Top 7 Apple Recipes {Celebrate Fall}

Truly one of my favorite seasons, Fall is a wonderful celebration of both nature and food. Crisp air and the start of comfort food season, what more could we want? Now that we are in the throes of apple picking, how about a little inspiration on what to do with all those apples you come home with?

My kids eat apples straight from the tree. As for me? I only eat them if I’m baking with them. So this is for me, as much as it is for you.

If you follow me on Instagram or Snapchat, you might recognize these Glazed Apple Bars from last week. A tried-and-true that we’ve been making for a few years now, they taste like you’re eating apple pie from your hands. And outside of the apples, you likely have the rest of the ingredients in your kitchen already.

Grandma Ople’s Pie is for when making a pie intimidates you. This recipe could not be simpler, and it tastes delicious as is, or warmed up and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of dulce de leche sauce from Stonewall Kitchen (which we discovered during a summer trip to Vermont).

This Caramel Apple Cheesecake is when you want to impress someone, but don’t have a lot of time. Because it LOOKS like a ton of work, but isn’t. It’s kind of amazing.

Remember I said I don’t like raw apples? Well, this Caramel Apple Dip is the only way I’ll eat them raw. A friend introduced me to this recipe years ago, and it has been in our regular rotation every Fall since. It’s kind of addicting in the best possible way.

Homemade applesauce, of course. A million times better than the jarred stuff.

For a savory twist, these Open-Faced Porchetta Sandwiches with Caramelized Apples are amazing. Like my mouth is watering just looking at the picture again.

Speaking of pictures, it’s kind of equal parts fun and awful to go back and look and pictures in older posts from years ago. On one hand, you can definitely see how much I’ve improved. The Glazed Apple Bars picture in the beginning of this post was from last week, and everything else is from several years ago. On the other hand, it makes me want to go and replace all the old photos with new and improved ones. Progress is good.

And lastly, Cinnamon Apple Cake. This recipe originally came out in 1998 (which I will always remember as the year I got married), and it was then called Jewish Apple Cake. Through the years, the folks at Cooking Light magazine renamed it, but whatever you call it, it is not to be missed. I have been making it every year since, and at one point, my mom referred to it as one of my signature dishes. It is moist and flavorful, and everything apples and cake should be.

What is YOUR favorite apple recipe?