Our Favorite Fall Desserts
Fall dessert recipes are one of our favorite things about the season, right up there with crisp evenings and brilliant foliage. We anxiously await the time of cool autumn morning trips to the farmers’ market, and the pounds of fresh apples, pecans, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins that we haul home. When the leaves start changing this fall season, it’s time to cozy up with a soft blanket and one of these soul-warming fall desserts. With seasonal ingredients like spicy cinnamon, rich caramel, and decadent pecans, the fall is hands-down one of the best seasons for baking. From gooey morning coffee cakes to elegant holiday-worthy pies, we’ve pulled together our favorite fall cakes, pies, breads, milkshakes, puddings, and everything in between to keep your sweet tooth satisfied all season long. Pound cake coated in praline sauce, bread pudding drizzled in caramel, and apple pie baked in a buttery, flaky cornmeal crust – these best fall desserts will not disappoint.
Salted Irish Cream Apple Crostata
Recipe: Salted Irish Cream Apple Crostata
Irish cream liqueur makes this dessert sinfully delicious - it's in the dough and rich, velvety sauce poured over the apples.Â
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Parsnip-Buttermilk Tart
Recipe: Parsnip-Buttermilk Tart
This creamy confection has a surprising fall ingredient - parsnips!Â
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Concha Tres Leches Cake
Recipe: Concha Tres Leches Cake
Easy to prepare and even easier to love, this velvety recipe adds a bit of texture and color to the traditional dessert.Â
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Apple Butter Pound Cake with Caramel Frosting
Recipe: Apple Butter Pound Cake with Caramel Frosting
We combined apples and pound cake, our two favorite fall foods, to create one delectable dessert.Â
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Apple Butter Cobbler with Drop Biscuits
Recipe: Apple Butter Cobbler with Drop Biscuits
Canned biscuits, lattice crust, and streusel topping make this apple dessert truly show-stopping.
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Old-Fashioned Apple Pie
Recipe: Old-Fashioned Apple Pie
This classic apple pie has a delicious double crust for double the fun.Â
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Butter-Pecan Shortbread Cookies
Recipe: Butter-Pecan Shortbread Cookies
Excite the butter-pecan lovers in your life with this slice-and-bake cookie recipe.Â
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Persimmon Pudding
Recipe: Persimmon Pudding
Use fresh persimmons while they are still in season to create this richly spiced dessert.Â
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Salted Caramel-Apple Hand Pies
Recipe: Salted Caramel-Apple Hand Pies
Not sure what fall dessert to make at your next harvest party? You can't go wrong with an apple-centric choice.Â
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Coconut-Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
Recipe: Coconut-Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
This doctored-up version of a classic pumpkin pie is light, airy, with whispers of spicy fall flavors like coconut and ginger. Says one reviewer, “If this wasn’t on our Thanksgiving table, there would be mutiny.”
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Mexican Chocolate Pudding Cake
Recipe: Mexican Chocolate Pudding Cake
Chocolate cake is given a hot and spicy fall upgrade from cinnamon, red pepper, chipotle chile pepper, and sliced almonds. Serve with vanilla ice cream for a gooey and rich chocolate treat.
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Caramel-Glazed Monkey Bread
Recipe: Caramel-Glazed Monkey Bread
We’ve officially declared this the best pull-apart bread on Earth. The dough is soft and cakey, and forms a scrumptious sugary crust. Top with a sweet Caramel Glaze for a Southern fall recipe you’ll make every year.
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Rum-Glazed Sweet Potato Cakes
Recipe: Rum-Glazed Sweet Potato Cakes
Sweet potatoes, raisins, rum, cinnamon, nutmeg, and toasted pecans? We couldn’t possibly fit more flavor in these mini Bundt cakes if we tried.
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Caramel Apple-Brownie Cheesecake
Recipe: Caramel Apple-Brownie Cheesecake
This delicious recipe combines our favorite fall flavors into one chocolaty, velvety dessert.
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Mini Apple Cider Pound Cakes
Recipe: Mini Apple Cider Pound Cakes
If fall was a flavor, it would taste like Apple Cider. These moist mini apple cider pound cakes perfectly capture the season, and can be doctored up with three different sweet toppings.
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Caramel-Pecan Pumpkin Bread Puddings
Recipe: Caramel-Pecan-Pumpkin Bread Puddings
All the best flavors of pumpkin and pecan pies come together in this easy, decadent bread pudding.
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Pumpkin Pie Dip
Recipe: Pumpkin Pie Dip
This sweet and versatile dish adds fall flavor to your tailgate spread. Serve it with everything from cookies to fruit to nuts.
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Peanut Butter-Toffee Turtle Cookies
Recipe: Peanut Butter-Toffee Turtle Cookies
We packed chocolate, peanut butter, caramel, and toffee into these indulgent, bite-sized cookies.
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Pumpkin-Chocolate Brownies
Recipe: Pumpkin-Chocolate Brownies
Baked with chocolate chips, pumpkin filling, and a hint of espresso, these dangerously delicious brownies are a chocolate lover’s fall dream.
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Double Apple Pie with Cornmeal Crust
Recipe: Double Apple Pie with Cornmeal Crust
This layered apple pie takes a classic fall dessert to the next level. Its flaky cornmeal crust and sugary sauce with a kick of brandy make it one of our best pies, ever.
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Salted Chocolate Matzo Toffee
Recipe: Salted Chocolate Matzo Madness
With savory, salty ingredients like matzos and pecans, and sweet chocolate chips, this easy-to-make snack is perfect for casual fall gatherings.
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Praline-Apple Bread
Recipe: Praline-Apple Bread
You’d never guess this rich, moist quick bread recipe doesn’t have any butter or oil in its batter.
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Candy Bar Pie
Recipe: Candy Bar Pie
Here’s one of our favorite only test-kitchen approved ways for to use leftover Halloween candy. Line a salty pretzel piecrust with chocolate nougat bars (we used Snickers candy bars), and cover in creamy filling for a fall dessert worth hoarding some candy for.
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Triple Gingersnappers
Recipe: Triple Gingersnappers
Nothing says fall like enjoying a stack of fresh Gingersnappers and a hot cup of tea on a crisp fall evening.
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Pecan-Toffee Shortbread
Recipe: Pecan-Toffee Shortbread
Buttery shortbread, sugary toffee, crunchy pecans, and rich chocolate make this rustic fall treat perfect for any occasion.
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Pumpkin Tart with Whipped Cream and Almond Toffee
Recipe: Pumpkin Tart with Whipped Cream and Almond Toffee
Pumpkin spice latte lovers rejoice: this pumpkin tart captures all the best flavors of one of our favorite fall drinks.
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Apple Butter Pie
Recipe: Apple Butter Pie
With the smooth, creamy texture of a pumpkin pie and the tart flavor of apples, this pie comes together in a flash for a deliciously sweet and simple fall dessert.
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Decadent Cream Puffs with Praline Sauce and Toasted Pecans
Recipe: Decadent Cream Puffs with Praline Sauce and Toasted Pecans
These show-stopping cream puffs, filled with butter-pecan ice cream and topped with a creamy praline sauce, will soothe any Southern sweet tooth.
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Classic Apple Dumplings
Recipe: Classic Apple Dumplings
These made-from-scratch dumplings are bursting with nutty spices and tart apples. Drizzle in sweet sugar sauce and serve with vanilla ice cream for the ultimate comforting fall dessert.