Fall Baking Projects and Recipes

As the temperature begins to drop, warm your kitchen up with oven-baked goods, from savory breads to decadent desserts and beyond.

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The Ultimate Caramel Apple Pie

Tyler's caramel apple pie — with layers upon layers of thinly sliced apples doused in a red wine caramel sauce and packed inside a domed crust — is the juiciest, meatiest pie you've ever tasted.

Get the Recipe: The Ultimate Caramel Apple Pie

Pumpkin Sticky Buns with Pecan Bourbon Caramel Goodness

These pumpkin buns get their sticky from a gooey, bourbon-spiked caramel sauce, which you’ll be licking off your fingers to the last drop. Combined with toasted pecans, these fall-flavored buns have a hint of Southern comfort — perfect for the dropping temps.

Get the Recipe: Pumpkin Sticky Buns with Pecan Bourbon Caramel Goodness

Pecan Banana Bread

Few things beat the smell of freshly baked banana bread. Zoe's recipe turns out a sweet, cakey, pecan-studded loaf that's perfect with your morning coffee.

Get the Recipe: Pecan Banana Bread

Chocolate, Coconut and Almond Devils Food Twinkies

This devilish treat riffs on two childhood favorites, Twinkies and Almond Joys, in the form of a chocolate cake covered with almond marshmallow cream and tropical coconut shavings.

Get the Recipe: Chocolate, Coconut and Toasted Almond Devils Food Twinkies

Pumpkin Doughnuts

Hedy Goldsmith's secret for shortcut doughnuts? Using store-bought buttermilk biscuit dough. After frying, fill them with a spiced pumpkin-cream cheese filling for an anytime fall or holiday treat.

Get the Recipe: Pumpkin Doughnuts

Dried Fruit Schiacciata with Rosemary, Orange and Anise

Pastry chef Hedy Goldsmith describes this recipe as "focaccia on steroids; the mac daddy of autumn flavors and textures." Serve with a bit of lightly sweetened ricotta cheese to start or finish your meal.

Get the Recipe: Dried Fruit Schiacciata with Rosemary, Orange and Anise

Bonz of the Dead

Known by Italians as Ossa dei Morti, these cookies are super hard and crunchy, so be careful when biting down! Toasted ground anise seeds give them a cool licorice flavor, and they're great dunked in your espresso or coffee.

Get the Recipe: Bonz of the Dead: Ossa dei Morti

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

A pecan-and-pepitas-filled streusel gives these muffins satisfyingly sweet crunch. Enjoy them with a hot cup of tea or coffee for the perfect fall breakfast or afternoon snack.

Get the Recipe: Pumpkin Streusel Muffin

Free-Form Apple-Pear-Cranberry Tart

Put away the pie tin for this rustic tart that's loaded with sliced apples, pears and cranberries. Simply roll out the crust into a circle and fold the edges over the filling. It's sweet and tangy, and doesn't require any fussiness on your part. It's best served with vanilla ice cream.

Get the Recipe: Free-Form Apple-Pear-Cranberry Tart

Stout Coffee Cake With Pecan and Caraway Streusel

A dark stout beer adds depth to this rich coffee cake that's studded with currants and topped with a pecan-caraway streusel.

Get the Recipe: Stout Coffee Cake with Pecan and Caraway Streusel

Sweet and Salty Cake

While this cake isn't quick and easy to make, it is unbelievably delicious with its contrasting sweet and salty flavors. Consider it a labor of love (whether for yourself or others).

Get the Recipe: Sweet and Salty Cake

Apple Muffins

Filled with chunks of sweet Golden Delicious apples and chopped pecans, these muffins gain substance and nutty flavor with whole-wheat flour.

Get the Recipe: Apple Muffins

Tres Leches Bread Pudding

Who knew you could bake dessert in your slow cooker? Kelsey's recipe for Tres Leches Bread Pudding is ready in four hours. Don't forget the cinnamon-sugar sauce that takes it to the next level.

Get the Recipe: Tres Leches Bread Pudding

Monkey Tail Banana Cake

Rich banana cake is studded with chocolate chips, layered with chocolate-hazelnut spread and topped with fluffy whipped-cream frosting in Sara Hodgson's winning cake recipe.

Get the Recipe: Monkey Tail Banana Cake

Apple-Studded Brown Butter Streusel Coffee Cake

Cooking butter until it turns a rich brown color adds nutty flavor to this addictive coffee cake. In fact, it's almost impossible to pack in more appealing elements here: buttermilk batter, warm spices, streusel topping, the browned butter and lots of apples.

Get the Recipe: Apple-Studded Brown Butter Streusel Coffee Cake

Moelleux au Chocolat

Molten chocolate cakes are ubiquitous on restaurant menus, but Laura Calder's homemade version with dark chocolate and caramel sauce blows most of them out of the water.

Get the Recipe: Moelleux au Chocolat

Canneles

These tiny French treats are delicious with coffee for breakfast or as a dessert.

Get the Recipe: Canneles

Williamsburg Wrapples

Wrapples — pastry rolls stuffed with apples and cinnamon and glazed with sugar — are the signature baked good at The Williamsburg General Store in Williamsburg, Mass. They're essentially apple pies, repackaged.

Get the Recipe: Williamsburg Wrapples

Cookies and Cream Fudge Brownies

It doesn't get better than Lorraine Pascale's recipe for dense, gooey, fudgy brownies decked out with bits of Oreos.

Get the Recipe: Cookies and Cream Fudge Brownies

Chocolate Truffle Cake

An edible masterpiece of chocolate, with subtle orange flavor, this cake is the perfect finale to a very special dinner. Layers of dark chocolate cake alternate with whipped ganache, all coated with a shiny glaze.

Get the Recipe: Chocolate Truffle Cake

Petits Fours

Laura Calder's tiny cakes make an elegant ending to a fall dinner party.

Get the Recipe: Petits Fours

Naan Bread

There's nothing like fresh, warm naan to sop up Indian curries and sauces. Bake it at home with Anjum Anand's recipe.

Get the Recipe: Naan Bread

Easy Pastry Shop Apple Tart

Laura Calder's simple rustic tart calls for cinnamon-kissed apple slices to be layered atop a cream cheese and vanilla filling, letting the flavor of the crisp fall fruit shine through.

Get the Recipe: Easy Pastry Shop Apple Tart

No-Knead Bread

Chuck Hughes' no-knead recipe is a great introduction to bread baking. He makes two versions of this simple bread: one sweet, one savory.

Get the Recipe: No Knead Bread

Angel Cake

It takes just four ingredients to make this light and fluffy cake. Top with whipped cream or creme fraiche and any kind of berries you like.

Get the Recipe: Angel Cake with Blackberries and White Currants

Souffle Al Cioccolato

Souffles can be intimidating, even for seasoned bakers. Make David Rocco's dark-chocolate base ahead of time and freeze it, then bake the souffles for just eight minutes when it's time for dessert.

Get the Recipe: Souffle Al Cioccolato

Iced Orange Cake

Rachel Allen's moist cake gains flavor from the orange zest and juice in the cake batter, filling and icing.

Get the Recipe: Florence's Orange Cake

White Yeast Bread

With Rachel Allen's yeast dough, you can be as creative as you wish. Shape it into oval loaves, braids, simple rolls or pretzel-style knots and sprinkle with seeds.

Get the Recipe: White Yeast Bread