The best month will soon be upon us: October. There is no debate...it's the best. The fact that I have an October birthday has nothing to do with it. ;)
Here are 43 recipes and cookie decorating tutorials to make this October.
Make one? Snap a photo and tag me on Instagram.
Listen, I love all things pumpkin, but I know that not all fall desserts have to include it. Here's a shout-out to warm spices, chocolate, and maple!
Non-Pumpkin October Desserts:
- spiced poppy seed cake with almond buttercream This cake was made for fall!
- maple-pecan texas sheet cake Maybe it's the color, maybe it's a maple, maybe it's the pecans. Whatever the reason, this hits the spot in October!
- whoppers brownies Wondering what to do with to do with leftover bags of Halloween Whoppers? Make these brownies! Hint: buy Whoppers specifically to make these!
- treacle tart An ode to Harry Potter. If you've never eaten treacle tart, you're in for a treat! It's bewitching!
- mexican chocolate macarons Both the rich chocolate filling and the macaron shells are flavored with warm spices. Maybe my favorite macarons.
- mexican chocolate frosted cookies Same idea, different cookies. Frosted cookies with spiced chocolate. So good.
- chocolate spiderweb bakewell tart The sweet crust, the cherry jam, the almond cream, the thick chocolate glaze - it's a winner!
- copycat Trader Joe's cocoa chile spiced pecans So, these aren't technically a dessert, but they definitely fit fall! Trader Joe's discontinued these, so you have to make them at home!
Let's talk pumpkin, Queen of October desserts.
Pumpkin Recipes for October:
- Southern Living's PERFECT pumpkin bread I'm not kidding, this pumpkin bread is perfect. I had to share it on the blog.
- pumpkin chocolate chip bars A non-negotiable in our house once fall comes around. My sister makes them every year, too!
- gluten-free pumpkin chocolate chip bars A gluten-free version.
- spiced pumpkin energy balls If you want a little break from candy and cookies, try these spiced pumpkin energy balls. They're made with pumpkin, spices, oats, etc.
- soft pumpkin cookies with cinnamon-sugar frosting Puffy, cloud-like cookies with a dreamy cinnamon sugar frosting
- pumpkin cheesecake brownies Roll-your-eyes-in-theback-of-your-head scrumptious!
- pumpkin cream cheese Spread this on a bagel, toast, or English muffin!
- baked pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal with greek yogurt ghosts Breakfast doesn't get any cuter than this! Also, a great make-ahead breakfast.
- double cocoa pumpkin smoothie I have some version of this 5 days a week...throughout the year!
- brown butter maple chocolate chip cookies These lean into fall without shouting, "PUMPKIN SPICE!" The magic is in the cinnamon-sugar coating.
- spiced chocolate sandwich cookies with pumpkin cream filling Here's what you should know - these cookies are INCREDIBLE without the pumpkin cream filling, too.
Not every occasion calls for decorated cookies. Potlucks, weeknight dinners, party treats...bring on the easy cookies and cookie bars!
Non-decorated Fall and Halloween cookies and cookie bars:
- spooky s'mores bars The MOST POPULAR recipe on the blog after my go-to cut-out cookies and royal icing recipes. These bars are super cute but also delicious!
- peanut butter chocolate chip googly eyes cookies SO fun! Lots of cute Halloween spirit with little effort
- ladies' fingers OK, these verge on creepy, but are mostly fun. They also taste great!
- last-minute candy corn cookies You know when your kid tells you that he needs to bring Halloween cookies to an event the night before? Make these.
- black cocoa cookies with vanilla brains buttercream If your Halloween game trends towards mad scientist, these are for you!
- candy corn rolo turtles You haven't fully lived until you've made them. Chewy, crunchy, chocolatey, salty...these hit all the right notes!
- autumn-toned cake batter blondie bars Autumn-hued sprinkles make these the perfect October treat.
- chocolate chip candy bar-stuffed cookies Set aside some Halloween candy to make these.
If you're making decorated cookies this October, maybe you'll want to switch up your usual sugar cookie recipe.
Recipes to make fall decorated cookies this October:
- black cocoa chocolate cut-out cookies With the deepest darkest chocolate, these sugar cookies are the perfect canvas for Halloween cookie decorating!
- spiced pumpkin cut-out cookies Not pumpkin spice, spiced pumpkin. The cookie dough is made with pumpkin, yielding a soft, tender cookie for decorating.
- pumpkin juice royal icing Do you HAVE to make royal icing with pumpkin juice in October? No. But isn't it cool to know that you can?
October is when cookie decorating season is in full swing. Let's do it!
Decorated Fall and Halloween sugar cookie tutorials:
- cozy fall sweaters and lattes cookies Two of my favorite things about fall in a set of cookies.
- fall lattes and donuts cookies Continuing on with the latte cookies motif for fall, donuts and lattes!
- cutest hairy bat cookies Just as the title suggests, they're the cutest! Chocolate jimmies are the key!
- simple spiderweb cookies This Halloween cookie design is a classic and always a hit! Once you learn the simple technique, you'll go back to it again and again!
- uni-candy-corn cookies With candy corn horns, these unicorns are October ready!
- candy corn fang cookies Dracula cookies that are cute not creepy! They make me smile every time I see them.
- pumpkin and butterfly cookies This set, including florals, are all made using one cookie cutter - a pumpkin!
- pink Halloween cookie set Who says Halloween cookies have to be orange and black?
- simple decorated pumpkin cookies Easy peasy pumpkins.
- fall floral cookie set Soft floral hues make these so sweet for a fall-themed tea or bridal shower.
- pink hairy-legged spider cookies Why can't actual spiders be this cute? Again, sprinkles (jimmies) make everything cute.
- ombre pumpkin cookies So easy! You'll just basically use one color icing for the main part of the pumpkins, in 4 shades.
- preppy spider web cookies Oh so preppy and pretty!
- ...and more!
Happy October Baking!
