18 Easy Fall Baking Projects to Make This Weekend

Easy Pumpkin Dump Cake with Streusel Topping

These easy cookies, quick breads, cakes and pies will make any home baker feel like a pro. Each recipe has just 20 minutes or less active time, so you can pop your treats in the oven and get back to enjoying your weekend. Recipes like our Apple-Pie Bread, Spiced Pumpkin Walnut Cookies and Easy Pumpkin Dump Cake with Streusel Topping are healthy ways to add a little sweetness to your weekend.

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Apple-Cinnamon Cake

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This simple nondairy apple cake, which is often called Jewish apple cake, has origins in Eastern Europe. Cinnamon and sweet-tart Granny Smith apples make for a fragrant cake, while orange juice in the batter adds a sweet, fresh touch. Make it for Rosh Hashana or any other fall holiday or occasion. The leftovers (if there are any) pair nicely with a cup of coffee the next morning.

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Vegan Pumpkin Bread

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Flaxseed meal, which develops a gelatinous texture when mixed with water, replaces the eggs and provides structure to this moist, flavorful loaf.

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Easy Pumpkin Dump Cake with Streusel Topping

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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)!

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Apple-Pie Bread

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This easy everyday apple-pie bread makes a great breakfast-on-the-go with a cup of coffee. The fragrant spices typical of apple pie and the tender bits of baked apple inside also make it worthy as a healthy after-dinner dessert. Enjoy it warm from the oven with a pat of butter or cream cheese or keep it on your counter for a tasty treat during the week.

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Healthy Pumpkin-Oatmeal Cookies

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These tender pumpkin-oatmeal cookies have the perfect amount of sweetness from brown sugar and raisins and a slightly nutty flavor from almond butter. Enjoy them as an after-school snack or a healthy dessert. Several testers also said they'd love to eat them with a cup of coffee in the morning.

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Double-Chocolate Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin bread gets a chocolatey makeover in this healthy recipe that has cocoa powder in the batter and is studded with even more chocolate in the form of melty chips. This easy quick bread is so tasty, it could pass as a dessert.

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Apple-Crisp-Stuffed Baked Apples

Apple-Crisp-Stuffed Baked Apples

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.

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Cocoa Hazelnut Banana Bread

Cocoa and hazelnuts work in harmony to create a new twist on the classic banana bread in this simple recipe.

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Cherry-Apple Dump Cake

No special cooking knowledge is needed for this fruity dessert recipe. You literally "dump" the ingredients into a baking dish, pop it in the oven and enjoy.

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Caramel Apple Cookies

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Kids and adults alike will love these fall caramel apple cookies. They are crisp on the bottom and chewy in the center with bits of apple and just a hint of spice. The caramel glaze takes them over the top!

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Pumpkin Dump Cake

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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

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No-Oat Apple Crisp

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.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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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.

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Slow-Cooker Apple Crisp

Slow-Cooker Apple Crisp

Let your Crock-Pot do the work for this easy slow-cooker apple crisp. It tastes just like a classic apple crisp, with the apple combination adding a sweet and tart balance in each bite. It's sure to become a new fall favorite.

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Vegan Pumpkin Cookies

The pumpkin puree in these delicious vegan pumpkin cookies gives them a great orange color and fall flavor and also acts as the "egg" to help bind everything together. Coconut oil takes the place of butter in these cookies and should be solid when you use it--if it's not, stick it in the fridge for a few hours until it firms up. When we were developing this recipe, tasters said they wouldn't have known the cookies were vegan if they hadn't been told. We call that a win!

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Apple-Pecan Upside-Down Cake

Leaving the peel on the apples adds fiber to this low calorie cake recipe without interfering with the flavor.

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Instant-Pot Apple Crisp

Instant Pot Apple Crisp

Apple crisp in your Instant Pot?! Yes, you can! This easy Instant-Pot apple crisp has a nice balance of flavors from lemon zest and juice, brown sugar and sweet Honeycrisp apples. The whole-wheat flour and pecans add texture to the topping, which remains moist and delicious as it melds with the other flavors. To keep the texture from getting mushy, be sure not to cut the apple pieces too small. One-inch cubes will do the trick!

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Spiced Pumpkin Walnut Cookies

These spiced cookies are a wonderful treat in the fall or winter. Each bite offers delicious pumpkin flavor with chewy raisins and crunchy walnuts. Make and freeze an extra batch to keep on hand for up to a month.

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