15 Recipes That Prove Fall Is The Best Season For Baking

Whether you're all about apples, crazy for pumpkin, or just have an all-around sweet tooth, fall is the best time of year for baking. From warm cinnamon buns to bourbon-brown butter pecan pie, these cozy recipes will satisfy all your autumn cravings.

1. Quick Cinnamon Buns with Buttermilk Glaze

These are my go-to cinnamon buns: light and tender on the inside, golden and caramelized on the outside and, best of all, easy to make. GET THE RECIPE

2. Crispy Ginger Cookies

These ginger cookies have just the right balance of spices — think ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and black pepper — and a wonderful buttery-crisp texture. GET THE RECIPE

3. Glazed Oatmeal-Maple Scones with Pecans & Currants

Adapted from Joanne Chang’s wonderful cookbook, Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Bakery & Cafe, these addictive breakfast treats are like a cross between scones and oatmeal cookies. GET THE RECIPE

4. Pumpkin Pecan Crunch Muffins

Here you have my favorite pumpkin bread (see below) reinvented as muffins, with an irresistible crunchy nut topping. GET THE RECIPE

5. Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread

Tender and sweet-scented with a gorgeous ribbon of melted chocolate running through it, this banana bread is not only delicious, it’s also fun to make. You spoon the banana and chocolate batters into a loaf pan alternately, then artistically swirl the two together with a knife. GET THE RECIPE

6. Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies

If you’ve been searching for the perfect peanut butter cookie, look no further. This recipe, adapted from My Father’s Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow is the best I’ve tried. The cookies are thick and soft with a rich peanut butter flavor and almost sandy texture. GET THE RECIPE

7. Pecan Shortbread Squares

A buttery shortbread crust and rich caramel-pecan topping make these squares truly over-the-top — the perfect hostess gift, treat for your co-workers or potluck dessert this time of year. GET THE RECIPE

8. Chai Spiced Banana Bread

If you want to take your basic banana bread up a notch, try this version infused with warm chai spices like cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and allspice. GET THE RECIPE

9. Double Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans

Stuffed with chocolate chips and pecans, these cookies emerge from the oven puffy, gooey, chewy and crunchy every single time. They are so rich and chocolatey, they almost beg for a tall glass of milk. GET THE RECIPE

10. Apple Pecan Crisp

If you’re looking for the perfect easy fall dessert, this is it: warm baked apples bubbling away in their own syrupy juices, topped with a crisp oat and pecan streusel. GET THE RECIPE

11. Cranberry Nut Bread

Sweet, orange-scented and chock-full of cranberries and walnuts, this bread is as pretty as it is delicious—perfect for the holidays. GET THE RECIPE

12. Rustic French Apple Tart

Like an apple pie without the pan, this rustic tart consists of a thin layer of sliced apples baked on top of a buttery, flaky crust. I know what you’re thinking: “too advanced for me.” Wrong! The dough comes together in under a minute and is virtually foolproof – promise. GET THE RECIPE

13. Chocolate Chip Scones

Sweet, tender and buttery with morsels of melted chocolate within, children absolutely love these scones. They’re wonderful served warm out of the oven, especially on a lazy weekend morning when you feel like spoiling everyone. GET THE RECIPE

14. Spiced Pumpkin Bread

I’ve been making this pumpkin bread since I was a little girl, and it’s just as delicious today as it was back then. It’s easy — just a bit of mixing and stirring, pop it in the oven and, in about an hour, you’ll have a house smelling of sweet autumn spices and two scrumptious, pumpkiny loaves. GET THE RECIPE

15. Bourbon-Brown Butter Pecan Pie

This is my favorite pecan pie. Made with dark brown sugar, golden syrup, brown butter, and a shot of bourbon, it is richer with a more complex praline flavor — and also less cloyingly sweet — than your typical pecan pie. GET THE RECIPE