Collection: Fall Recipes

Warm baking spices lead the way: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and the blends built on them, like pumpkin pie spice, chai, and mulling spices. Maple, apple, cranberry, and pear bring natural sweetness, while sage, smoked spices, and chiles warm up savory dishes like stuffing, roasts, and chili. For a closer look, read Welcome to Fall: The Flavors to Start Craving Now.

They share warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, but chai leans on cardamom and black pepper, which gives it a brighter, slightly peppery warmth suited to tea and cider. Pumpkin pie spice is rounder and sweeter-smelling, built for pies, breads, and lattes. Both are at home in fall baking and with squash or sweet potatoes. More in Behind the Seasoning: Chai Spices.

Firm, tart-sweet apples like Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Jonagold, and Pink Lady hold their shape in pies, galettes, and crisps. Softer apples like McIntosh break down as they cook, so they're better for applesauce and apple butter. Mixing two varieties gives you both texture and flavor. For more ideas, see What to Do With All Those Apples.

Yes. Use small sugar or pie pumpkins, not carving pumpkins, which are stringy and watery. Halve and seed them, roast cut-side down at 400°F for 45 to 60 minutes until soft, then scoop and purée, draining any excess liquid. Canned works just as well; just make sure the label says 100% pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. One 15-ounce can is about 1¾ cups.

Butternut is the all-rounder: sweet, smooth, and easy to peel, great for soups, purées, and roasting. Acorn and delicata are best halved or sliced and roasted, and both are great for stuffing; delicata's thin skin is edible. Spaghetti squash roasts into noodle-like strands for a lighter pasta swap. Roast most squash at 400 to 425°F until a knife slides in easily, about 25 to 35 minutes for cubes and 35 to 50 minutes for halves.

Yes. Quick breads, muffins, cookies, and bars freeze well for up to 3 months. Let them cool completely, wrap them tightly in plastic and then foil or a freezer bag, and thaw at room temperature while still wrapped so they don't dry out.