47 Fall Desserts to Cozy Up to All Season Long
After a long ice-cream-filled summer, it’s time to dive into fall desserts. Bidding farewell to peak-season berries and stone fruits might be bittersweet, but we have all of autumn’s best produce to look forward to: Apples, pears, pecans, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes. Oh, and all things pumpkin spice. Below you’ll find our very best fall desserts, including a stunning pumpkin bread made with an apple cider reduction, holiday centerpiece-worthy caramel apple cheesecake, and pies galore: pumpkin, apple, pecan, and a must-bake, vividly purple ube pie. If you’re looking for classic comforts, not to worry—we’ve included chewy brown butter chocolate chip cookies and fudgy brownies too.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi1/47Classic Pecan Pie
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Sean Dooley2/47Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
Loaded with shredded carrots and warm baking spices, this carrot cake welcomes all your favorite mix-ins—add nuts (walnuts or pecans, ideally toasted) and/or raisins (dark or golden). Just be sure to use freshly grated nutmeg, which has a much more potent flavor than the dried stuff. Want a gluten-free carrot cake? Right this way.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Judy Kim4/47Pear Tart With Dulce de Leche Drizzle
End a fall dinner party with this impressive pear tart, which can be baked a day in advance. Though adding a little dulce de leche to each slice is optional, it’s a major upgrade; if you don’t feel like making it from scratch, store-bought will work just fine.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi5/47Our Favorite Apple Pie
One of our very best fall desserts, this classic pie combines an all-butter flaky crust with tender, gently spiced apples. Don’t want to make a top crust? Trade it for a streusel topping.
Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food Styling by Mira Evnine6/47Classic Pumpkin Pie
This traditional pumpkin pie recipe from Gourmet keeps things simple: a blind-baked crust, an easy pumpkin filling, and just the right balance of spices. Be sure to use pure pumpkin purée here, not premade pie filling, which is already seasoned with pumpkin spice.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks7/47Classic Snickerdoodle Cookies
This comforting, buttery cookie gets tangy flavor from an old-school leavener: cream of tartar. Rolling the cookies in cinnamon-sugar before baking gives them a glistening finish.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Bill Clark8/47Creole Cream Cheesecake With Caramel-Apple Topping
This cheesecake gets its silky, mousse-like texture from Creole cream cheese, Louisiana’s take on ricotta. The topping tastes just like a caramel apple pie.
Photo by Isa Zapata, Prop Styling by Christina Allen, Food Styling by Emilie Fosnocht9/47Peanut Butter Brownies
For a picture-perfect peanut butter swirl on your brownies, freeze the batter for 10 minutes. This small step keeps the nut butter from sinking to the bottom of the pan.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne10/47Apple Sticky Toffee Pudding
Cubed apples practically melt into this rich, gooey sticky toffee pudding, only improved by a caramel-esque sauce (don’t worry—it’s much easier to make than caramel). Just be sure to pick the right apples for this baking project.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne11/47Simple Bread Pudding With Melted Ice Cream Sauce
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne12/47Nanaimo Bars
The Nanaimo bar is an iconic Canadian confection; it’s remarkably easy to make and perfect for potlucks and holiday parties. Once the base of crushed graham cracker crumbs, shredded coconut, and chocolate has set, spread velvety custard-flavored buttercream on top, then glaze with bittersweet chocolate.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne13/47Ube Pie With Marshmallow Whip
Ube is a vibrant purple yam from the Philippines with rich, sweet vanilla notes. Epi contributor Arlyn Osborne uses it to fill a gorgeous creamy pie, topped with marshmallow whipped cream.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Pearl Jones14/47Marbled Pumpkin-Maple Cheesecake Bars
’Tis the season for pumpkin desserts. Creamy cheesecake meets the fall flavors of pumpkin pie in these stunning swirled bars.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich17/47Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
How do you make a classic chocolate chip cookie even better? Just add brown butter. Its nutty, toasty flavor makes these cookies perfect for the fall.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Susan Ottaviano and Stevie Stewart18/47Chocolate Swiss Roll
This tender Swiss roll is one of our favorite dessert recipes, no matter the season. If you’ve made a rolled cake before and it didn’t quite go as planned, have no fear—this easy, foolproof method is for you.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton19/47Banana Cream Pie With Bourbon Whipped Cream
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton20/47Sweet-Potato Cobbler
If you like sweet potato or pumpkin pie, you’ll love this easy dessert. To make the filling, you’ll simmer sweet potatoes with cinnamon, allspice, brown sugar, and cane syrup until tender, then encase the root vegetables in biscuit dough. It’s a homey dish, substantial and rich with butter and cane syrup.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton21/47Easy Chocolate Mousse With Whipped Cream and Sea Salt
This eggless chocolate mousse is a bit of a culinary miracle—it’s made with just one (yes, one!) ingredient: melted chocolate.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Judy Kim22/47Sweet Potato Pie
This fall recipe from Toni Tipton-Martin’s Jubilee crosses sweet potato pudding with a classic custard pie. You don’t have to add the caramelized pecan topping, but we highly recommend it.
Photo by Alex Lau23/47Quince and Almond Tart With Rosé
Once you’ve baked enough apple desserts for the season, turn to a lesser known, but equally lovable fruit: quince. With a pretty, ruffled pattern on top, this dramatic quince tart would make an impressive end to any fall dinner.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Bill Clark24/47Pear and Hazelnut Frangipane Tart
An easy fall dessert, yes, but an incredibly impressive one too. The frangipane comes together quickly in a food processor, serving as a posh bed for pretty fanned pears.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson26/47Pumpkin Cheesecake With Bourbon–Sour Cream Topping
This classic Gourmet dessert gets its tang from sour cream and deep caramel notes from bourbon. Chopped pecans add rich, nutty flavor to the buttery graham crust.
Photo by Andrew Purcell, Food Styling by Carrie Purcell28/47Caramelized Honey Pumpkin Pie
Brown butter, caramelized honey, warm spices, and a few extra eggs give this pumpkin pie an ultra-custardy center. Cool it in the oven to prevent the top from cracking.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Nathaniel James, Food Styling by Anna Hampton30/47Chocolate-Pecan Sheet Pie With Molasses
You’ve heard about sheet cake, but what about sheet pie? Creamy chocolate ganache and crunchy candied pecans add extra texture and richness to this supersized version of the classic Thanksgiving dessert.
Photo by Isa Zapata, Prop Styling by Christina Allen, Food Styling by Emilie Fosnocht31/47Baked Apple Pancake
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Anna Surbatovich, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson32/47Apple Crisp for One
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson34/47Monkey Bread
Warmly spiced with cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, cardamom, and cloves, this shareable monkey bread tastes just like your favorite fall drink.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Nathaniel James, Food Styling by Anna Hampton35/47Pumpkin and Cookie-Butter Sheet Cake With Toasted Meringue
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Nathaniel James, Food Styling by Anna Hampton36/47Apple-Cranberry Crisp With Oatmeal-Cookie Crumble
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Astrid Chastka, Food Styling by Anna Hampton37/47Cinnamon–Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie
Cinnamon takes this chocolate chip cookie recipe straight into fall territory—and baking it in a skillet makes it dinner party–worthy.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks38/47Pecan-Orange Baklava Pie
This Thanksgiving, celebrate with a different kind of pecan pie. Trade the homemade pie crust (so good, but so fussy) for low-maintenance sheets of frozen phyllo dough, layered with toasted nuts and soaked with bourbon-honey syrup.
Photo by Matthew Septimus39/47Apple Walnut Bundt Cake
Made with oil instead of butter, this fragrant fall cake stays moist and flavorful for over a week. A caramel sauce glaze adds bittersweet richness to the cake.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi40/47Bourbon Pumpkin Pie
Jazz up classic pumpkin pie with tangy sour cream and a touch of bourbon, which lends warmth and depth of flavor to the pie.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Anna Surbatovich, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks41/47Spiced Pavlova With Pumpkin Mousse
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell43/47Majestic and Moist New Year's Honey Cake
Lightly spiced and scented with coffee, fresh orange juice, and rye whiskey, this honey cake is wonderful for ringing in Rosh Hashanah.
Photo & Food Styling by Kendra Vaculin44/47Pumpkin Dutch Baby With Pumpkin Butter
A bit of canned pumpkin purée makes this Dutch baby creamy and custardy on the inside, but light and airy around the edges. Use the rest of the purée in a rich pumpkin butter, sweetened with apple cider, maple syrup, and cinnamon.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks46/47Apple and Persimmon Tarte Tatin
Sweet, delicate Fuyu persimmons complement semi-tart, crisp Pink Lady apples in this elegant apple dessert. No need to make your own pastry—a sheet of frozen puff pastry works well here.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Astrid Chastka, Food Styling by Anna Hampton47/473-Ingredient Caramel Apple Tart
