Food and Recipes Desserts The Best Fall Baking Recipes To Make This Season Fall's favorite ingredients star in these baking recipes. By Jenna Sims Jenna Sims Jenna is a Senior Digital Editor for Southern Living and joined the team in 2014. She writes, produces, and assigns content with a focus on email growth and commerce content. She covers a range of topics in the lifestyle space from holiday gift guides to new product launches to tips for cooking with your air fryer. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on August 8, 2024 Close Photo: Photographer: Jennifer Causey Food Stylist: Ana Kelly Prop Stylist: Kay Clarke There are few things better on a crisp fall afternoon than filling your home with the scent of a freshly baked dessert. Fall's favorite ingredients like pumpkins, apples, and pecans are best enjoyed in the form of a homemade treat. From cakes to cookies to pies and more, there are plenty of ways to turn seasonal ingredients into a delicious baked dessert. Consider this list of recipes your official fall baking bucket list. Making your way through this list will help you sharpen up your baking skills before the upcoming holiday season and you may even learn a few new skills along the way. With a new season upon us, it's time to stock your pantry, preheat the oven, and get to baking. 74 Best Fall Dessert Recipes To Make This Season 01 of 25 Apple Dumplings Morgan Hunt Glaze, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster A shortcut of refrigerated crescent rolls wrapped around apple slices helps these miniature dumplings come together. The dumplings are topped off with a homemade cinnamon-brown sugar syrup and dollop of whipped cream. Get The Recipe 02 of 25 Pumpkin Roll Alison Miksch; Food Stylist: Karen Rankin; Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle When making this pumpkin roll, make sure to work quickly once it's removed from the oven and is still warm. As it cools, it'll be more likely to crack as it's less pliable. Get The Recipe 03 of 25 Apple Spice Cake Greg DuPree, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Christine Keely If you want to bake up a warm fall cake, but aren't quite ready to commit to a layer cake, this approachable spice cake is the ideal recipe to make. Lining the pan with parchment paper not only makes the cake easy to remove from the pan, but makes cleanup a little easier. Get The Recipe 04 of 25 Our Easiest Pumpkin Pie Ever Greg Dupree; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas Just because this recipe calls for seven ingredients and requires only 15 minutes of hands-on time doesn't mean it's short on flavor. We used refrigerated crust for ease, but you can also make homemade if you prefer. Get The Recipe 05 of 25 Sweet Potato Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting Photo: Antonis Achilleos Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Prop Styling: Matthew Gleason If you thought sweet potatoes were just for casseroles, think again. The layers of this cake are actually made with 1½ cups of mashed sweet potatoes. Get The Recipe 06 of 25 Apple Dapple Cake Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer This old-fashioned cake embodies the flavors of fall in every bite. Not only does it star apples, but other favorite fall ingredients like pecans, cinnamon, and nutmeg are included as well. Get The Recipe 07 of 25 Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Muffins Photographer Victor Protasio, Food Stylist Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist Christine Keely On the ingredient list for these sweet muffins, you'll find a whole can of pumpkin and 2 cups of chocolate chips. That alone should tell you that they're going to be delicious and perfect for fall. Get The Recipe 08 of 25 Pumpkin Cake Photographer: Jennifer Causey Food Stylist: Ana Kelly Prop Stylist: Kay Clarke Though the recipe calls for mashed cooked pumpkin, you can also use the canned variety for ease or if you already have it on hand. For a low-key dessert, you can enjoy the cake without the Spiced Whipped Cream. Get The Recipe 09 of 25 Pumpkin-Pecan Cheesecake Jennifer Davick If you 're having a hard time deciding what dessert to make, this decadent cheesecake is the answer. Think of it as a combination of pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and cheesecake all in one. Get The Recipe 10 of 25 Pumpkin-Spice Bundt with Brown Sugar Icing and Candied Pecans Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall While Bundt cakes can be fairly plain and simple, they can also be just as impressive as a layer cake. This dessert starts with a pumpkin and pecan cake that's then topped with a brown sugar icing and homemade candied pecans. Get The Recipe 11 of 25 Granny Smith Apple Pie Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Marian Cooper Cairns Every from bottom to top, every layer if this apple pie is made from scratch. To make this homemade apple pie even more special, the apples are roasted before they're added to the crust so they're guaranteed to be tender and full of flavor. Get The Recipe 12 of 25 Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Jennifer Causey Browned butter is the not-so-secret ingredient to the best chocolate chip cookies ever, and is definitely worth the extra time. Adding a cup of toasted pecans makes them the ultimate fall cookie. Get The Recipe 13 of 25 Classic Apple Cobbler Stephen DeVries; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Torie Cox You can't celebrate fall without making this old-fashioned dessert at least once. We recommend serving warm with vanilla ice cream on top. Get The Recipe 14 of 25 Pumpkin Bread Micah A. Leal If you want to make your pumpkin bread even sweeter, you can fold a handful of chocolate chips into the batter before baking. You can also prepare it as written and let the pumpkin flavor shine. Get The Recipe 15 of 25 Caramel Apple Cake Photo: Hector Sanchez This impressive dessert calls for two pounds of apples. In our opinion, it's worth every bit of the effort it requires. Get The Recipe 16 of 25 Apple-Cream Cheese Bundt Cake Greg Dupree Apple cake batter, cream cheese filling, and praline frosting are the perfect fall trio in this indulgent Bundt cake. You can also garnish with pecans if you have some leftovers. Get The Recipe 17 of 25 Pumpkin-Chocolate Brownies Greg DuPree Brownies are given a fall makeover with the addition of pumpkin filling, but we promise there's still plenty of chocolate to go around. Chill overnight and cut when they're cold for ideal slices. Get The Recipe 18 of 25 Pumpkin Spice Cookies Micah A. Leal Pumpkin spice and pure pumpkin give these cookies plenty of seasonal color and flavor. They're moist, flavorful, and come together in just 45 minutes. Get The Recipe 19 of 25 Apple Bread Pudding Helen Norman Cinnamon raisin bread adds an extra punch of flavor to this apple bread pudding. You'll know it's ready to come out of the oven when it's golden brown and set in the center. Get The Recipe 20 of 25 Apple Stack Cake Photo: Victor Protasi; Prop Styling: Cindy Barr; Food Styling: Torie Cox Let this cake cure for a few days before serving to allow time for the flavors to fully combine. Though it will be tempting to cut into immediately, allowing it to "ripen" will provide the best results. Get The Recipe 21 of 25 Salted Butter-Pecan Shortbread Cookies Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Satisfy your sweet and salty craving with pecan shortbread cookies that hint at fall. Make these slice-and-bake cookies in advance, and roll the dough in turbinado sugar for additional crunch. get the recipe 22 of 25 Spiced Pecan Pie Bars Antonis Achilleos; Prop Stylist: Christine Keely; Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer Bake a pan of these treats for any autumn gathering. They're packable and portable, so keep them on hand for everything from lunches to tailgates. get the recipe 23 of 25 Pumpkin Dump Cake Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless With a few convenience items, this recipe means there's always time to bake dessert. Use a can of pumpkin, a box of yellow cake mix, and spices to make this irresistible fall treat. get the recipe 24 of 25 Apple Pie Cake Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners This dessert turns what you love about apple pie into a less complicated cake. A white cake mix helps speed the process along without sacrificing flavor. get the recipe 25 of 25 Pumpkin Pound Cake Antonis Achilleos; Prop Stylist: Claire Spollen; Food Stylist: Margaret Dickey Put the Bundt pan to work to bake a pumpkin pound cake that's worthy of all your fall gatherings. A maple glaze and chopped pecans are all you need to top this seasonal dessert. get the recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit