Love at First Bite with These Fall Snacks and Sweets
Pumpkins, pears, apples and maple practically beg to be mixed into taste-tempting fall bites. From sweets and snacks to apps and drinks, we’ve compiled a list of recipes using some of our favorite autumn flavors to help you celebrate the season.
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Pumpkin, maple, ginger and cinnamon...what could be better than all those fall flavors in one sweet little package? For one more taste of the season, roll the edges in finely chopped, toasted pecans.
Pear and Mascarpone Phyllo Cups
A perfect balance of sweet and savory, these pretty tarts are equal parts approachable and elegant.
Pumpkin Spice Caramel Puff Corn Snack Mix
This sweet and salty snack easily comes together for a delicious taste of fall flavors.
Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies
Sweet and a little salty, these mini apple hand pies are a festive way to get into the swing of all things fall.
Pumpkin Spice Latte Pancakes
This recipe turns fall’s favorite drink into irresistible pancakes that can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Caramel Apple Cinnamon Roll Cake
This creative dessert is part cake, part cinnamon roll. With swirls of apples and plenty of cinnamon, it really hits the sweet spot for fall.
Spiced Chai Buttercream Sandwich Cookies
Chai spice is like pumpkin spice’s exotic cousin. For a less spicy flavor, simply omit the white pepper.
How Our Favorite Fall Flavors Came to Be
Apple
In most places, apples are harvested in the fall, making them a crave-worthy autumn tradition. Eaten whole, baked into pies or cooked down into creamy apple butter, they embody the taste of fall. And they have a particular association with Halloween. Centuries ago, they were used as part of ancient festivals, including the Celtic Samhain that fell at the end of our modern October. Today, candy or caramel apples more likely come to mind. The candy apple is said to have been invented by accident in 1908 by a New Jersey candy maker experimenting with red cinnamon Christmas candy. Caramel apples came along in the 1950s, thanks to a candy maker experimenting with leftover Halloween caramels.
Pumpkin Spice
Turns out, there’s a very good reason Americans seem to go crazy for all things pumpkin spice: it’s our patriotic duty! Although the iconic blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves wasn’t officially sold as a spice mix until the 1950s, its American history stretches back much further. All these spices were readily accessible to the earliest American colonists — along with lots of pumpkins. In fact, at first pumpkins were the food of last resort for hungry colonists. They used them to brew beer and bake bread, and added them to porridges and stews. And they mixed pumpkin with those warm, aromatic spices. As with most things, Americans didn’t really start loving pumpkins (and pumpkin spice) until they were freed from the necessity of eating them. City dwellers grew nostalgic and made special trips to the country to get their pumpkin fix. And that nostalgia seems to only have grown stronger to this day.
Maple
While maple trees are tapped for syrup from February through April, the resulting syrup is now associated much more with fall than spring. Perhaps it’s the natural sweetness that’s welcome as cooler weather sets in. Or maybe, since it comes from trees, it’s become associated with the brilliantly changing leaves. Whatever the reason, maple is increasingly a favorite fall flavor. Some trend watchers predict it might soon overtake pumpkin spice!
Pumpkin Pie Spice Is for More than Just Pies
Few things evoke a warm, cozy fall vibe like the flavor of pumpkin pie spice — a blend of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and sometimes allspice. From playing a starring role in classic pumpkin pies to adding that special something to crunchy granola, this spice can truly do it all.
A Sweet Swap
Pumpkin pie spice can replace cinnamon in any recipe. Or add it to sweets like frosting, whipped topping or sugar cookies. You can even sprinkle it over hot chocolate or warm milk.
A Savory Twist
Add a few teaspoons to a ready-made alfredo sauce and serve with butternut squash ravioli.
A Bagel Topper
Mix into cream cheese with shredded carrots and a little confectioners’ sugar or honey for a sweet topping for bagels.