September Baking Ideas

With temperatures cooling off and apple harvests well underway, September is an ideal month for cozy fall baking! From back-to-school snacks and weekend treats to delectable dinner desserts – here are some fun September baking ideas to get your oven on fire!

Apple cobbler gets an inviting cinnamon crumble topping. Enjoy it alongside melty vanilla ice cream!

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is an indispensable fall treat. Easy and enjoyable to make, its pleasing flavor will delight almost all who taste it!

Make this delicious dessert using either a store-bought crust or one of your own homemade recipes, but to save yourself some work on this task, prepare and store the crust in the refrigerator the week prior. This way you will reduce stress when creating this recipe!

Fill your pie with any type of canned pumpkin that strikes your fancy, or, for added authenticity, prepare fresh-cooked pumpkin if possible.

An effective way to ensure an elegant golden crust is by prebaking the pie prior to adding any filling. This reduces oven temperatures and allows the crust to bake more slowly without becoming overbrowned.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F, thaw out the pie crust according to package instructions, then gently fit it into a greased baking dish (I fold over edges slightly and push with my fingers to create an undulating design). Fill your pie with your chosen filling, place in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes, until knife inserted into center has only slight jiggle. Cool on a rack before serving.

Caramel Apple Cake

This dessert recipe is the ideal fall treat. Featuring sweet spiced apples layered between light sponge cake layers and caramel sauce. Finally, the cake is finished off with cinnamon buttercream frosting for the final touch! Everyone will absolutely adore this simple and delicious treat!

Honeycrisp, Fuji, Gala or Granny Smith apples make great baking apples for this recipe – I suggest Honeycrisp, Fuji, Gala or Granny Smith as possible options. Pumpkin pie spices work especially well; cinnamon or nutmeg could also work. If cake flour is unavailable to you, use all-purpose or self-rising all-purpose flour instead and sift twice to add air into the batter and help it rise!

Start off this caramel apple cake recipe by prepping your dough – this step can be completed ahead of time if time is an issue.

Combine and mix the dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy; whisk in eggs gradually. Once eggs have been added, whisk in vanilla extract.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

With toasty brown butter, hearty oats and plenty of pumpkin spice flavoring these cookies are sure to become seasonal classics. Feel free to customize this recipe according to your own taste by adding white chocolate chips, pecans or dried fruit such as cranberries and raisins as add-ins for extra flair.

Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until combined and fluffy. Whisk in egg and vanilla. In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and oats before gradually whisking them into your pumpkin batter while continuing to stir – make sure there are no visible flour particles remaining!

Take spoonfuls of dough and shape into tablespoon-sized balls; place on prepared cookie sheets. Slightly flatten each cookie using your fingertips (they won’t spread much in the oven). Bake in preheated oven for 8-12 minutes or until cookies have set up before cooling completely and enjoying! These cookies keep well; an airtight container or even the freezer can store them up to three months at a time!

Peanut Butter & Jam Cookies

Peanut butter and jelly cookies are an iconic childhood combination, now available as easy treats! Perfect for back-to-school season, bake sales or casual afternoons.

Key to these cookies is using creamy peanut butter (Jif, Skippy or Peter Pan are recommended), along with any type of jam such as strawberry, raspberry or even spicy fig jam – something for everyone’s palate!

In order to create the dough, you’ll need a combination of granulated and brown sugar for flavor and texture. To make this gluten free-friendly recipe, consider swapping out regular flour with something like King Arthur Measure for Measure Flour 1:1 gluten free baking mix.

To create the thumbprint indent, use either your thumb or the back of a spoon to leave an imprint in the center of each cookie. After this has set up, spoon in some jam into each indentation – for a softer filling heat it in either your microwave or small saucepan to loosen its consistency!

Apple Cobbler

Apple cobbler is an irresistibly classic fall dessert, especially comforting on crisp autumn afternoons. Peach and blueberry cobblers may call to mind summer, while apples with warm cinnamon spice create the ideal autumn baking combination. Combine this delectable treat with vanilla ice cream for the ultimate autumn treat.

Start by preparing the fruit filling: peel and core the apples before tossing with some cinnamon and sugar, before placing in an baking dish. Next, prepare the batter: combine flour, baking powder, salt and remaining cinnamon/sugar in a large bowl; add oil and milk as necessary until all dry ingredients have been evenly distributed – dollop this batter over the apples, covering as much of their filling as possible with its layers.

Bake the cobbler in an oven preheated to 400 F for 40 to 45 minutes until its topping is golden-brown and its filling bubbly. Allow it to cool before refrigerating or freezing (defrost it overnight in the refrigerator before heating)! Serve hot with scoop of ice cream or sweetened whipped cream!

Pear Pecan Pie

If you love pears and pecans, this pie is sure to please. A delicious rustic dessert perfect for fall and winter gatherings. Plus it features bourbon-soaked pears that add a rich, oaky element that elevates its deliciousness!

To make this pie, first create the dough. Lay the bottom crust in a 9-1/2″ pie pan and trim and crimp its edges before refrigerating while you prepare the filling and crumb topping.

Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium-size bowl. Using your hands, a fork or pastry blender to combine, add butter until crumbly consistency is reached; stir in chopped pecans before setting aside.

Assemble the ingredients for this pear pie in a large bowl by tossing it with lemon juice and sugar, bourbon, vanilla extract and any additional desired ingredients (cranberries). Add any desired elements such as bourbon, vanilla or other flavorings (bourbon vanilla essence / extract is ideal), toss until thoroughly mixed in before pouring it into a crust-lined pie pan and topping it off with an oat pecan crumble topping (if desired, cut slits or shapes into top crust). Bake at 375degF for 25 minutes before cutting slits into top crust before cut slits/shaping top crust! Enjoy warm or room temperature; can keep refrigerated for two days when tightly covered by plastic wrap/al foil and frozen for three months+.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These soft and chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are filled with chocolate chips and autumn flavors – and easy to make too. Made entirely from pantry items, they can be ready in under an hour from start to finish!

This recipe utilizes both granulated sugar and brown sugar to add depth of flavor to its cookies, with salt and baking soda used to ensure they bake evenly and stay soft after baking. Plus, warm spices like cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg provide delicious fall memories!

These cookies will remain soft and chewy all week when stored in an airtight container on the counter or frozen for up to 3 months using either plastic freezer bags or metal cookie tins. If freezing them instead of serving immediately, allow them to thaw for several hours prior to serving; this will help them return to their original shape and texture upon thawing.

Pumpkin Layer Cake

A beautiful blend of pumpkin spices and toasty caramel brings this cake alive for any fall birthday treat or Thanksgiving table. A generous layering of homemade or store-bought caramel sauce between each cake layer further deepens this showy cake!

To create this cake, line two 9-inch round pans with parchment paper and spray or butter lightly. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin spice and cinnamon; while another bowl holds eggs, vegetable oil, light brown sugar and vanilla extract which must then be slowly folded in by folding dry ingredients slowly with wet ones until everything has been thoroughly mixed and no lumps remain.

Pour the batter evenly into your prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool for several minutes in their pans before turning out onto cooling racks to completely cool. Once cool, level each layer and frost it as desired – or you could make this cake ahead by pre-making layers, chilling them, then frosting when ready (make sure they’re wrapped tightly with plastic wrap for storage purposes!). To create the design seen on this cake divide any leftover Cream Cheese Buttercream into three separate bowls adding food color gel into one to make orange, light blue while leaving another bowl uncolored.