21 Healthy Fall Baking Recipes

For dessert lovers, the fall season offers infinite possibilities. There are holiday dessert tables to look forward to, fragrant spice blends to inspire you, and so much seasonal produce to bake with. Whether you’re in the mood for a hearty pumpkin bread or a fruit-forward apple tart, there’s something autumnal to suit every craving.

Another great thing about sweater season is that it’s relatively easy to bake healthier desserts. Many fall classics are packed with nutrient-dense root vegetables like sweet potatoes and pumpkin. Strong spice flavors like cinnamon and nutmeg pair well with hearty whole-grain flours. And baking with sweet fruits like apples and pears makes it easy to cut back on added sugar without losing too much sweetness.

If you’re looking for healthy fall baking recipes to try this year, you’re sure to find a few that you love in this list. Some are holiday-worthy. Some might become regular additions to your weekend breakfast repertoire. Others are bite-sized riffs on traditional desserts. All are delicious and totally worth a try.

Start with Food Network Kitchen’s Best Pumpkin Bread. It’s perfectly moist, not-too-sweet and couldn't be easier. It’s perfect for toasting and slathering with butter or cream cheese, and maybe a drizzle of honey or maple syrup.

A spiced apple filling tops these buttery cookies, packing all the flavor of an apple pie into a single bite – for a fraction of the work and a smaller, lower-calorie serving size.

If you find yourself with one too many apples on hand, turn one of them into this wildly simple apple tart. If you want to cut back on some of the added sugar, you can skip the caramel sauce drizzle when you serve the tart and still end up with a sweet, fruity treat.

These cinnamon-sugar topped cookies are easy to make and require just a few ingredients to produce their light and crumbly texture. Though the cookies are traditionally made with manteca or lard, this recipe includes shortening as a more readily available option. A “tea” brewed from Ceylon cinnamon sticks hydrates the dough and brings warm notes. Freshly ground cinnamon — from an additional stick — adds a delightful texture to the sugar topping.

At the Rosh Hashanah meal, apples and honey symbolize the hope for a sweet new year. While this next-level cake isn’t traditional, it’s a fun dessert you can serve for the holiday or really anytime you want to impress. Scented with warm spices like cinnamon, cardamom, allspice and nutmeg, it requires just two bowls and no special equipment to whip up. And that’s not even the best part: When you cut into the loaf, entire slices of tart apples are revealed. How’s that as a way to work towards your five-a-day?

If sweet potato is your pie of choice then these cookies are for you: They channel all the flavor of that Southern favorite in a fun two-bite package. The crust comes together quickly and gets pressed into a mini-muffin tin, no rolling necessary. For a nutrient-dense twist, try crumbling one of the cookies over yogurt in the morning, along with some fresh chopped apple.

This decadent pumpkin cheesecake has fewer calories than most versions thanks to lower-fat cream cheese and Greek yogurt. Because of the strong pumpkin flavor and sweet brulee topping, you won’t notice the difference.

We combined the beloved ingredients in pumpkin bread – creamy pumpkin puree, warm fall spices and a generous pour of vanilla – but omitted any dairy or eggs for a completely plant-based seasonal treat. Vegan dark chocolate chips stirred into the batter and scattered on top add extra flavor and texture. We found the pumpkin bread to be easiest to slice at room temperature, but feel free to enjoy a piece while it’s still warm if you can’t resist!

Using a mix of white and whole wheat flour gives these muffins some extra fiber, and a combination of applesauce and fresh apples ensures plenty of fruit flavor and nutrients.

This high-fiber, low-fat breakfast dish is a crowd pleaser. It’s sweet and tender and quicker to make than individual pancakes. We love it with just a dusting of confectioners’ sugar, or try it with a drizzle of maple syrup.

The nutty flavor and varied textures of chewy puffed millet, crunchy brown rice and a touch of honey come together with a little marshmallow for a more complex version of your standard rice cereal treat. These are a great way to get in some whole grains when you’re a little tired of oatmeal and rice bowls.

​​Whole-wheat pastry flour is the key ingredient in these sweet, spice-scented high-fiber scones. It’s milled from a softer wheat than is used in regular whole-wheat flour, which results in tender, lighter baked goods.

Save your ripe bananas for this healthy marbled bread — it’s just over 200 calories per slice and made with half whole-wheat flour. A small amount of melted chocolate swirled in ensures that chocolate is in every bite.

Whole-wheat pastry flour, walnuts and a generous amount of shredded carrots mean that these spice-heavy cupcakes deliver two grams of fiber each.

This frozen pumpkin mousse pie uses frozen yogurt and canned pumpkin instead of ice cream or whipped cream for its filling. It’s lower in calories than most frozen desserts, but it still has everything you want from a fall dessert.

There are numerous sources of protein in these protein-packed chocolate chip muffins – creamy almond butter, luscious Greek yogurt, nutty almond flour, eggs and vanilla-flavored protein powder, providing 10 grams of protein per serving. But the touch of sweetness from the brown sugar, as well as the chocolate chips studded through, make these muffins perfectly satisfying and irresistibly tasty, too. To make them feel more seasonal, serve them with some fresh apple slices.

These whole-wheat muffins are lower in fat than regular, partly thanks to reduced-fat sour cream. We think it also adds wonderful tenderness and flavor. Walnuts also deliver omega-3 fatty acids that support immune function and overall health.

This banana bread is eggless and dairy-free, but you'll hardly notice the difference. The crumb is moist and tender, and the flavor gets better each day (if it lasts!).

Although these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are plenty sweet already, they get a little something extra from the addition of canned pumpkin.

Whole-wheat flour and Greek yogurt keep these cakes flavorful and moist while adding fiber and protein. Each cake gets one teaspoon of sweet cream cheese glaze – far fewer calories than the multiple tablespoons of frosting piled onto your typical cupcake.