Celebrate fall with these dessert recipes

As it gets cooler, many of us start thinking about all the recipes we typically save for fall weather - beef stew, chicken and dumplings, casseroles. Then, of course, you need desserts loaded with fall favorites such as apples and cinnamon. We chose a few recipes to share with our readers for this season, ranging from simple to more complex. There is one recipe we tested that pumpkin spice lovers should appreciate. And we threw in a fun Halloween treat you and your kids will love that comes together quickly. In our office, the apple pie cake seemed to get the best reviews, so it will definitely be back when it isn't 97 degrees outside. If you can't find pumpkin spice, we've included a quick recipe for that, too, using spices you probably already have. Happy baking this season.

Pumpkin Spice

By Ree Drummond

Ingredients

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons nutmeg

1-1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1-1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk together cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves until well combined. Store in a small jar or container.

Apple Pie Cake

By Joanna Cismaru of Jo Cooks

Ingredients

1 box yellow cake mix

1 1/2 cups water

1/3 cup oil

3 eggs

Apple Mixture

3 green apples and 3 red apples, peeled, cored and sliced

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp lemon juice

Topping

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, cut into small pieces

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees and spray a 13x9 inch pan with baking spray.

Prepare the yellow cake according to package instructions and pour into prepared pan.

In a medium bowl, toss together the apple mixture ingredients together and spread over the cake batter.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar and salt for the topping and cut in the butter using a fork or pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle topping over the apples and cake batter, evenly.

Bake about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before serving. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if preferred.

Halloween Graveyard Brownies

By Lauren Allen of Tastes Better from Scratch

Ingredients

For the brownies:

Prepared brownie batter for an 8" or 9" pan

12 Milano cookies

Black decorating gel

12 candy pumpkins

For the green buttercream frosting:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup butter (salted or unsalted), softened

2 teaspoons milk

green food coloring

Instructions

Spray the pan with nonstick spray. Pour brownie batter into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Bake according to recipe instructions.

Allow brownies to cool completely and transfer the brownies to a flat surface.

Cut the brownies into 12 rectangles.

Mix all of the frosting ingredients together in a bowl. Mix for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. (Add a little more powdered sugar to make the mixture thicker, or another dash of milk to make it thinner, as needed.)

Mix in a few drops of green food coloring. Set aside.

Use the black (edible) gel pen to write the letters R-I-P on the top of each Milano cookie. I also cut the very bottom edge off of my cookies to make the "headstones" a little shorter, but you don't have to.

Press each cookie into the top of the brownie, as if it were a grave headstone.

Spoon a little green frosting onto the bottoms of the candy pumpkins and add them near the cookie.

Pumpkin Spice Toffee Roll-out Cookies

By Mike Tamplin of Semi Sweet Designs

Ingredients

1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 tsp pumpkin spice

1 tsp salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup toffee bits

Instructions

In a mixer, cream together butter and the two sugars. Mix until fluffy and well incorporated.

Add egg, vanilla extract, salt and pumpkin spice. Mix until it is all well incorporated.

Add flour, mixing a cupful at a time, to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. After everything is well mixed, the dough should be non-greasy to the touch. If it's still a little sticky, add a 1/4 cup of flour.

Stir in the toffee bits.

Roll to 1/4-inch thickness between two sheets of parchment or wax paper. After rolling, chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Cut out shapes and place them on a parchment paper-lined, light-colored baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes until light brown. Leave the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes.