38 Best Fall Cookies to Bake When the Leaves Start Falling
Get cozy with a fresh batch.
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When the air starts turning crisp and the days slip into shorter stretches of sunlight, there’s only one place you’ll want to be: in the kitchen with your favorite mixing bowls and cookie sheets at the ready. Baking season is officially here and these fall cookie recipes are practically begging to be made! Maybe you’re hunting for new fall desserts to share with friends, or perhaps you're already thinking ahead to easy Thanksgiving treats you can make in advance. Either way, nothing fills the house with that fall feeling quite like a batch of cookies cooling on the counter.
Pumpkin-scented candles might set the mood, but they’ve got nothing on the real thing. Just wait until you pull a tray of pumpkin sugar cookies or pumpkin snickerdoodles out of the oven—the smell alone will make everyone wander into the kitchen! Or give other seasonal flavors a try, like apple-cinnamon cookies, gingersnaps perfumed with warm spices, or salted caramel treats. There are even some football-shaped cookies that are perfect for a fall tailgate or bake sale.
If you're new to baking, don’t worry. There are plenty of easy fall cookies like peanut butter cookies or iced oatmeal cookies. From there, you may feel like branching out to practice your decorating skills. Grab a pastry bag and try Ree Drummond's cowboy boot gingerbread cookies or the spiced cut-out cookies that look like pumpkins. You can also use that extra candy to make Halloween desserts like candy corn cookies to sweeten the season even more. Happy baking!
Nutella-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate chip cookies are already a crowd-pleaser, but these go one step further with a surprise center of gooey Nutella. Serve them warm and watch them vanish!
Cowboy Cookie Bars
Loaded with oats, chocolate chips, coconut, and pecans, these hearty bars are the perfect bake-and-share treat. They're sturdy enough to travel, sweet enough to impress, and downright irresistible with a cup of coffee.
Get Ree's Cowboy Cookie Bars recipe.
S'mores Cookies
Why wait for a campfire when you can bake up all the toasty goodness of s'mores in cookie form? With melty chocolate, gooey marshmallows, and graham cracker pieces, these cookies bring the classic treat indoors.
Get Ree's S'mores Cookies recipe.
Gingersnaps
The smell of gingersnaps baking is the definition of cozy. Made with molasses and plenty of spice, these cookies strike that perfect balance of chewy and crisp. Roll them in sugar before baking, and you'll end up with a sparkling top that makes them look just as good as they taste.
Get Ree's Gingersnaps recipe.
Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies
Oatmeal cookies get a seasonal twist in this version packed with chewy dried cranberries and fresh orange zest. They're a little tart and finished with a drizzle of white chocolate that makes them feel festive enough for any fall gathering.
Get Ree's Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies recipe.
Carrot Cake Cookies
Fall calls for warm spices like cinnamon and ginger and so does carrot cake! Make these mini cookie versions, top them with cream cheese frosting, and watch them disappear.
Get the Carrot Cake Cookies recipes.
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
It's hard to get better than spiced, cake-like pumpkin cookies come fall. But you can if you sandwich sweet marshmallow frosting in between them!
Get Ree's Pumpkin Whoopie Pies recipe.
Fig Bars
Remember these fig bars from when you were a kid? Well, now you can make them from scratch with a tender whole wheat cookie dough crust and an easy fig filling.
Get the Fig Bars recipe.
Caramel Apple Cookies
Granny Smith apples and warm spices? Yes, please! These cookies are loaded with tasty mix-ins like dried apple chips that make them perfect for fall.
Get the Caramel Apple Cookies recipe.
Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
Give your sugar cookies an autumnal makeover by adding pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin puree to the dough. Then, top it off with a layer of pumpkin-flavored icing.
Get the Pumpkin Sugar Cookies recipe.
Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies
These oatmeal cookies are chewy, sweet, and "magical," Ree says. You can serve them up with a glass of milk or even use them to make ice cream sandwiches!
Get Ree's Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies recipe.
Candy Corn Cookies
This might just be the easiest Halloween cookie around. The base is a simple white chocolate chip cookie, then you just top it off with candy corn for added color and sweetness.
Get the Candy Corn Cookies recipe.
Cinnamon Roll Cookies
These adorable cookies looks just like cinnamon rolls and taste like the, too! They even have the cinnamon swirl and sweet glaze to drizzle on top.
Get the Cinnamon Roll Cookies recipe.
Football Cookies
Fall isn't just baking season, it's also football season. So why not combine the two for your Friday Night Lights. They'll be the winner of the game!
Get the Football Cookies recipe.
Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Yes, you can make this nostalgic lunchbox treat at home—and they're so good! They're meltingly soft, full of spice, and topped with a lusciously sweet and simple glaze.
Get the Iced Oatmeal Cookies recipe.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
The combination of warm, spiced pumpkin and melty chocolate chips makes these cookies the ultimate fall comfort food. They'll be your new favorite for the season!
Apple Pie Cookies
These cookies are like adorable mini apple pies. You'll make the apple pie filling from scratch but the pie dough can simply be the store-bought kind.
Get Ree's Apple Pie Cookies recipe.
Peanut Butter Cookie
Remember this simple cookie as a kid? To get that classic crosshatch, we like to use a potato masher for the crisscross pattern.
Get the Peanut Butter Cookie recipe.
Millionaire's Shortbread
Take shortbread cookies up a notch by adding two dreamy layers of caramel and chocolate! The flaky sea salt helps to balance out the sweetness.
Get the Millionaire's Shortbread recipe.
Snickerdoodle Bars
These bar cookies are a fun twist on classic snickerdoodles! They still have the cinnamon-sugar topping and chewy texture just in a pretty diamond shape.
Get the Snickerdoodle Bars recipe.
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