When fall rolls around, apple pie is an obvious dessert — bursting with fresh, soft apples tucked into a tender, flaky crust. If you can’t get enough of apple treats, explore our favorite dessert recipes that make the most of apple season. Try our apple cake, doughnuts, fritters, ice cream sandwiches, and more. These are the best autumnal apple desserts we plan to bake all season.
Tarte Tatin
Morgan Hunt Glaze / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle
This award-winning classic apple tarte Tatin comes to us from French chef Benoît Guichard, and we insist on trying it at least once this season. Simple ingredients like butter, vanilla, and sugar, all in perfect proportions create this masterpiece apple dessert.
Gorgeous Glazed Apple Fritters
Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Christine Keely
These perfectly adorable apple fritters feature crisp apples, citrus, applesauce, and warming spices in the dough for a complex mix of autumnal flavors. A cardamom glaze brings out the floral notes of autumn spice, while a decorative garnish of pistachios and rose petals adds a final contrast of sweet and earthy flavors.
Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
Use fresh apple cider for a burst of flavor in these baked, buttery, cinnamon-sugar spiced treats.
Apple Sharlotka
Food & Wine / Photo by Jason Donnelly / Food Styling by Holly Dreesman / Prop Styling by Addelyn Evans
Chef Matt Danko’s deliciously light and fluffy Russian apple cake is best served warm, shortly after it emerges from the oven. It’s dressed up with a simple dusting of powdered sugar, no other accompaniment needed.
Spiced Brown-Butter Apples
Greg Dupree
Dessert doesn’t get easier than this pan of tender roasted apples drenched in browned butter and cozy spices.
Skillet Apple-Ginger Crisp
Antonis Achilleos
It’s hard to mess up this unfussy apple crisp. Enhanced with pops of candied ginger and warm cinnamon, it’s a fabulous dessert to take to a party. Bonus: It can easily be made ahead of time.
Cinnamon-Apple Babka
Cinnamon-Apple Babka.
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Ali Ramee / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
Close your eyes, and imagine a giant cinnamon bun stuffed with apple pie and baked in a cast-iron skillet, complete with caramelized edges and a snow-white glaze. Welcome to this incredible apple babka.
Apple-Rum Spice Cake
Tara Donne
Enveloped in billowy cream cheese frosting flavored with fresh-pressed ginger juice, this autumnal centerpiece dessert features layers of gently spiced chiffon cake and cinnamon-tinged apple compote spiked with gold rum.
Apple Upside-Down Cake
Cara Cormack
Notes of sweet vanilla and brown butter waft through this caramelized apple upside down cake. It’s a total crowd-pleasing autumn recipe that will quickly become a new favorite.
Miso Caramel-Apple Danish
Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
A buttery, ultra-flaky pastry wraps around a miso-caramel apple filling. Enjoy this autumnal dessert with a sweet, crisp dessert wine, or even as a special seasonal breakfast with coffee.
Apple Fritters
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
Sweet, bright Honeycrisp apples are stirred into the batter of these quick-cooking fritters. An apple cider vinegar glaze adds a pop of flavor as a finishing touch.
Apple Flambé Pie
Photo: Victor Protasio / Food Stylist Torie Cox /Prop Stylist Claire Spollen
There is so much to love about this pie. Apple cider, a multitude of apples, fennel, and orange bring complex flavors of citrus, autumn spice, and a hint of licorice. A final touch of flaming Calvados gives the pie that special apple “something” in every bite.
Apple and Olive Oil Bundt Cake
Christopher Testani
Chef Rachael Coyle’s transformation of Italian apple cake into Bundt cake is inspired and approachable. Enticing aromas of cardamom, orange, and vanilla float through this autumnal apple dessert.
Double-Crust Apple Pie
© Tina Rupp
The key to this iconic dessert is a mix of apple varieties to maximize the filling’s flavors and textures. We like the combo of Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and Golden Delicious, but you can use your favorite blend of sweet and tart apples.
Apple Cider Cream Pie
© Dana Gallagher
This award-winning dessert is a clever mash-up of cream pie and apple pie. Use the best apple cider you can source, a local variety if possible.
Deep-Dish All-American Cinnamon Apple Pie
Greg DuPree
As one of our 2018 picks for best-ever recipes, this pie starts with macerated apples that develop richly juicy fruit flavor. The apple liquid is cooked down with butter to make a perfect fall syrup, then the apples and syrup are baked together in a classic pâte brisée pie shell.
Country Honey Apple Galette
© Con Poulos
You can expect nothing less than perfection from Chef Jacques Pépin, and this free-form apple tart does not disappoint. Beautiful slices of softened spiced apples decorate a no-fuss pastry dough.
Apple Tart with Almond Cream
© Lisa Linder
In this picture-perfect apple tart, a from-scratch almond cream filling is spread inside a pastry shell then topped with brown sugar-kissed apple slices. Enjoy fresh from the oven or bake it one day ahead of serving.
Apple Cider Cake
Abby Hocking / Food & Wine
If you love apple cider doughnuts, try this tender, moist cake next. It’s got both concentrated apple cider and cooked apple pieces in the batter, plus an apple cider syrup to glaze the baked and cooled cake.
Apple Pie à la Mode Ice Cream Sandwiches
Eva Kolenko
As an homage to her grandmothers, Top Chef winner Kristen Kish created these autumnal ice cream sandwiches that feature a spiced apple pie ice cream and chewy snickerdoodle cookies.
Apple Cake with Cranberries
John Kernick
Cranberries line the perimeter of this moist and buttery apple upside-down cake to double down on the fall flavors and create a striking visual contrast.
Apple-Pomegranate Cobbler
David Cicconi
Apple brings warmth and a gentle sweetness while pomegranate seeds add a deep fruit flavor and pops of gorgeous red color. The tender-meets-crunchy cobbler topping is just begging for a scoop of velvety-smooth ice cream.
Maple-Apple Upside-Down Cake
© Con Poulos
Slices of tart Granny Smith apples are arranged in a pool of concentrated maple syrup, which infuses both the fruit and the cake for an autumn treat that tastes like old-fashioned apple pancakes.
Apple Pie Bars
© Quentin Bacon
These nutty streusel-topped bars are just as American as apple pie, but easier to slice up and serve to a crowd.
Apple Cake with Toffee Crust
© Anna Williams
Pastry chef Lara Atkins pours a toffee glaze over her warm apple-laced cake, which becomes a crackly-sweet crust once everything’s cooled. She serves up each slice with caramelized apples, toffee sauce, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an extravagant dessert that delights with each bite.
Spiced Upside-Down Apple Bundt Cake
© Con Poulos
Chef and bakery owner David Guas brings us an apple Bundt cake with a unique streusel topping. The pecan-and-toasted-oat topping is baked separately than the cake until nice and crisped, then it’s packed right over the cake fresh from the oven.
Apple Bread Pudding
© Anson Smart
Gail Simmons’ fall-inspired dessert features butter-sautéed spiced apples cooked down in Calvados. The mixture is folded into a vanilla bean custard with cubed brioche then baked until golden.
Apple Pie Granita
Kana Okada
Chef Emeril Lagasse gently spices natural-style apple juice and transforms it into a refreshing granita. This drink is perfect for early fall days when the temperature is still soaring.
Caramelized Apple Clafoutis
© Akiko Ida & Pierre Javelle
This slightly sweet French apple pastry is made from apples, crème fraîche, and Calvados. Serve it with buttery triple-cream Brillat-Savarin cheese for an unmatched flavor combination.
Apple Pandowdy
© Tina Rupp
Pie for a crowd, this pandowdy uses a mix of Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and Golden Delicious apples for the perfect fall treat.