Whether it’s eating turkey and cornbread on Thanksgiving, indulging yourself on candy on Halloween or buying Starbucks’ pumpkin spice lattes, fall is a time to experience all realms of the food spectrum with unique seasonal twists on them. But there are always fall classics that stand out among the many seasonal foods. Here are recipes that may help to liven up your fall. 

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin bread can pair great with any fall dinner, and this recipe from TasteofHome only takes around an hour to make along with being rather easy.

Ingredients:

1 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 

1 and a 1/2 cups sugar 

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the first eight ingredients. Whisk together eggs, pumpkin, oil and water. Stir into dry ingredients until moistened. Fold walnuts and raisins into the mix, if desired
2. Pour into a greased 9 by 5 inch loaf pan. Bake for about 65-70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. 

Candy Corn Cookies

With Halloween right around the corner, there are plenty of holiday-themed foods to make, and what would the most sugar-fueled day of the year be without dessert? This recipe from Southern Made Simple is once again easy, with the cookies being made with a slight holiday twist.

Ingredients: 

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup room temp butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tbsp vanilla flavoring

1 small bag candy corn, about 2 cups worth

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar and brown sugar with a hand mixer until mixture is light and fluffy.
2. Add in vanilla and an egg and blend.
3. Slowly add in flour, corn starch, baking soda and salt and mix until a soft, thick dough forms.
4. Add in candy corn and stir gently.
5. Refrigerate for 1 hour or longer to prevent cookies from spreading when baking.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
7. Using your hands, roll a heaping tablespoon of the dough into small balls and place about an inch or more apart from each other.
   *IMPORTANT- Make sure when forming each ball that there is not a piece of candy corn visible on the underside or the side of each ball. It is okay if candy corn is showing at the top. Any contact the candy corn has with the baking sheet will result in a puddle of baked liquid candy corn under each cookie. Covering any visible candy corn with a pinch of dough should help.*
8. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
   Cookies may appear undercooked when first removed from the oven. Do NOT cook any longer — the cookies will continue to set while left to cool on the cookie sheet.
9. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

This well-roasted pumpkin seeds recipe from Allrecipes can be a fun snack to make if you don’t want a full meal or dessert, but still want to get into the fall season.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds

2 teaspoons butter, melted

1 pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. Toss seeds in a bowl with the melted butter and salt. Spread the seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown; stir occasionally.   

With a wide variety of recipes to make during fall, it is hard to not get in the seasonal mood. Try them out for yourself and enjoy.

This story was written by Ryan Lynch. He can be reached at [email protected].