How ‘Bout Them Apples?

My fall baking bucket list is all about the apples with these three must-make desserts.

Even though apples are in abundance all year at the grocery store, there is a feeling that kicks in on these first few days of fall and that feeling is “I need to bake something with apples right now.”

When it comes to fall baking and apple desserts, I have a few standbys in my recipe box. However, I recently tried a new-to-me recipe for Apple Pie Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting.

Apple Pie Cake is made in a pie dish and is a great alternative if you don’t want to deal with a pie crust or if you simply can’t make up your mind if you want a pie or cake! The “cake” is “apple-solutely” delicious on its own but I topped it with Brown Sugar Frosting which is a finger-licking glaze-like topping that came into my life from my mother-in-law Mary Lou. Her mom Charlotte made this frosting to top her Tomato Soup Cake. I love this flavor combo and think adding a drizzle of glaze or frosting gives the dessert a little extra pizzazz!

Apple Bars aka Apple Pie Bars are another go-to fall recipe in my house ever since my cousin-in-law Becci introduced me to her mom’s recipe which has been a favorite in her family for years. Side note: this recipe is consistently the top clicked-on recipe on my website and with good reason. It’s all the awesomeness of apple pie with the informality of a bar. Great for a potluck or picnic and equally as great to have to a pan around for impromptu snacking or sweet cravings.

I usually pick a Sunday during the Vikings game to peel and chop the apples and prepare the bars for a celebratory treat (if the Vikes win) or some much-needed comfort food (if the Vikes lose)! Sometimes I use a pre-made crust and I have even made these gluten-free. (There are some great mixes for gluten-free pie crust!)

One more on-demand apple dessert in my family that I actually make year-round is Apple Crisp aka Apple Crunch. I use a recipe that my mom gave me from her vast collection of newspaper and magazine clippings where many of our family’s most beloved recipes are stored. It’s such a simple, reliable recipe that I appreciate as I can pull it together pretty quickly with ingredients I am likely to have on hand.

Happy fall to you and yours. I hope you get the chance to bake (or simply enjoy!) all of your seasonal favorites! 🍎🍏