16 Fall Baking Recipes: Muffins, Breads and Cakes

🍂 You can smell fall before you see it

On the first crisp morning of October, the house just wants to smell like cinnamon. It’s apple season, pumpkin season, and the bananas are turning black on the counter. Best of all, it’s the perfect time to turn the oven back on!

You’ll find muffins for lunches, quick breads to slice in the morning and cakes for Sunday dessert. Almost everything freezes really well, so bake a big batch and you’ll have snacks until November.

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Banana pecan muffins

The secret is very ripe bananas and baking soda alone for the rise. Pecans add crunch to a crumb that stays moist for days. And they freeze beautifully for lunches.

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Caramel Apple Cake Recipe (Cinnamon Topping)

A moist cake made with oil and Greek yogurt, with a cinnamon apple layer. It gets drizzled with a homemade brown sugar caramel sauce while it’s still warm. THE Sunday dessert in October!

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Pumpkin bread

Cinnamon, ginger and allspice: it smells like fall the moment it goes in the oven. Pumpkin seeds on top add a little crunch. One slice with your coffee and the day starts right.

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Carrot Muffins

Two flours, applesauce and finely grated carrots are what keep these so moist. Cinnamon and ginger do the rest. You won’t go back to your old recipe.

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Maple cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing

A milk and maple whisky liqueur dough rolled with cinnamon, then covered in cream cheese icing. Start checking at 20 minutes, that’s when they stay tender. Perfect for a brunch that impresses.

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Apple and maple bacon muffins

Crispy maple bacon in an apple cinnamon muffin. Sweet, salty, and the applesauce keeps the crumb nice and moist. These disappear before they even cool down.

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Old Fashioned Banana Bread Recipe (No Nuts)

The real, simple one, with no nuts and no chocolate. It bakes for an hour on the middle rack and comes out golden, with a crumb that slices cleanly. The recipe to keep for all your overripe bananas.

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Pumpkin Bars Recipe (Cream Cheese Frosting)

Tender pumpkin cake sweetened with brown sugar and maple syrup, cut into squares. The trick: chill the frosting so you can spread a nice thick layer. It won’t make it through the weekend.

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Banana chocolate chip muffins

Baked at high heat to start, they rise into a nice dome with a soft center. Milk chocolate chips win over kids and grown-ups alike. A sure bet for the lunch box.

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The best date squares

A Medjool date filling flavored with dark rum between two crumbly layers. Soft, comforting, and even better the next day. Grandma’s date squares, upgraded.

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Cinnamon Raisin Bread

A soft crumb, a caramelized cinnamon swirl and Thompson raisins in every slice. It takes a little patience for the rise, but nothing complicated. Toasted with butter, it’s the perfect breakfast.

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Apple Bundt cake with ginger cider

Cortland apples caramelized in butter, maple syrup and ginger cider, tucked inside a Bundt cake. It looks great on the table and smells like an orchard. Ideal when you have company.

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Cranberry and blood orange muffins

Blood orange zest and juice wake up the cranberries, with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg. Yogurt keeps them light. A colorful muffin that already feels like the holidays.

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Chocolate chip banana bread with pecans

Inspired by my mom’s banana bread, with chocolate milk in the batter, pecans and chocolate chips. Frozen bananas work even better. A banana bread that tastes like dessert.

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Beer and carrot cake

Golden raisins soaked in rum, cinnamon, ginger and beer in the batter. The classic carrot cake, only moister and more flavorful. One slice with a coffee and it’s fall.

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Pumpkin muffins with pecan streusel

Nicely domed pumpkin muffins with a pecan streusel and a maple glaze. The oven trick for the dome is in the recipe. They taste like they came from a bakery, but you make them at home.

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