21 Desserts To Add A Sweet Taste To Your Fall
As we head into autumn, the weather shifts, the leaves change, and we start pulling out recipes for cozy cooking. To some, that means soups and squash; for others, it means pumpkin spice everything. Yet, for us, autumn is synonymous with a sweet indulgence — desserts that wrap us in a cozy embrace. In our eyes, dessert knows no season, but in fall, it takes on a special allure. Certain recipes deserve some major attention. We're talking about cinnamon, pumpkin, nutty, and spiced treats to make your mouth water all the way to winter.
This year, instead of shopping for Thanksgiving desserts or buying autumnal treats to share with your family and friends, we invite you to venture into your own kitchen and create some practical magic. From banana bread and brownies to the perfect pie, we've got your back. Here, we've rounded up several desserts that will add some much-needed sweetness to your fall.
Slow Cooker Cinnamon Rolls
Whether you eat them for breakfast or dessert, cinnamon rolls are a perfect treat — there's just something about cinnamon that seems fit for fall. These are a little different than what you'd get out of a can, but still simple to prepare at home. All you need to do is make a homemade dough, spread out a cinnamon mixture, and form the rolls before popping them in your slow cooker. After about 2 hours or so, you'll have perfectly crisp and soft cinnamon rolls that are drizzled with handmade icing.
Recipe: Slow Cooker Cinnamon Rolls
Classic Lattice-Top Blueberry Pie
Despite only a few ingredients, this blueberry pie is sure to impress. This recipe is super easy for beginners, requiring only a bunch of blueberries and a pre-bought pie crust to save plenty of time. Plus, a little bit of lemon gives this sweet dessert a burst of tart flavor that perfectly complements the blueberries. Like most pies, this recipe is basically begging to be served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.
Classic Peanut Butter Fudge
Super-sweet and creamy, this peanut butter fudge recipe is easy and ready to eat in around 4 hours. A heap of butter and peanut butter makes the delectable, smooth texture of this fudge. With a classic that's this simple to make, it's perfect for a late-night snack or for giving away as treats. We also won't blame you if you hoard them all for yourself. This fudge is nutty and rich, so we recommend pairing it with chocolate sauce or just eating the indulgent dessert as is.
Recipe: Classic Peanut Butter Fudge
Walnut Bananas Foster
This rich and gooey Bananas Foster recipe gets an upgrade with walnuts. A perfect complement to the sweetness of this dessert, walnuts add a delightful crunch. Flavors like cinnamon, vanilla, and rum join together in a sticky symphony to make the classic dessert you love, with the much-needed inclusion of nuts to bring it all together. We suggest serving it alongside vanilla ice cream and using some of the leftover sauce to cover the dessert.
Recipe: Walnut Bananas Foster
Southern-Style Sweet Potato Pie
Move on over, sweet potato casserole. During these fall holidays, try this sweet potato pie that embodies Southern tradition. This pie is perfectly seasoned with nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon. It only takes a few staple ingredients, meaning it's just as easy to make as it is to buy. Pre-bought crust and fresh sweet potatoes (canned or puréed also will work!) save a lot of time in the kitchen without losing the Southern touch. This dessert is homemade with sugar, spice, and a nice amount of love.
Recipe: Southern-Style Sweet Potato Pie
Classic Buttery Pound Cake
Pile on the butter! This smooth, buttery pound cake is rich enough to enjoy by itself but also a perfect base to create other desserts. With a couple of staple ingredients, you can bake a delicious cake that's perfect for making strawberry shortcakes, serving with coffee or tea, or topping with creme fraiche or a berry compote. There's a lot to do with pound cake and very few ways it can go wrong.
Recipe: Classic Buttery Pound Cake
Easy Classic Zucchini Bread
You might not look at zucchini bread and instantly think of dessert, but allow us to try and change your mind. With this homemade bread, you can get a dose of delicious vegetables in a soft, moist loaf sweetened with nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger. It's almost like any spiced bread, but automatically healthier because of the zucchini. For this easy recipe, you can use fresh or leftover zucchini. Personally, we like this bread served warm from the oven with some butter on it.
Recipe: Easy Classic Zucchini Bread
4-Ingredient Fudge
This creamy, sugary fudge is incredibly easy to make with four everyday pantry items. All you need is brown sugar, butter, two kinds of milk, and about 6 hours of patience while it sets. With little trouble and only some time to wait, this fudge is perfect for beginners who desire a sweet fix. Fudge is such a rich dessert that it can be difficult to pair it, but we recommend dressing it up with nuts or chocolate sauce if you're craving a little extra.
Recipe: 4-Ingredient Fudge
Simple Brioche Bread Pudding
Bread pudding comes in many ways, but this simple recipe calls for brioche which gives it plenty of sweetness without any sugar. With either fresh or leftover brioche pieces, you can mix together this pudding in a few minutes. Perfectly sweet and spiced with milk, cinnamon, and cloves, this dessert will be your new go-to. While it's delicious by itself, we also like it with a drizzle of honey.
Recipe: Simple Brioche Bread Pudding
Pantry Staples Pumpkin Bread
With a handful of pantry staples, this classic pumpkin loaf is simple enough for beginners to make. Luckily, you don't even have to carve and gut a pumpkin for this bread. All you need is a can of pumpkin puree, the makings for the dough, and an array of spices. It's delicious throughout the year, but it all this pumpkin-y, spiced goodness screams fall. We recommend enjoying this sweet and savory loaf warm from the oven with butter or served alongside your favorite hot beverage.
Recipe: Pantry Staples Pumpkin Bread
Soft And Chewy Snickerdoodles
This soft, chewy version of the classic, crumbly cookie can be ready in less than 30 minutes and only requires a couple of basic ingredients. These cookies get their distinct flavor from the cream of tartar and cinnamon, but they get their chewy texture from plenty of sugar and butter. We love them straight from the oven, but these snickerdoodles are also perfectly paired with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream.
Recipe: Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodles
Bourbon Pecan Brownies
These chocolatey, nutty brownies are balanced with a not-too-boozy bite of bourbon whiskey. If you love dense, fudgy brownies, these are the treat for you. Between three types of chocolate, crunchy pecans, and sharp bourbon, these brownies are rich, luscious, and a chocolate lover's dream come true. Serve them warm with a scoop of ice cream or in a brownie fudge sundae.
Recipe: Bourbon Pecan Brownies
Sweet And Sticky Pecan Pie
When it comes to pecan pie, the sweeter and stickier, the better. This recipe does the traditional pie justice, with only a few ingredients. While you can always resort to making your own pie crust, this recipe calls for pre-bought crust to save you ample time. You won't want to skip out on the key ingredients, corn starch and maple syrup, which give this dessert its classic, sticky texture. Next time, instead of buying pecan pie for the holidays, go for this simple recipe. We recommend serving a slice with extra pecans, vanilla ice cream, or a dollop of whipped cream.
Recipe: Sweet and Sticky Pecan Pie
Carrot Cake And Cream Cheese Frosting
This homemade version of your favorite diner dessert is perfect for autumn, despite being common around spring, too. There's something about the spices and vivid orange that seems cozy enough for fall. Store-bought grated carrots can save you some serious time, but the real kick in this cake is the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and walnuts. Plus, once you master this homemade cream cheese frosting, you're opening doors for other delicious desserts, too.
Cardamom Peach Cobbler
This recipe will give your traditional peach cobbler a twist with aromatic cardamom, creating a delicious balance between sweet and spiced flavors. Instead of nutmeg, ginger, or other autumnal spices, this recipe combines cardamom, cinnamon, and a touch of lemon juice. Cardamom is unique and somewhat difficult to describe, with both peppery and citrus notes. When paired with peaches, it's like it was meant to be. This cobbler is delicious warm, sprinkled with sugar, and served alongside vanilla ice cream or white wine.
Recipe: Cardamom Peach Cobbler
Classic Banana Walnut Bread
This delicious and warm banana bread comes with a perfect, nutty crunch from walnuts. Like any banana bread, it's meant to be moist and sweet, but this recipe gives it some extra dimension with the addition of walnuts. If you're the type to make gifts yourself, this recipe is perfect for baking mini loaves for friends and family during the holidays. Then again, if you want to keep this delicious recipe all to yourself, we won't mind!
Recipe: Classic Banana Walnut Bread
Easy Apple Pie
When they say "easy as pie," they may have been talking about this very apple pie recipe. This dessert is so easy to prepare that you may want to bake it for every holiday. Only a few ingredients and a few store-bought pie crusts are required to bake this classic dessert. A sweet, spiced mixture of sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg is used to perfectly season the apples. In as little as an hour, and however long you wait for it to cool (personally, we love it warm!), you can have an apple pie ready to serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
Recipe: Easy Apple Pie
5-Ingredient Apple Crisp
With five easy ingredients, you can make an apple crisp in less than an hour. Truly, all it takes is apples, oats, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon. If baking pies, loaves of bread, or cakes takes too much effort, then this is the recipe for you. Whether you're a beginner or just looking for something quick to prepare, this apple crisp is ideal. It's simple enough to make same-day or mix up with the kids. Honestly, if we haven't convinced you already, then imagine it warm and crispy with a scoop of ice cream. Yum!
Recipe: 5-Ingredient Apple Crisp
Easy Pumpkin Pie
Simple enough for novice bakers, this pumpkin pie will impress your Thanksgiving guests — possibly more than any store-bought variety. Pumpkin spice and canned pumpkin will lead the way for this delicious dessert, which means you can easily get your fall pumpkin fix with this recipe. If pumpkin spice isn't your cup of tea, you can combine spices like nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon to get a similar effect. Top a slice with whipped cream for a classic pairing, or go for vanilla ice cream or your favorite autumnal beverage. Who said you can't enjoy pumpkin pie with a pumpkin spice latte?
Recipe: Easy Pumpkin Pie
No-Cook Banana Pudding
No cooking, no problem. This banana pudding is so easy to whip up that you may want to make it on a regular basis. All you need is instant pudding mix, bananas, vanilla wafer cookies, milk, and whipped cream. These no-fuss ingredients are combined and topped with crumbled Graham crackers and wafers for a sweet, crunchy texture. Although, you could also top it with dried banana chips if you are a banana lover or bits of chocolate if you're a fan of the banana-chocolate combo.
Recipe: No-Cook Banana Pudding
20-Minute Peanut Butter Cookie
These traditional peanut butter cookies are just as good as Grandma's — they're just prepared in way less time! In just 20 minutes, you can make these cookies from scratch. These cookies only take four staple ingredients to prepare the batter, and the most time-consuming part is rounding them out and pressing them flat with a fork. After 10 quick minutes in the oven, these cookies are ready to serve warm with tea, coffee, or milk. You could also eat them with ice cream or dipped in chocolate for another layer of sweetness.
Recipe: 20-Minute Peanut Butter Cookie