When I say simple fall desserts I mean the stuff that uses whatever’s cheap and good right now, apples, pears, pumpkin, maple, a lot of cinnamon, and doesn’t need a stand mixer or a water bath or my whole Saturday. These are the 12 I end up making every single autumn, roughly from easiest to slightly more effort, plus the full recipe for an apple cider donut cake that honestly tastes like a trip to the orchard.
Team pumpkin? We’ve put all 17 of our pumpkin recipes on one page, from cheesecake to chili.
Seems like everyone’s in the same mood. Pinterest searches for “simple fall desserts” in the US went up around 500% in the past month, jumped 90% in just the last week of September 2026, and they’re running about 70% higher than last year.
The really easy ones (15 minutes of work or less)
1. Caramel apple pie dump cake
Canned pie filling, a box of cake mix, butter and caramel. You literally dump it all in the pan, that’s the name. My caramel apple pie dump cake is about ten minutes before it goes in the oven.
2. Baked apples
Core four apples but leave the bottoms on, stuff each one with oats, brown sugar, chopped pecans, cinnamon and a little pat of butter. They bake at 375°F for 35 to 40 minutes with a splash of apple cider in the dish. Vanilla ice cream on top, obviously. My dad asks for these every time he visits.
3. Pumpkin cheesecake fluff
A no-bake whipped pumpkin dip that’s dangerous with gingersnaps or apple slices. The pumpkin cheesecake fluff happens to be low carb too, in case that matters for anyone at your table.
4. Sugar and spice pecans
Not exactly dessert, but a bowl of warm candied nuts after dinner never lasts long in my house. My sugar and spice pecans also make a sweet little gift in a jar.
Easy one-pan bakes
5. Apple cider donut cake
This is the one I’m sharing in full below. Boiled-down cider in the batter, a soft buttery crumb and a thick crunchy cinnamon sugar coat. It’s a bundt cake, so no layers, no frosting, no stress.
6. Pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting
One sheet pan, 24 squares, and they stay moist for days. Here’s my pumpkin bars recipe.
7. Apple crumble with oats
Sliced apples under a crunchy oat topping, nothing to roll out. My apple crumble is what I make when I have way more apples than plans.
8. Pear crisp
Same idea as the crumble but with ripe pears. I use about six, sliced, tossed with two tablespoons brown sugar, a tablespoon of cornstarch, a pinch of ginger and some lemon zest, and bake it at 375°F for 35 to 40 minutes till it’s bubbling. Pears let out a lot more juice than apples, so please don’t skip the cornstarch, I did once and it was pear soup.
9. Pumpkin bread with a cream cheese swirl
A loaf you can slice for dessert or breakfast, nobody’s judging. The pumpkin cream cheese bread is made with oil, so it stays soft all week long.
Cookies and little treats
10. Soft pumpkin cookies
Cakey iced ones, snickerdoodle style, or oatmeal. My pumpkin cookies post has all three because I couldn’t pick.
11. Maple shortbread
Beat a cup of butter with half a cup of powdered sugar and two tablespoons of real maple syrup, mix in two cups of flour and a pinch of salt, press it into an 8 x 8 pan and bake at 325°F for about 35 minutes. Cut it while it’s still warm. Four main ingredients and it tastes exactly like fall.
When you want to show off a little
12. Pumpkin cheesecake
More time, but not much skill, I promise. The pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap crust is meant to be made a day ahead, which takes all the pressure off on the actual day.
RECIPE
Apple Cider Donut Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups apple cider reduced to 1/2 cup
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 315 g
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup buttermilk or sour cream
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
Method
- Simmer the apple cider in a small saucepan until it reduces to 1/2 cup, 12 to 15 minutes. Let it cool.
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease the bundt pan very well with butter and dust it with flour.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl.
- Beat the butter with both sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
- Stir the cooled cider and buttermilk together. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the cider mixture, and mix only until combined.
- Spread the batter in the pan and bake 45 to 55 minutes, until a skewer in the thickest part comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack. Mix the sugar and cinnamon. While the cake is warm, brush it all over with the melted butter and pat the cinnamon sugar onto every surface.
Notes
Private Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!The secret to real apple cider flavor
Most cider cakes I tried before this one just tasted like a plain spice cake, and it bugged me for ages. Turns out cider straight from the jug is mostly water, so once it’s baked into a batter the apple flavor pretty much vanishes.
The fix is to boil it down. I simmer a cup and a half of cider until there’s only half a cup left, takes 12 to 15 minutes, then let it cool. You get three times the flavor in the same amount of liquid, so the batter doesn’t end up too wet. If you can find the cloudy unfiltered cider in the fridge section, grab that, it’s deeper and more tart than shelf-stable juice.
And coat it while it’s warm, that part’s not optional. About 15 minutes after it comes out of the pan, I brush butter all over it and press the cinnamon sugar on. The warm butter is what makes the sugar stick and turn into that crunchy donut crust.
Picking one by how much time you’ve got
| Time | Dessert |
|---|---|
| Under 15 minutes hands-on | Dump cake, baked apples, cheesecake fluff, candied pecans |
| About 20 minutes hands-on | Apple cider donut cake, apple crumble, pear crisp, maple shortbread |
| Make a day ahead | Pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin bars, pumpkin bread |
A few things that make fall baking better
I always mix my apples. Granny Smith holds its shape and adds some tartness, and Honeycrisp or Golden Delicious go softer and sweeter, together they’re just better than either one alone. Buy canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, the filling is already sweetened and spiced and it throws off any recipe that wants plain pumpkin (I’ve grabbed the wrong can more than once, they look identical). Warm your cinnamon in the melted butter for a minute before using it, the flavor gets so much rounder. And put a pinch of salt in every crumble topping or glaze, it makes the fruit taste sweeter, weirdly.
Questions people ask me about fall desserts
What’s the easiest one to make?
Dump cake or baked apples. Both are about ten minutes of work and you don’t need any special equipment.
Which ones can I make ahead?
Pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin bars, pumpkin bread and maple shortbread all keep well for two to four days. The donut cake is best within a couple of days.
Can I use apple juice instead of cider in the donut cake?
You can, but it’ll taste sweeter and kind of flat. If that’s what you’ve got, boil it down the same way and add a teaspoon of lemon juice to the batter.
What’s good for a big crowd?
Sheet pan pumpkin bars (24 squares), a 9 x 13 dump cake, or a big pan of apple crumble, each one feeds 12 or more.
One last tip: keep a jug of apple cider in the fridge from September right through November. It makes a quick glaze, a drink for whoever drops by, and the base for half the desserts on this list.
