80 Fall Dessert Recipes That Go Way Beyond Pumpkin Spice (2024)

Although we do have plenty of pumpkin-y ideas...

By Mackenzie Filson
80 Fall Dessert Recipes That Go Way Beyond Pumpkin Spice (1)

Come sweater weather, what better way to warm up than making up a bunch of cozy desserts? After all, isn't that the point of fall? Okay, so maybe there are other things to look forward, 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.

Not the biggest fan of all the pumpkin-spiced craziness? We get it. It's a lot! Luckily, we've got plenty of festive fall treats with no pumpkin in sight. Personally, there's nothing more cozy than making a batch of walnut and pistachio baklava, spicy biscochitos, or caramel-y alfajores. Our copycat Starbucks Cranberry bliss bars, sweet potato bread, and apple dumplings will be sure to help you celebrate the changing seasons.

Speaking of apples: You can catch us outside happily apple picking all season long. Or maybe simply scarfing down fresh cider donuts. Same thing, right? If you've never been, we've got all the tips for apple picking as well as how to use all the different apple types you bring home. We highly suggest using your fresh picked apples for this apple cider donut cake.

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 Whoopie Pies

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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!

Get the Apple Cider Whoopie Pies recipe.

2

Bizcochitos

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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.

Get the Bizcochitos recipe.

3

Brown Butter Pumpkin Blondies

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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.

Get the Brown Butter Pumpkin Blondies recipe.

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4

Peanut Butter Pretzel Butterscotch Blondies

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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.

Get the Peanut Butter Pretzel Butterscotch Blondies recipe.

5

Apple Butter Pie

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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!

Get the Apple Butter Pie recipe.

6

Gingersnap Cookies

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These pretty gingersnaps are BIG, gingery, and extra extra chewy, like a warm hug in a cookie!

Get the Gingersnap Cookies recipe.

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7

Mini Pumpkin Pies

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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.

Get the Mini Pumpkin Pies recipe.

8

Apple Spice Cake

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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.

Get the Apple Spice Cake recipe.

9

Alfajores

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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.

Get the Alfajores recipe.

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10

Sweet Potato Pudding

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!

Get the Sweet Potato Pudding recipe.

11

Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies

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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.

Get the Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies recipe.

12

Cranberry Cake

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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.

Get the Cranberry Cake recipe.

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13

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

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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!

Get the Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies recipe.

14

Apple Dumplings

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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!

Get the Apple Dumplings recipe.

15

Caramel Apple Tart

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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.

Get the Caramel Apple Tart recipe.

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16

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Adding pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice to chocolate chip cookie dough results in a heavenly pillow-like cookie with major autumn vibes. Yum!

Get the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe.

17

Honey Cake

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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!

Get the Honey Cake recipe.

18

Keto Pumpkin Bread

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Out of all the amazing pumpkin desserts in the world (even the ones with carbs!), this is a keto MVP. So from the months of September to December, we eat the cinnamon-kissed, chocolate chip-studded loaf like it’s our job.

Get the Keto Pumpkin Bread recipe.

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19

Sweet Potato Pie

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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!

Get the Sweet Potato Pie recipe.

20

Brownie Bottom Pumpkin Cheesecake

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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.

Get the Brownie Bottom Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe.

80 Fall Dessert Recipes That Go Way Beyond Pumpkin Spice (2024)

FAQs

What is one popular sweet treat made from fall harvest? ›

Capture the sweet flavors of autumn in recipes for pumpkin bars, apple pies, spice cookies, cranberry cobblers and more fall desserts.

What is the most popular dessert made from pumpkins? ›

Orange-hued treats spiced with good things like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger (aka: the stars of pumpkin pie spice) are about as cozy as it gets right about now. Pumpkin pie is a classic, although there's also a lot to love about pumpkin-kissed cookies, bars, cakes, and no-bake treats.

What was President Polk's favorite dessert? ›

Polk – Corn Pone, a crunchy, bread-like dish. James Buchanan – America's first and only bachelor President, Buchanan loved to entertain and enjoyed serving Apees, spiced butter cookie of German origins that were popular in Buchanan's home state of Pennsylvania.

What is the sweet treat in New Orleans? ›

King Cake. New Orleans' signature sweet is, without a doubt, a king cake. The Mardi Gras classic is a round, cinnamon-filled braided cake topped with icing and green, purple, and yellow colored sugar. A little plastic baby is hidden inside the king cake, and whoever finds the baby must buy the next king cake.

What is the most delicious dessert in the world? ›

Top 100 best desserts in the world
  • Crêpes (Bretagne, France)
  • Bombocado (Brazil)
  • Queso helado (Arequipa, Peru)
  • Tiramisù (Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy)
  • Crème brûlée (France)
  • Dondurma (Kahramanmaraş, Turkey)
  • Alfajores (Argentina)
  • Dulce de leche (Argentina)
Jun 25, 2024

What unusual dessert became popular during the Depression? ›

Depression cake is a type of cake that was commonly made during the Great Depression. The ingredients include little or no milk, sugar, butter, or eggs, because the ingredients were then either expensive or hard to obtain.

What is the most expensive dessert to make? ›

Bearing a staggering USD 25,000 price tag, this Serendipity 3 sundae surpasses its own Golden Opulence Sundae, claiming the top spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.

What is your favorite fall treat? ›

For instance, there's pumpkin spice muffins, pumpkin spice cake, pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls, and so on. But there are other seasonal flavors worth mentioning, too. For instance, there are cinnamon, maple, cranberry, and apple desserts a plenty (it doesn't get more "fall" than that!).

What is the most popular sweet treat in America? ›

In Summary

Ice cream is America's favorite dessert and is a key driver of the frozen food category.

What are fall harvest foods? ›

Fall Harvest: apples, beets, collard greens, daikon, dates, edamame, green chilies, gourds, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, melons, peas, persimmons, pistachios, pumpkins, radishes, shallots, soybeans, turnips, winter, squash.

What is a typical sweet eaten during the Christmas season? ›

Classic Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies always make us think of Christmas with their rich buttery taste.

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