon as we even
think we feel a slight chill in the air, we're craving an apple cider donut. These ones are baked, which yields a soft, dense donut, and brushed in butter and rolled in
cinnamon sugar. One bite, and you'll feel transported to an apple orchard.
2. Carmelitas
Andrew Bui
Layered with a buttery brown sugar oat mixture, a homemade
caramel sauce, and melty chocolate chips, these bars have everything we could ever want. Plus, they’re ready in under an hour, making them the perfect last-minute addition to your holiday party (or even when you’re just craving a sweet treat).
3. Bloomin' Apples
Photo: Rachel Vanni; Food Styling: Brooke Caison
We took inspo from the ever popular
bloomin' onion and made a just-as-fun
fall dessert. Though these finished bloomin' apples look crazy impressive, they're actually quite easy to make. Once you get cutting them down (it's easier than you think—watch the video for help), all you need to do is fill with chewy caramel squares, brush with melted butter, and bake! Top with
vanilla ice cream and a caramel drizzle, and you just might say goodbye to
apple pie.
4. Pumpkin Cake
Photo: Rocky Luten; Food Styling: Makinze Gore
We are Obsessed with this sheet cake. It's easily one of our favorite
pumpkin desserts (and that's saying something!). Not only does it actually tastes like
pumpkin, it's got a perfect
cream cheese frosting that takes it over the top.
5. Cinnamon Bun Popcorn
Photo: Rachel Vanni; Food Styling: Brooke Caison
Forget
caramel corn—cinnamon bun popcorn is the
sweet snack you need. This classic movie snack gets an extra sweet upgrade with the addition of a brown sugar and cinnamon mixture and a simple powdered sugar glaze. We're all about savory popcorn (
taco night popcorn or
sushi popcorn, anyone?), but when we're looking for a sugary sweet treat, this popcorn hits all the right notes.
6. Salted Caramel Apple Crumble Cake
Photo: Rachel Vanni; Food Styling: Adrienne Anderson
Featuring three layers of tender, lightly spiced
apple cidercake sandwiched with apple pie filling, buttery crumble, and
salted caramel, this apple crumble cake recipe will delight and impress anyone who’s lucky enough to snag a piece.
7. Dirty Chai Blondies
Photo: Rocky Luten; Food Styling: Spencer Richards
This
blondie will solve all of your afternoon cravings. The chewy-yet-tender brown sugar base is swirled with chai spice and espresso-spiked caramel, then topped with a black tea glaze to create a decadent and satisfying
snack. Skip the
coffee shop pastry and enjoy this treat throughout the day as an afternoon pick-me-up, after dinner for an
easy dessert, or even as an extra-sweet
breakfast.
8. Homemade Churros
Photo: Ryan Liebe; Food Styling: Adrienne Anderson
Many countries have adopted the churro since its creation and our version is a hybrid of the Mexican version, which is characteristically rolled in
cinnamon sugar, and the Spanish version, which is often served with a chocolate dipping sauce. You could even start your day with a churro theme by making
churro French toast!
9. Cranberry Apple Pie
Photo: Erik Bernstein; Food Styling: Makinze Gore
10. No-Churn Caramel Apple Pie Ice Cream
Photo: Joseph de Leo; Food Styling: Makinze Gore
Dessert leftovers might get overlooked, but you’ll want to save a few slices of your
Thanksgiving pie to make this easy no-churn caramel apple pie
ice cream. Plus, this fresh, rich
ice cream features a simplified alternative to using an ice cream maker, so it's almost too easy to whip up.
11. Cranberry Bread Pudding
Photo: Erik Bernstein; Food Styling: Jason Schreiber
This autumnal take on
bread pudding is the perfect balance of sweet, tangy, and rich. With bright pops of
cranberries, almond- and clove-scented custard, and a sweet icing made with orange zest, it’s impressive enough to serve for dessert (but not to sweet to serve as
breakfast the next day too!).
12. Apple Cider Whoopie Pies
Photo: Rachel Vanni; Food Styling: Lena Abraham
Picture all the delightfulness of an
apple cider donut, stuffed full of cream cheese frosting and drizzled in salted caramel, and you'll have these incredible whoopie pies. Best part? They're pretty straightforward to make!
13. Peanut Butter Pretzel Butterscotch Blondies
Photo: Erik Bernstein; Food Styling: Riley Wofford
Love a salty-sweet dessert? Prepare to meet your new obsession. Studded with pretzels and butterscotch chips, these rich
peanut butter blondies rival any
brownie or
magic bar out there.
14. Bizcochitos
Photo: Lucy Schaeffer Photography; Food Styling: Makinze Gore
These anise and cinnamon scented cookies are the official state cookie of New Mexico! Though these cookies vary a bit in style depending where you are in the state, typically they are made with lard or butter, and cut into flower, star, or moon shapes. The anise seeds are crucial for that delicate floral licorice-y flavor, as is a dusting of cinnamon-sugar for added sweetness.
15. Brown Butter Pumpkin Blondies
Photo: Lucy Schaeffer; Food Styling: Makinze Gore
The rich, nutty taste of
brown butter makes these pumpkin blondies even better and the perfect fall treat. Pumpkin adds a lot of moisture to baked goods, which keeps these blondies soft and tender, but they’re still slightly chewy in the center, the way the
best blondies are.
16. Apple Butter Pie
Photo: Rachel Vanni; Food Styling: Simon Andrews
Want something that couldn’t be easier to put together and to eat? This pie, a cross between a
pumpkin and a
Dutch apple pie, is adorned with an irresistible crunchy crumble. Buy apple butter at most grocery stores or
make your own!
17. Brown Butter Apple Blondies
Photo: Joseph de Leo; Food Styling: Adrienne Anderson
If you’re not already on the
brown butter train, these
blondies will have you on board in two seconds flat. Filled with tender
apples and drizzled with a creamy brown butter frosting, these brown butter blondies are the definition of an irresistible packable treat.
18. Butter Pecan Cheesecake
Photo: Erik Bernstein; Food Styling: Brooke Caison
Toasty, buttery pecans turn a
classic cheesecake into an even more decadent and rich dessert. It’s perfect as is, but top it off with whipped cream and even more pecans to make it the best slice of cheesecake you'll ever try.
19. Sweet Potato Cake
Photo: Rachel Vanni; Food Styling: Adrienne Anderson
What makes this sweet potato cake so completely irresistible? We think it's the frosting. It's got a super fun secret ingredient—marshmallow fluff!
Sweet potato casserole lovers will flip.
20. Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Photo: Rocky Luten; Food Styling: Makinze Gore
Is it a sandwich cookie? Or a handheld little cake? To be honest, we're still unclear. What we do know is that this autumnal spin on the classic American whoopie pie gives us an unreasonable amount of joy once the weather starts to cool down. (Or as soon as September hits.)
21. Apple Crumble Pie
Joel Goldberg
22. Apple Spice Cake
Erik Bernstein
When baking, it’s best to use a robust apple like Pink Lady, Braeburn, or Honeycrisp. It should be sweet, tart, and sturdy—nothing is worse than eating a flavorless mealy apple pie. In the case of this
apple cake, Pink Ladies live up to all of your
baked apple expectations: lightly sweet, tart, crisp, and sturdy.
23. Mini Pumpkin Pies
Photo: Lucy Schaeffer Photography; Food Styling: Brooke Caison
A classic
pumpkin pie is a standard at
Thanksgiving dinner, but what to do when there are more diners than slices? Or what if you're more of a crust-lover than filling? Enter these adorable mini pumpkin pies, which rethink the ratio of crust to filling and do it in a snack-able package.
24. Brownie Bottom Pumpkin Cheesecake
Photo: Andrew Bui; Food Styling: Adrienne Anderson
Let’s face it:
Pumpkin anything is a crowd pleaser in its own right. When combined with two of the most popular
desserts in the history of dessert creation, it turns into a must-make for every fall occasion.
25. Alfajores
Lucy Schaeffer
Alfajores are a soft and tender shortbread cookie with dulce de leche sandwiched between. Though the cookie originated in the
Middle East, the
Spanish took the cookies to South America, and now they are especially popular in Argentina. The cookies can be dusted in confectioners' sugar, or our favorite, coconut flakes.
26. Sweet Potato Pudding
Photo: Erik Bernstein; Food Styling: Taylor Ann Spencer
This silky smooth sweet potato pudding is a lighter, simplified cousin of
sweet potato casserole without the topping or crust. It's essentially the filling of
sweet potato pie with an optional
whipped cream or marshmallow fluff topping. No crust or crimping fuss required!
27. Caramel Apple Tart
Erik Bernstein
No one needs to know how ridiculously simple this four-ingredient dessert really is—all you need is
puff pastry, cinnamon,
caramel sauce, and apples to make this impressive and delicious stunner.
28. Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies
Photo: Erik Bernstein; Food Styling: Adrienne Andseron
Get your
pumpkin and
cheesecake fix in one with these pumpkin-spiced cookies stuffed with a little surprise: cream cheese filling! The warming pumpkin spice cookies complement the creamy, tangy flavors of cheesecake, creating the most decadent cookie you'll have all season long. Although the
pumpkin spice flavor screams fall, these
cookies are truly enjoyable any time of the year.
29. Cranberry Cake
Andrew Bui
This cranberry loaf cake is by far our
favorite way to use cranberries. It's the perfect balance of sweet and tart, and the sugar topping adds just the right subtle crunch.
30. Apple Cider Donut Cake
Erik Bernstein
In our minds, fall isn't fall 'til we've had at least a dozen
apple cider cake donuts. This super-sized version comes together in no time, and there's no deep-frying involved. That's a win in our book.
31. Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies
Photo: Rachel Vanni; Food Styling: Lena Abraham
Here at Delish, we can’t get enough
pumpkin recipes in the fall, whether it’s
sweet or
salty, and this one is a true winner when we're craving somethin' sweet. A two-in-one dessert, these brownies feature the ultimate fudge brownie bottom with a rich, moist pumpkin cheesecake top. That's what we like to call the best of both worlds!
32. Apple Dumplings
Photo: Erik Bernstein; Food Styling: Brooke Caison
Stay with us here: These dumplings are essentially poached in a lemon-lime soda, which may seem a little odd, but trust us on this one. The dumplings come out slightly doughy and gooey, and the soda turns the whole thing into a sweet sauce that you should drizzle over your dumplings. It's the fastest way to
apple pie and possibly a little better!
33. Copycat Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars
Andrew Bui
These chewy
blondies are studded with white chocolate chips and cranberries and then get a sweet orange cream cheese frosting and an extra drizzle of white chocolate just for fun. Be sure to cut them into triangles just like Starbucks would and serve it alongside a
copycat Frappuccino.
34. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Parker Feierbach
35. Pumpkin Sticky Buns
Photo: Erik Bernstein; Food Stylist: Jason Schreiber
We know there’s no shortage of amazing
pumpkin recipes out there, but these pillowy soft buns are filled with chopped pecans and baked in a
caramel sauce for the most decadent fall treat any time of day.
36. Apple Crisp Cookie Cups
Parker Feierbach
A buttery,
oatmeal cookie cup with apple pie filling on top!? Let's just say, these two-bite fall treats are going to go fast.
37. Honey Cake
Parker Feierbach
The honey cake is an underestimated
cake and perfect to bring along to
Rosh Hashanah or any gathering. The trick here is to use really good honey. We used a wildflower honey, which is sweet and floral, and gives the cake lots of flavor. An orange blossom honey would also work well!
38. Sweet Potato Pie
Photo: Andrew Bui; Food Styling: Makinze Gore
This recipe is an amazing way top off a
Thanksgiving dinner or a nice treat after a long week in October. We included a recipe for the
pie crust but to make it even easier, feel free to use store-bought!
39. Crustless Apple Pie
Park Feierbach
You need to try this hasselback trick with apples ASAP. It tastes like a cross between a
homemade apple pie and a
warm apple crumble. The best part: You don't need to deal with rolling out and chilling pie dough.
40. Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake
Park Feierbach
Attention: The fall dessert of your dreams has arrived. With a rich, buttery Oreo crust and a light, fluffy pumpkin filling, you'll want to eat this
cheesecake no matter what time of year it is.
41. Sweet Potato Cookies
Parker Feierbach
42. Pumpkin Cheesecake Roll
Photo: Andrew Bui; Food Styling: Adrienne Anderson
Ready to kick off pumpkin season with the most impressive (but not intimidating!)
fall dessert there is?! Luckily, there's no fret with this pumpkin cake roll. With a few simple tips, you'll have perfect swirls of cake and cream cheese filling that will have everyone oohing and aahing when you slice into it.
43. Tiramisu Cake
Andrew Bui
It’s hard not to love a creamy, light slice of
tiramisu. We enjoy the flavor combo of bitter coffee and dark cocoa paired with sweet and cold mascarpone cream so much we’ve added it to everything. We think you should consider eating a slice of this approachable cake with our
tiramisu White Russian, TBH.
44. Gingersnap Cookies
Lucy Schaeffer
These pretty gingersnaps are BIG, gingery, and extra extra chewy, like a warm hug in a cookie!
45. Apple Pie
Photo: Erik Bernstein; Food Styling: Makinze Gore
A homemade apple
pie that will even impress your grandma. We like to fill our homemade flaky, buttery, lattice
crust with a combination of apples for an irresistibly sweet-tart filling. You’ll know the pie is ready to come out of the oven when the filling bubbles and the crust is golden.
46. Sweet Potato Bread
Andrew Bui
47. Maple Butter Blondies
Yossy Arefi
Inspired by the cream cheese-maple sauce drizzled on the butter pecan blondies at Applebee's, these easy white chocolate chip blondies highlight a very underutilized baking ingredient:
maple syrup. We replaced the pecans with walnuts, but you can use an equal amount of pecans if you'd prefer.
48. Homemade Mooncakes
June Xie
Mooncakes are popular (often) sweet treats consumed during the mid-autumn festival in Chinese culture to celebrate the harvest season. Many fillings for mooncakes exist, though most tend to be sweet pastes made of either red bean, lotus seed, black sesame, or a mixture of fruits and nuts.
49. Walnut and Pistachio Baklava
Joel Goldberg
Sticky and rich, baklava is a dessert made of layered sheets of phyllo dough, nuts, spices, sugar and/or honey. It’s served all over the Middle East, Turkey, and
Greece and is perfect for riffing with flavors. This version uses walnuts and pistachios, but feel free to use whichever nuts you like the most.
50. No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
Photo: Rachel Vanni; Food Styling: Adrienne Anderson
Figuring out how to make all of the
pumpkin desserts during Thanksgiving while the turkey is in the oven can be a nightmare. That's why you need this no-bake cheesecake. It's a major time saver and while we love our
classic pumpkin cheesecake, we go crazy for the
no-bake option.
51. Pecan Pie Brownies
Photo: Rocky Luten; Food Styling: Spencer Richards
For the
brownie lover, the Thanksgiving dessert table can be... uninspired. No longer! Make these quick-and-easy beauties for the chocolate lover in your life so they're not stuck picking at a slice of
pumpkin pie again this year.
52. Pan de Muerto
Joel Goldberg
Pillowy soft and fragrant with anise and orange flower water, this Mexican sweet bread is eaten during the weeks around
Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Pan de muerto can be found on every ofrenda (offering altar) as a gift of nourishment for visiting souls.
53. Pecan Pie Cheesecake
Joel Goldberg
Take your
pecan pie to the next level by turning it into a rich and nutty cheesecake! Extra creamy base + sweet and sticky pecan topping = best
Thanksgiving dessert ever.
54. Apple Galette
Park Feierbach
True story: We LOVE making galettes. Why? They've got all the delicious elements of
apple pie: flaky, buttery crust, and tender baked fruit. What they don't have is fussy technique: no crimping, no lattice work, and absolutely no blind baking. Sometimes, it's okay to take the easy road.
55. Poached Pears
Poaching slightly underripe pears makes them tender and sweetens them while allowing them to maintain their structure. Once poached, they can be served warm or cold, garnished with a
caramel reduction of the cooking liquid, and accompanied with everything from ice cream to whipped cream to yogurt.
56. Best Apple Crisp
Photo: Lucy Schaeffer; Food Styling: Francesca Zani
Anyone can make a good apple crisp. Even if they "hate to bake," apple crisp is so much easier to make than an
apple pie. There's no fussy
pie crust to make or roll out. The topping gets simply sprinkled on top for a beautiful, buttery crisp top that makes it all even more delectable.
57. Pumpkin Pie
Photo: Rachel Vanni; Food Styling: Makinze Gore
58. Apple Coffee Cake
Apples work
wonders in this easy
coffee cake. They add extra sweetness as well as making the cake moist and tender. We love it with Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples, but your favorite baking apple will do the trick!
59. Perfect Honey Cookies
Andrew Bui
With a soft and chewy texture, these cookies are irresistible. Make them for
Rosh Hashanah or anytime to treat yourself!
60. Pumpkin Bread
Photo: Erik Bernstein; Food Styling: Adrienne Andseron
We love this classic, no-frills pumpkin bread (especially warmed up and slathered with cream cheese—seriously, TRY IT). Other times, we're craving
chocolate or pecans! And we're sure you are too. Feel free to fold in 1 cup of extra stuff like chocolate chips, nuts, dried cranberries, or pepitas once the batter is made.
61. Tarte Tatin
Joel Goldberg
This classic tart construction relies on fruit being laid over caramel then topped with
puff pastry. The
caramel might be a little tricky, but we promise going low and slow and resisting the urge to stir is the way to make sure that you have the perfect caramelized bottom.
62. Snickerdoodle Cookies
Photo: Erik Bernstein; Food Styling: Makinze Gore
At first glance, a
sugar cookie and a snickerdoodle don't seem all that different: They're basic cookies with flour, butter, and sugar. But snickerdoodles are rolled in cinnamon sugar and have a chewier texture as well as a more crackly top than sugar cookies, thanks to one ingredient: cream of tartar.
63. Apple Tart
Parker Feierbach
In a classic
French recipe, you're supposed to cook down an apple compote to go on top of the crust and under the spiral of apples. Not here. We skipped the sauce completely and macerated the slices in brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and vanilla to make sure they got nice and jammy in the oven.
64. Apple Cookies
Erik Bernstein
What's better than a dessert that tastes exactly like
fall? These cookies are begging to be served with
pumpkin spice lattes in front of a blazing fire with red and orange leaves waving outside in the crisp air. (Or double down on the apple vibes with a mug of steaming
homemade apple cider.)
65. Coconut Burfi Brownie Bites
Hetel Vasavada
Coconut burfi is an Indian mithai (sweet) made from shredded coconut and sweetened condensed milk with a touch of
cardamom that makes this sweet even more magical. Boxes and boxes of coconut burfi are given out during
Diwali so that everyone can celebrate the new year with a sweet moment. If you’re a fan of the inside of a Mounds Bar, you’ll love these coconut burfi bars!
66. Churro Chips
Parker Feierbach
Coated in cinnamon and sugar these churro chips are perfect for dipping in some
cheesecake dip or in a simple chocolate ganache. We love how simple these are to make, which makes them great for throwing together last minute in the oven or air fryer.
67. French Apple Cake
Joel Goldberg
This traditional
French dessert starts with a simple rum cake batter that’s then filled with chunks of
apple, ensuring every bite will be extra flavorful and moist. It’s got an almost custard-like texture and a sugary, crunchy top you’ll love.
68. Sweet Potato Pie Cupcakes
Parker Feierbach
Sweet potato pie is a given at Thanksgiving, and it can feel a little weird baking it the rest of the year. Not so when you turn it into
cupcakes! This easy recipe uses boxed cake mix to make some of the tastiest cupcakes we've ever had, and we're enjoying them all year long.
69. Pumpkin Pudding
Parker Feierbach
We all love a good Snack Pack and miss the days of finding one in our lunch boxes. This easy hack for pumpkin pudding will take you right back to the good days, and it will satisfy every
pumpkin spice latte craving you have.
70. Sweet Potato Cheesecake
Parker Feierbach
Sweet potato adds a nuttiness and earthy sweetness that takes a normal
cheesecake to another, more festive level. Add that to a
gingersnap cookie crust, and you've got a spice-filled autumnal twist on a classic we bet you'll make again and again this fall.
71. French Apple Tart
Joel Goldberg
This tart is so easy to make and uses a store-bought
puff pastry, meaning it can be ready in under an hour. The glaze uses a little Grand Marnier, which can be left out or replaced with rum or cognac. It really brings the whole
tart together and we highly recommend it.
72. Shoofly Pie
Parker Feierbach
So, what exactly IS a Shoofly Pie? Well, it's a lot of things. Somewhere between cake, pie, crumble, and
gingerbread, it's got a little something to please everyone.
73. Apple Crisp Pound Cake
Parker Feierbach
We dressed this
pound cake up for autumn with crisp apples and a buttery crumb topping that you'll want to put over everything. Drizzle the top with a simple glaze to top off this perfect dessert.
74. Pumpkin Zucchini Bread
Erik Bernstein
Banana bread is the queen of loaf cakes, sure. And just plain
pumpkin bread is truly fantastic. But you know what might be the dark horse in the race to loaf cake royalty? This pumpkin zucchini bread. The zucchini adds a level of moisture and subtle sweet flavor that will make this bread a must-make for your next brunch, Thanksgiving or potluck.
75. Pecan Pie
Photo: Rachel Vanni; Food Styling: Makinze Gore
Is there anything more iconic to see on your
Thanksgiving dessert spread than a beautiful pecan pie? The craggly top filled with nuts that you know gives way to that delicious, rich interior. This recipe is the easiest way to get it on your
holiday table (or any table for that matter, make it in June for all we care!).
76. Brown Betty
Parker Feierbach
So what is a brown betty exactly? Think of it like an
apple crisp, but instead of flour and oat topping, bread crumbs are used! We've found that
homemade bread crumbs are a MUST for this simple recipe—the varieties in shape and size give the dish a completely irresistible texture.
