31 Quick and Easy Fall Desserts That Will Make Your Kitchen Smell Amazing

Two favorite quick breads come together in this healthy pumpkin banana bread recipe. Pumpkin puree and mashed banana both add sweetness to help slash added sugar while ensuring this 100-percent whole-wheat loaf stays moist and tender.

This recipe takes oatmeal cookies up a notch with its cinnamony, buttery, delicious take on a much-loved classic dessert.

With all due respect to baklava, we've found a new favorite Lebanese dessert. This rich, moist cake is sweetened with carob molasses and has a hit of anise. We may or may not have fought over it in the Test Kitchen.

Use a spiralizer to skip the peeling and slicing in this easy apple crisp recipe. Plus the noodly texture of this gluten-free fruit dessert is a fun adaptation of traditional versions.

For bigger hits of chocolate goodness, use chopped bittersweet chocolate in place of the chips. Hold on to the leftover pumpkin puree—it's yummy stirred into your morning oatmeal or yogurt.

How can you go wrong with the combination of apples and caramel, especially in a fall dessert? This Caramel-Apple Cake recipe is surprisingly easy to make and requires just 20 minutes of active time—not bad for a such a fancy-looking treat! We call for white whole-wheat flour in this recipe; it has a milder flavor than regular whole-wheat flour and more fiber than all-purpose flour, so it's perfect for making healthier baked goods.

A dump cake recipe is exactly what it sounds like—you simply dump all of the ingredients into a pan and bake. There isn't a step where you stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture; instead, it goes into the baking pan in three stages and the result is a pudding-like cake with a streusel-like topping. The two parts together are delicious (and you'd be hard-pressed to find an easier fall dessert)!

This whole-grain hazelnut-espresso blondie recipe has half the amount of brown sugar and butter as a traditional recipe and is made with 100-percent whole-wheat flour. The results: scrumptious toffee-flavored treats with fewer calories and less added sugar per serving.

Classic oatmeal cookies without all the sugar, these better-for-you gluten-free treats get their sweetness from ripe bananas and chopped dates.

This easy apple cobbler recipe takes just 15 minutes of active time to prep, then it's a hands-off affair as it bakes up to bubbly goodness. Granny Smiths add a nice tartness to the cobbler and play nicely off the Honeycrisps. You could swap other sweet apples, such as Gala or Fuji, for the Honeycrisps. The part of the cake topping coming in contact with the apple mixture stays moist while the top gets crispy—the perfect combo of textures. Serve as-is or with vanilla ice cream for a classic fall dessert that can't be beaten.

This healthy caramel apple recipe has just enough caramel to give a nice hit of salty-sweet flavor in each bite for a tasty dessert.

This apple dessert marries the best parts of apple crisp with a baked apple to make an adorable and tasty sweet treat. Cooking an apple crisp inside an apple is a wonderful treat in summer with a scoop of ice cream, or in fall after an apple-picking trip.

This Queen of Sheba cake, a French classic, gets a minor update with less sugar and butter and a whisper of flaky sea salt on top—all of which lets the flavor of a special chocolate shine. Whipping a greater portion of the sugar into the egg whites makes them less easy to overbeat and creates a pleasing crust on top that contrasts with the moist and creamy interior.

This is a healthier version of the gooey-rich sticky toffee pudding recipe served in the winter at Joanne Chang's Asian restaurant Myers+Chang in Boston. Lightly sweetened with maple syrup, the cake is chock-full of rich, naturally sweet dates.

This pudding-like pumpkin cake has a luscious cream cheese swirl amid the spiced pumpkin layer. Organic cake mix is "dumped" on top, then the cake is smothered with butter. Once baked and cooled, the mix forms a sweet and crispy topping.

What could possibly make pumpkin muffins even better? Mini chocolate chips! Our healthy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are made with white whole-wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour and are sweetened with just the right amount of brown sugar to make them sweet without being cloying.

Who can resist the aroma of baked apples wafting through the house? Top with nonfat vanilla frozen yogurt for a real treat.

This easy slow-cooker pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap-and-walnut crust is full of all your favorite fall flavors. Cooking dessert in the slow cooker frees up oven space, making this healthy dessert perfect for entertaining. It might just bump your regular old pumpkin pie off the Thanksgiving menu. To make this recipe gluten-free, swap out the regular gingersnap cookies for gluten-free gingersnaps.

Deep-frying doughnuts adds a lot of unnecessary oil and fat. Air-frying doughnut holes, however, cuts the amount of oil you use but still delivers a delicious crispy crust. Serve these no-yeast doughnut holes warm for the best texture and flavor.

Classic chocolate chip cookies get a fall update by mixing in pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice. Not only are these pumpkin cookies even more flavorful than regular chocolate chip cookies, they're also oh-so-soft and cakelike. Use chocolate chunks for big gooey bites of chocolate or opt for mini chocolate chips to ensure a bit of chocolate in each bite.

The aroma of baked apples filled with dried fruit and toasted nuts will brighten up any cold winter's day.

This simple oatless apple crisp gets its sweet topping from white whole-wheat flour, dark brown sugar and butter. Any sweet, firm apple will work. Experiment and mix and match to find your favorite fruit combo.

Layering the ingredients in this coffee cake recipe right into the pan lets you skip the steps of making the batter and the nut topping separately. To make this healthy one-bowl dessert so it can be served like pull-apart rolls, dollop 16 equal portions of batter over the nuts. If you don't want to fuss with that, dollop the batter on top however you like.

Think of these baked apples as individual apple crisps. Use apples that get nice and soft when they're cooked. Try serving it with a splash of dark rum and a dollop of fat-free Greek-style yogurt.

This Slow-Cooker Apple Cobbler couldn't be easier: just spend 15 minutes prepping the apple mixture and cake topping, then let the slow cooker take care of the rest. We like the mixture of Honeycrisp and Fuji apples, but you can use other apples, such as Gala or Pink Lady, or add some Granny Smiths for tartness. Just steer clear of softer apples like Macintosh or Golden Delicious, which will get too mushy in the slow cooker. The apples release their juices, which marry with the sugar to create a delicious caramelly sauce, while the topping puffs up and takes on a lovely brown color. This simple fall dessert is delicious as-is or with a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream.

This dairy-free pumpkin pie gets its structure from aquafaba (the leftover water from a can of chickpeas) whipped up into a meringue-like foam. When it's combined with pumpkin and poured into a gluten-free pecan crust, you would never know beans had anything to do with this easy dessert recipe.

Looking for a unique and delicious dessert? These spicy-sweet pears are poached in red wine, served with a pomegranate syrup and sprinkled with walnuts and cinnamon

Layers of pumpkin and chocolate batter swirl together to make this equally beautiful and delicious quick bread. A big bonus: you'll use a whole can of pumpkin, so no leftover bits to worry about when making this healthy pumpkin bread.

Sticking to its food-waste mission, L.A. Kitchen created this dessert to work with almost any fruit you have on hand. We've done it here with pears and apples, but you can use berries or even tropical fruits instead. The addition of dried fruit adds a concentrated hit of flavor you won't get from fresh alone.

This snack cake with pumpkin and spices is topped with an apricot-ginger glaze and sprinkled with toasted almonds.

Get the classic creamy pumpkin taste but less saturated fat and sugar with this lightened-up recipe.