12 Tasty Apple Desserts Beyond Pie

I love apple season. Picking them, baking with them and yes, even eating them plain, comprise some of my favorite parts of the fall season. In fact, one of my favorite memories of all time is when I visited my brother in college for the Ithaca Apple Festival. While the festival itself was brief, we did plenty of baking and I left behind several tasty apple desserts that we had to hide in his bedroom to keep away from a sticky fingered roommate.

To get us all into the fall spirit, I pulled together some of the most delicious recipes I could find that extend well beyond the realm of plain old American apple pie.  Instead, think about cakes, cookies, crumbles and cheesecakes next time you find yourself leaving an apple orchard with more fruit than a reasonable person could ever eat.

These are all great desserts for a party, a tailgate or even to tempt your coworkers with at the office until they tell you to stop it, you’re ruining their diets. Not that I would know or anything…

Apple Walnut Cake

Apple Walnut Cake is a simple, sweet way to enjoy apples in the fall. Even with a cup of sugar, this isn’t over-the-top sweet, perfect for breakfast or alongside an afternoon cup of  coffee. Of course, a little ala mode never hurt anyone either…

Gourmet Caramel Apples

Who doesn’t love a caramel apple in the fall? Whether you’re using a prepackaged kit or purchasing the ingredients separately, these gourmet caramel apples are bound to be a crowd-pleaser.

Spiced Apple Walnut Bread

If your sweet tooth is more subtle, spiced apple walnut bread is the perfect way to decompress in the afternoon with a cup of coffee.

Jewish Apple Cake

Though I can’t, for the life of me, figure out what makes this Jewish Apple Cake “Jewish” (does it go to synagogue?) it has all of the essentials of a traditional fall dessert.

Caramel Apple Shortcakes

If you love strawberry shortcake in the spring, you’ll love caramel apple shortcake in the fall…and winter…and summer. This is a great way to rid your kitchen of leftover apples…and if you’re anything like me, might even replace dinner once or twice this season.

Apple Cinnamon Snickerdoodle Bars

I recently developed an obsession with bar cookies…and not just because I have an obsession with all cookies. These apple cinnamon snickerdoodle bars need to be in my oven, stat.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake

Caramel. Apple. Cheesecake. That’s all.

Glazed Apple Crumb Cake

There is something vintage about crumb cake that I absolutely love. “Crumb cake” sounds like something my grandmother made…but glazed apple crumb cake? That sounds very, very 2015.

Apple Cider Donuts with Dulce de Leche Glaze

For the majority of the year, I have very little interest in donuts, unless they happen to be Dinkel’s donuts, which in my humble opinion are the best in Chicago, but that’s another story. These apple cider donuts with molasses dulce de leche glaze sound unique enough to steal the show at any tailgate or brunch party.

Apple Cider Donuts

Let’s talk more about donuts. Apple cider donuts are one of my favorite fall treats and let’s just say, you can never have too many options. These are delicious as donut holes , miniature donut muffins or as regular sized, good old fashioned donuts.

Caramel Apple Cookie Cups

From the adorable files, these caramel apple cookie cups are perfect for a dessert buffet, if you’re into that kind of thing. And who isn’t into that kind of thing?

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Caramel and Apples

There goes a saying, “you can never be too rich or eat too much cheesecake.” Wait, maybe that’s not a thing. Luckily, vanilla bean cheesecake with caramel and apples is very much a thing, and I like it.