10+ Must-Try Fall Desserts That Taste Like Autumn

Inside: 10+ delicious fall desserts, including pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes, applesauce cookies, pumpkin mousse dessert cups, healthier muffins, and more.

I don’t know about you, but fall is definitely one of my favorite seasons. I just LOVE everything about it – the fresh, crispy air, the gorgeous falling leaves, and even the moody sky.

And as the weather cools and the markets fill with apples, pears, and all the delicious varieties of pumpkin, I find myself baking something in my kitchen multiple times per week.

This article looks at 10+ of my favorite fall desserts that are rich, satisfying, and full of nostalgic flavors, perfect for celebrating the season.

From delicious apple and pumpkin mousse desserts to healthier pumpkin bars, muffins and super easy dessert options like ricotta and homemade applesauce toast cups, you’ll love these fall favorites too!

And if you’re looking for dessert ideas for special occasions, check out these articles:

• 10+ Pumpkin Desserts to Make This Fall
• 10+ Thanksgiving Desserts to Impress Your Guests (and Still Keep It Easy!)!

My absolute favorite is this Pumpkin Marshmallow Cheesecake recipe!

Applesauce Cookies With Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting

These applesauce cookies are soft, chewy, and full of all the autumn flavors, thanks to the cinnamon-y applesauce base. But it’s the chocolate peanut butter frosting that really seals the deal – the icing is perfectly rich, creamy, and just the right amount of indulgent.

These cookies are a fun and slightly unexpected fall treat that everyone will be asking for the recipe to.

Healthy Apple Muffins

These apple muffins hit that perfect weekday baking sweet spot: hearty enough for breakfast, just sweet enough for dessert.

Made with whole wheat flour, oats, and a touch of brown sugar, they’re moist, lightly spiced, and built to make your kitchen smell like fall in under 30 minutes.

Healthier Pumpkin Bars With Sugar-Free Frosting

These healthier pumpkin bars dial back the sugar and swap oil for applesauce, but still deliver that classic spiced-pumpkin richness.

The frosting? Creamy, light, and just sweet enough thanks to a clever use of sweetener. It’s a smarter take on a bake sale staple that doesn’t taste like a compromise.

Pumpkin Mousse

This pumpkin mousse is a light-as-a-feather autumn dessert made with whipped egg whites, whipped cream, and spiced pumpkin puree. It’s a beautiful single-serve treat that is perfect for serving after a big meal, whether it’s a at Thanksgiving dinner or a fall party with friends.

Ricotta & Homemade Applesauce Toast Cups

Crisp, golden-edged toast cups hold a silky ricotta-Greek yogurt filling topped with cinnamon-spiked applesauce. They look like mini tarts but come together with pantry staples, proof that dessert doesn’t have to be complicated to be pretty (or delicious).

They’re ideal for brunch, dessert, or anything in between.

Carrot Cake With Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

This carrot cake is everything I want in a fall dessert! It’s moist, full of delicious cinnamon and pumpkin spice flavors and not overly sweet.

It’s made with a mix of white and wholemeal flour, a little applesauce to cut down on oil, and a blend of brown and white sugar for that warm, rich flavor. The lime cream cheese frosting is light and tangy with less sugar than usual, which honestly makes it even better.

And those two tall layers? They make this cake feel a little more special without a lot of extra fuss.

Apple Mousse aka Apple Snow

Light, airy, and totally unexpected, this apple mousse flips the script on fruit-forward desserts. A layer of smooth, spiced applesauce anchors a cloud of whipped egg whites like a fall breeze in dessert form.

Top it with crushed cookies, toasted nuts, or a pinch of cinnamon, and suddenly it’s dinner party-worthy.

Healthy Apple Crumble with Rhubarb

More fruit, less fuss. This delicious crumble leans into the natural tartness of apples (and optional rhubarb), letting their flavor shine underneath a crisp, crumbly finish.

It’s the kind of dessert that blurs the line between sweet and wholesome and tastes just as good cold the next morning.

Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Icing

These soft pumpkin cookies are packed with warm fall spices and made a little healthier thanks to wholemeal flour and coconut sugar.

The cream cheese icing adds a rich, tangy flavor, and the crushed walnuts used to decorate them bring a nice little crunch. They’re the kind of fall treat that disappears fast from the cookie tin.

Homemade Applesauce Toast Cups with Whipped Cream

Think of these as the cuter cousin of pie: toasty, golden cups cradling warm homemade applesauce and crowned with a cloud of whipped cream. Made in a muffin tin, these little toast cups are part snack, part dessert, 100% fall.

Plus, they’re light, simple, and ready in under 30 minutes for your next afternoon tea moment.

Apple Tiramisu

This is tiramisu, reimagined: no espresso, no cocoa, just layers of gently sweetened mascarpone, Greek yogurt, and ladyfinger biscuits, homemade chunky applesauce, and the kind of lightness that lets you go back for seconds.

Although made with healthier ingredients, this apple tiramisu is still as indulgent as the classic dessert, but without all the heaviness, and somehow even more comforting.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pumpkin Greek Yogurt Frosting

These moist pumpkin cupcakes are a delicious way to sneak a little extra goodness into your fall baking.

Topped with a creamy frosting made from Greek yogurt and pumpkin puree, they’re a light and flavorful fall dessert that’s just a touch healthier than your average cupcake. Great for everything from autumn bake sales to weekend baking with the fam.

Apple and Ricotta Phyllo Parcels

These golden parcels are flaky on the outside, creamy on the inside, and impossibly easy to devour. A filling of homemade applesauce and a tangy blend of ricotta and Greek yogurt gives each bite a just-sweet-enough richness, wrapped in delicate phyllo that shatters with every forkful.

They’re elegant without trying too hard and perfect for when you want dessert to look as good as it tastes.

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