Fall Cookies Ideas | Cozy Seasonal Bakes

Here are 60+ Fall cookie recipe ideas to inspire cozy baking sessions and festive autumn treats! These include classic flavors, seasonal shapes, and warm spices perfect for Thanksgiving, Halloween, or any crisp fall day.

Fall-Themed Sugar Cookies

1. Maple Leaf Sugar Cookies
2. Acorn-Shaped Sugar Cookies
3. Pumpkin-Shaped Cookies
4. Apple-Shaped Cookies
5. Plaid Pattern Cookies
6. Oak Leaf Sugar Cookies
7. Squirrel-Shaped Cookies
8. Fall Wreath Cookies
9. Scarecrow Face Cookies
10. Harvest Basket Cookies

Spiced & Flavored Cookies

1. Pumpkin Spice Cookies
2. Maple Glazed Cookies
3. Apple Cider Cookies
4. Chai Tea Cookies
5. Cinnamon Roll Cookies
6. Molasses Spice Cookies
7. Ginger Crinkle Cookies
8. Brown Butter Snickerdoodles
9. Nutmeg Sugar Cookies
10. Cardamom Butter Cookies

Pumpkin-Inspired Cookies

1. Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
2. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
3. Iced Pumpkin Cookies
4. Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
5. Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
6. Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies
7. Pumpkin Cream Cheese Sandwich Cookies
8. Mini Pumpkin Pies in Cookie Form
9. Pumpkin Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
10. Pumpkin Macarons with Spiced Filling

Apple-Inspired Cookies

1. Apple Pie Thumbprint Cookies
2. Caramel Apple Cookies
3. Apple Cinnamon Oat Cookies
4. Apple Butter Cookies
5. Apple Cider Glazed Shortbread
6. Dried Apple & Nut Cookies
7. Apple Crisp Cookies
8. Apple Fritter Cookies

Nutty & Chocolate Fall Cookies

1. Pecan Sandies
2. Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
3. Walnut Brownie Cookies
4. Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies
5. Toffee Nut Cookies
6. Chocolate-Dipped Leaf Cookies
7. Maple Walnut Cookies

Thanksgiving Cookies

1. Turkey Face Sugar Cookies
2. Pilgrim Hat Cookies
3. Cornucopia Cookies
4. Pumpkin Pie Slice Cookies
5. “Thankful” Word Cookies
6. Mini Pie Cookies (pecan, apple, pumpkin)
7. Sweet Potato Cookies with Marshmallow Topping

Halloween Fall Cookies

1. Candy Corn Sugar Cookies
2. Black Cat Cookies
3. Spooky Pumpkin Cookies
4. Ghost-Shaped Fall Cookies
5. Witch Hat Cookies
6. Mummy Cookies
7. Spider Web Cookies
8. Bat-Shaped Cookies with Autumn Flavors
9. Caramel-Stuffed Halloween Cookies

Would you like the recipes or decorating instructions for any of these fall cookies?

Recipes for Fall Cookies

1. Maple Leaf Sugar Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

1. Classic sugar cookie dough
2. Maple leaf cookie-cutter
3. Red, orange, yellow, and brown royal icing

Instructions:

1. Use the leaf cutter to roll and cut cookies as shown in the photo above.
2. Bake and thoroughly cool.
3. Flood with red/yellow/orange frosting, then pattern for a marbled fall leaf design.

2. Acorn-Shaped Sugar Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

1. Sugar cookie dough
2. Acorn-shaped cutter
3. Brown and tan royal icing
4. Sprinkles or sanding sugar

Instructions:

1. Cut and bake acorn shapes.
2. Flood base with tan and cap darker brown.
3. Add texture to the top with dots or sprinkles while wet.

3. Pumpkin-Shaped Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

1. Pumpkin-shaped cutter
2. Orange and green royal icing

Instructions:

1. Shape the dough into pumpkins and bake them.
2. You can flood with orange icing and then pipe ridges in slightly darker orange.
3. Finish it off with a piping tip to make the leaf and curly vine green.

4. Apple-Shaped Sugar Cookies Recipe 

Ingredients:

1. Apple cookie-cutter
2. Red, green, and brown royal icing

Instructions:

1. Shape out and slice the apple forms before baking them.
2. You can flood them with apple or red klinkertaré.
3. Then pipe a brown stem and green leaf details in a second color burst.

5. Plaid Pattern Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

1. Round or square sugar cookies
2. White base icing
3. Food-color markers or fine piping tips (red, yellow, black, orange)

Instructions:

1. Flood the cookie with white glacé before drying out.
2. You use markers or very thin lines of fondant strips to make a criss-cross plaid effect.

6. Oak Leaf Sugar Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

1. Oak leaf cutter.
2. Yellow, green, and brown icing

Instructions:

1. Bake with a cookie-cutter
2. And flood each autumn cookie with autumn colors.

7. Squirrel-Shaped Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

1. Squirrel-shaped cutter
2. Brown, tan, and white royal icing

Instructions:

1. Bake shapes of squirrels.
2. With brown frosting, outline, and flood.
3. Draw in swirls for the belly and tail, and the eyes.

8. Fall Wreath Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

1. Round cookie-cutter with a smaller center cut
2. Green, orange, yellow, red icing
3. Piping tips for leaves and flowers

Instructions:

1. Round cookie shapes that have a hole in the middle, like donuts.
2. Using falcolors, vines, or leaves are piped in a circle.
3. Small flowers were left out. Arrange them among the fruit and acorns.

9. Scarecrow Face Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

1. Roundcookie-cutterr
2. Royal icing: beige, orange, black, red, brown
3. Mini chocolate chips or edible eyes (optional)

Instructions:

1. To start, bake a batch of round cookies. After they have cooled down, flood each with an even layer of beige icing for the face.
2. Pipe the eyes, a stitched smile, and an orange triangle for the nose. Beat it.
3. The point of a brown “hat” can be that with patch or straw details added in random spots.

10. Harvest Basket Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

1. Basket or rectangle cutter
2. Brown icing for the  basket
3. Bright icing for fruit/veggies (orange, red, green, yellow)

Instructions:

1. In a weave pattern, flood the bottom with brown.
2. Above the basket line, mini pumpkins, apples, s, and corn are piped.
3. As a final touch, border it with leaves or a straw texture to give the illusion of reality.

11. Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp salt

Optional Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1–2 tbsp milk
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large bowl, creaming until light and fluffy.
3. Stir in pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla extract until smooth.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt.
5. Working slowly, stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just blended; avoid overmixing.
6. Drop spoonfuls of dough, rounded, onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart.
7. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden and the centers are set.
8. Let the cookies cool on the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

11. Maple Glazed Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

For the Cookies:

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp maple extract (optional, for extra flavor)

For the Maple Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2–3 tbsp pure maple syrup
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1–2 tsp milk (to thin, if needed)
• A pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 ° F (175 ° C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
   
2. Mix dry ingredients: In a bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt together.
   
3. Cream Butter and Sugar: In another bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add egg, vanilla, and maple extracts (if using), mix well.
4. Combine: Gently mix the dry material into a wet mixture until a soft flour is formed.
   
5. Scoop and Bake: Leave the tablespoon-shaped flour balls on the baking sheet. A little flattened. Bake the edges for 10-12 minutes or until they become light to golden.
   
6. Cool: Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack.
   
7. Glass cover: In a small bowl, whisk powder sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Add some milk when necessary for a smooth, horrific glass.
8. Glass cookies: Once the cookies cool down, dip the glass or immerse the tops in the glass cover.

12. Maple Glazed Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

For the Cookies:

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ cup unsalted butter (softened)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup pure maple syrup

For the Maple Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1–2 tbsp milk (as needed for consistency)
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Prep and Preheat – Preheat the oven to 350 c (175 c). Line a parchment paper on a baking sheet.
   
2. Dry Ingredients-Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl and stir.
   
3. Cream Butter & Sugar – In a large bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light.
   
4. Wet Ingredients Addition – Into the egg, add the vanilla and maple syrup and stir to combine.
   
5. Combine and chill– gradually beat in the dry ingredients to the wet ones. Mix until just blended. Refrigerate the dough for about 20 to 30 minutes.
   
6. Shape and bake the tablespoons of the mixture out into the baking sheet. Cook in the oven at 180oC (3500F) for 10 to 12 hours till adorned with the color of gold. Leave to cool
   
7. Prepare glaze –In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and milk and whisk until smooth.
   
8. Glaze the Cookies – Dip glaze on top of cookies or spread as a brownie on top of cookies, and roast before serving it

Final Thought

The concept of fall cookies immerses all the warmness and comfort of the holiday in the abundance of spices, delicacies, and design elements. These cookies can be used at holiday parties, as a gift, or even at home all-day eating spice; they are made of pumpkin spice, apple cinnamon, and maple-infused, pecan-infused cookies. Their versatility permits bakers to play around with textures and shapes as well as decorations that are reminiscent of the beauty of autumn. Cookies, whether soft and chewy or crisp and golden, make every occasion more special than the other, and fall cookies are a welcome seasonal ingredient. Adoption of fall-themed ingredients will make it a tasty and attractive cookie spread.

FAQs

1. Why are my pumpkin cookies too cakey or too flat? 

Pumpkin cookies can easily get too cakey as the pumpkin purée has much moisture. Excessive purée, eggs or over mixing of the dough may form the texture of a cake. To avoid this, dry the pumpkin excessively with paper towel and do not add any additional liquid. Pumpkin cookies on the other hand become too flat when the dough contains excessive fats or sugars or when it is not chilled prior to being baked. The refrigeration of the dough and the adequate ratio of the dry ingredients make cookies preserve the shape and remain soft.

2. How can I ensure my ginger molasses cookies are soft and chewy?

Soft and chewy ginger molasses cookies are attained through the use of brown sugar as opposed to white sugar since brown sugar is used because it contains moisture. Baking the cookies slightly under and letting them cool on the baking sheet aids in their retention of chewiness. It is more softened by adding molasses in the right proportion as well as butter instead of shortening. Chilling the dough prior to baking it and preventing overbaking are some of the measures that would help trap in the tender, chewy texture.

 3. Can I substitute apple cider for milk or water in a recipe?

No, milk or water cannot replace apple cider in cooking, so in certain recipes, such as baked goods, such as muffins, cakes and quick breads, water or milk can be used. It brings natural sweetness and a taste of a touch of apple and can be used in autumn recipes. Nonetheless, due to the acidity of apple cider and the presence of sugar in it, it can change texture and browning slightly. To achieve the most desirable results, use water in place of one, although replacing milk, a little bit of fat is added or a small amount of sugar is decreased to balance out the substitution.