Fall is baking season! Celebrate with these fall cookie recipes that feature some of fall’s best flavors.
When I think of fall cookies, I think of great flavors. I think of cozy kitchens with freshly baked cookies cooling on the counter. While I do admire pretty decorated cookies in the shapes of leaves and other fall themes, I prefer a good Snickerdoodle or shortbread or something with lots of spices or maybe some caramel.
This collection of fall cookies celebrates the flavors of the season along with a good dose of comfort baking. Just looking at all of these makes me want to spend the day in the kitchen baking batch after batch. I hope you’ll be inspired to bake some cookies this fall, too!
Best Fall Cookie Recipes
Snickerdoodles are one of my very favorite fall cookies, and these Brown Butter Snickerdoodles are so, so good. They have that sweet, cinnamon flavor you expect, but there’s also a nutty richness from the brown butter that really makes them something special.
These Apple Butter Oatmeal Cookies just taste like fall. Apples, oats, and spices all come together for a soft, chewy, delicious cookie. You can make your own apple butter for these or use store-bought.
Most of us probably think of crinkle cookies for Christmas, but I urge you to make these Brown Sugar Crinkles part of your fall baking. They’re such simple cookies, but all of that brown sugar flavor makes them irresistible.
There’s nothing overtly “fall” about these Dark Chocolate Chunk and Dried Cherry Oatmeal Cookies, but they’re such chewy, hearty, flavorful cookies that I want to fill my fall days with batch after batch of them. These will work with just about any dried fruit, so they’re also wonderfully adaptable.
Cookie Butter-Stuffed Oatmeal Cookies are giant cookies with equally giant flavor. These are the cookies I want to eat all throughout the fall. And honestly, I’ll take one literally any other day of the year.
Pecans peak in the fall, so that’s probably why I always associate them with this time of year. This Butter Pecan Shortbread is filled with lots of toasted pecans in a buttery shortbread. If you’ve got pecans in your kitchen, then you very likely have everything else you need to make these.
There’s so much fall in these Brown Butter Oatmeal Date Cookies with Maple Glaze. At their heart, these are simple oatmeal cookies, but they get a few flavor boosts to take them over the top. Make these on the small side, as you’ll get a whole lot of flavor in just a couple of bites!
I go a little crazy with fall spices, so sweet, spiced cookie butter (like Biscoff) is a pantry staple for me. These Chocolate Oatmeal Biscoff Cookies are a nice twist on oatmeal cookies with plenty of chocolate and a subtle spice flavor from the cookie butter.
For something a little more traditional in the oatmeal cookie world, we have these homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies. I have such a nostalgic attachment to these, making them one of my favorite comfort foods. They’re so much better than the store-bought variety that you may never go back!
These Spiced Toffee Cookies are the cookies you’ll want to make all through the fall and into the holiday season. All those spices combine with the sweet crunch of toffee for one fantastic cookie.
Logically, I know that caramel is something to be enjoyed all year long, but I seem to crave it even more in the fall and winter. These Salty Cashew Caramel Cookies satisfy that caramel craving in a big way. Plus, there are cashews (which are so underrepresented in baking) and a sprinkle of coarse salt. In a word, they are fantastic!
Cinnamon Pecan Puffs were one of the cookies I would make with my mother around the holidays. I start craving them at the first signs of fall when I want all things pecan and cinnamon. These little cookies are a simple variation of a meringue cookie, and they are 100% fantastic.
These Butterscotch Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies have so many good things going for them. Soft, chewy oatmeal cookies are an always welcome treat. Homemade butterscotch frosting is the absolute best. And sandwich cookies are a great excuse to eat two cookies instead of one. That all adds up to winning.
I can’t resist sharing another Snickerdoodles recipe in this collection. Cookie Butter Snickerdoodles are made with sweet, spiced cookie butter in addition to the usual cinnamon for a fall spiced cookie that’s a crowd-pleaser. They’re so very soft and full of amazing flavor.
Tips for Baking Cookies
Ready to get baking? Take a minute to brush up on your cookie baking skills with these helpful tips!
- Common Cookie Problems and How to Prevent Them
- A Baker’s Guide to Cookie Scoops
- How to Freeze Drop Cookie Dough
Even More Fall Cookies
I must confess that whittling this list down to these fourteen cookies was a tall order. This is my favorite time of year to bake, and cookies are my favorite thing to bake. So, it took all I had not to inundate you with dozens of cookie recipes. If you should still want more cookie inspiration, be sure to visit the Recipe Index.
Enjoy baking all your favorite fall cookies this season! I’ll be sharing more cookies soon, so add yourself to my email list if you want to get notified of new and featured recipes.
Happy baking!
4 Comments on “14 Fantastic Fall Cookies”
what can be used in place of cookie butter cannot find it
Hi, Carrie! It depends on the recipe, but you might be able to substitute peanut butter, Nutella, or another thick spread along those lines.
Hi Jennifer,
Love your recipes! Thank for so many of them 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoy them, Lisa!