I love baking year-round, but fall is objectively the best time of year for baked goods. Apples! Pumpkin! Cinnamon! Give me all the gooey, spiced goodies on a chilly fall day. While I would normally pick pumpkin over apple if it came to blows (and I recently made a delightful pumpkin cheesecake), the apple cider donut cake I link to below is an exception. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a better Bundt cake.
I’m clearly not the only one with baked goods on the brain. We have lots more recipe recommendations below (including dueling perspectives on whether there’s such a thing as too much sourdough), as well as other ways to spend your fall days if baking isn’t on the agenda.
Our favorite fall bakes
Claire:
Banana bread
Brittany:
Acorn squash with butter and brown sugar
Annie:
Apple Cider Donut Bundt Cake
Tiana:
Pumpkin bread
I’ve never been a big hobbyist, so every fall/winter I try to find a new project to help fight the winter blues and get me out of the house. After eating way too much sourdough bread in 2020, I made a conscious effort to not make them food focused. So, I decided that this year I am going to build a doghouse for my fiancé’s sister. I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ve never even picked up a saw. But we’ll see how it goes!
Clair Myatt
project
manager
Go to Clair’s pick
I didn’t know who Jessi Combs was when the documentary The Fastest Woman on Earth showed up on HBO. (I admit that I cheated and searched her name online, which resulted in spoilers.) Her story—one that results in her claiming the title of the documentary—is illustrated partly through stunning footage of her speeding through the Oregon desert in a race car crafted from a retired jet. It’s also the story of a woman who pushed her way into a traditionally male industry and paved the way for others to step up and literally take the wheel.
Go to Jen’s pick
Jen Bulat
production director
Mimi Li
senor editor
Elsewhere in this post, our team lists our favorite fall bakes. As basic as it is, bread smeared with butter is the most autumnal baked good to me.
This essay convinced me early in the pandemic that a sourdough starter wouldn’t take over my life. It’s still here, (literally) chilling in the fridge and occasionally being used for bread.
Go to Mimi’s pick
Since discovering this recipe for a caramelized onion, apple, and cheddar tart in September, I’ve made it several times, and it’s been consistently delicious. If you’re like me and are afraid to bake with puff pastry, toss those fears away. This recipe is easy, relatively low-effort, and will produce the hit of your next get-together.
Go to Morgan’s pick
Morgan Strunsky
senior editorial associate
