Chances are, when you envision fall, your thoughts not only include changing colors and cooler temperatures, but incorporate the smells and taste of pumpkins, apples, and spices. Fall brings with it bountiful harvests and some of the most delectable foods of the year. Today, we have California mom of two and cookie-maker extraordinaire, Desirée Macke here sharing 5 easy and fun fall treats to make with your kids from ingredients you pick yourself at your local pumpkin patch or apple orchard. So, get yourself to a patch, orchard or farmer’s market soon and whip up some delish fall-inspired treats with your kids!
Fall in the kitchen
For me, being outside and being in the kitchen are two of the most therapeutic places. In one place you can quite literally get lost amongst the sights, sounds, and smells of nature. In the other, you have ingredients to marry, creating an entirely different set of delights to saturate the senses. This time of year is one of the best times to blend those two worlds, all while including the kids.
By now you may have had the fortune to visit an apple orchard or pumpkin patch. If you’re like my family, you can’t walk away from either without a few bushels of the literal fruits of your labor. And, after a few days of your kitchen overflowing with said goods, you’re at a loss as to just what to do with all your fruit.
That’s where we come in! We’ve compiled a list of five fun, easy, delicious, apple/pumpkin kid-friendly treats that you can make together as a family.
But first…
Do a little prep before you get started
Before everyone is corraled into the kitchen, do just a little legwork at the front end to make the process as smooth as possible for everyone.
Select a few recipes you think you and your family would enjoy. Read through said recipes to make sure you 1) have all the necessary ingredients 2) it’s not too difficult that the kids (and you) will get frustrated. Pull out your ingredients, measuring cups/spoons, mixers, bowls, baking sheets, etc. and have them ready to go so you’re not wasting precious time. We all know how short our kids’ attention spans can be.
Get the kids in the kitchen
More often than not, when cooking or baking, I like to go at it alone. But, when it comes to making family treats, I welcome the help of my kids. They are always thrilled when I tell them we’re going to bake together. With some guidance and direction, I’m always amazed at how well they do. Turning a blind eye to the spilled flour, or knocked over salt, comes with the territory. Much like when we go outside to play in the rain, we expect the kids to get wet and muddy. The same concept applies here. It all cleans up in the end.
Know when to fold ’em
This probably goes without saying, but know when to let them do things themselves and know when to step in. Most kids love being able to do grown-up things (like operate a mixer or use a knife) themselves. Give them as much freedom and independence as you can, but know when to step in. Are the kids losing interest? Is there a step in the recipe that seems too advanced for them to complete? Let them experience as much of the baking process as possible, but step in when needed. You’ll save them from potential injury, serious mishaps, or a botched recipe, as well as saving your sanity.
Five fall treats to make with kids
The hardest part of this post on fall treats to make with kids was narrowing it down to just five recipes. I fell down the rabbit hole of autumn-inspired recipes – there are so many good ones! Anything with apples and cinnamon or pumpkins sounded amazing. I wanted to make them all! I decided to let the kids help me choose and they voted on three recipes to try (we bookmarked others to make later).
Full disclosure, I steered the kids in the direction of baking more traditional fruit-filled treats. I know my kids and know that any recipe involving marshmallow teeth and chocolate chip eyes would result in those items being devoured. The sad-looking apple or pumpkin snack would be left to a fate in the rubbish pile. However, it’s safe to say, anytime the kids are allowed the hand-mixer or apple peeler, they think being in the kitchen is fun!
Without further adieu, here are five fun, easy, and delicious fall treats to make with your kids.
1. Apple Crisp
This apple crisp is easy and comes together quickly, but tastes like you were in the kitchen for hours. The kids shook up our apples and did most of the ingredient dumping and dry-ingredient mixing, which is their favorite part of helping. The layers of cinnamony apples and the more than generous layer of crumble topping are positively drool-worthy. We had enough to share with neighbors, who ended up asking us for more. This is a recipe has been in my fall-recipe wheelhouse for years, and there’s no sign of stopping.
Easy Apple Crisp
This apple crisp comes together quickly and easily and uses ingredients you most likely already have on hand.
This is delicious served alone, or with a scoop of ice cream.
- 7 cups peeled, cored, sliced apples (Using a variety of apples ups the flavor.)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup brown sugar (packed)
- 1 cup oatmeal (Any oatmeal will work. I had quick oats and old-fashioned oats, so I used both.)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 2/3 cup butter (softened, but not melted.)
- Pre-heat oven to 350º.
- In the large mixing bowl or gallon-size baggie, add apples, granulated sugar, 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour, and cinnamon.
- Toss apples until they are evenly coated.
- In an even layer, add apples to 9×13 pan.
- In the small/medium mixing bowl, mix together brown sugar, oatmeal, 1 cup all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
- Cut in softened butter and mix until you have created a crumbly mixture.
- In an even layer, distribute crumble mixture to the top of the apples.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Allow to cool before serving.
2. Apple Peanut Butter Teeth
These adorable apple peanut butter teeth are one of those snacks that look so cute and beyond easy. It involves zero baking and are super fun for the kids to prepare and assemble themselves in only a minute or two. All you need to do is spread peanut butter (sun butter, cookie butter or apple butter) on one side of two slices of apple. Arrange a line of mini marshmallows on one side of the apple and put them together to make an apple mouth filled with teeth! Easy peasy!
This is one of those snacks my kids voted to make, but we didn’t (hence, no photo). I already know that my kids would have one-hundred percent picked out the marshmallow teeth to eat and left the rest of the goods to spoil. When I’m feeling brave enough to part with perfectly good apples we’ll make this one. That said if your kids will eat more of this snack than mine, be sure give this cute snack a try. It would be great for hungry after-school tummies.
3. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
I couldn’t put this post together without including some sort of cookie. This pumpkin spin on the classic chocolate chip was so good it did not last long in my house. The kids were central in the creation of the dough, and even more vital in the role of devouring. Though these didn’t stick around long, they made for great after school snacks. It was also fun to slip into the kids’ lunchboxes as a little at-school treat. Since the last morsel has been polished off, I’ve had multiple requests for these to be made again.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
A pumpkin twist on the classic chocolate chips that will be sure to disappear quickly.
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (softened, not melted)
- 3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Pre-heat oven to 375º.
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, using a hand mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract until combined, then add flour mixture. Beat on low until no raw flour appears, then fold in chocolate chips.
- Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
- Scoop 1-inch balls onto prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart, and bake until puffed up and golden around the edges, about 12 minutes.
- Once baked, transfer to a cooling rack, and allow to cool before serving.
Prior to baking, note the dough does require refrigeration.
4. Pumpkin Pie Parfaits
These awesome little pumpkin pie parfaits are another easy no-bake treat! I was (and still am) itching to make these cute little pumpkin treasures with layers of pumpkin-spiced pudding, whipped topping and cookie crumbs. These are also easy enough for kids to make and you can keep them stored in little jars in the fridge for when hunger strikes. To make the pudding, combine vanilla pudding with a can of pumpkin and some traditional pumpkin pie spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves. Next, grab some whipped cream and let the kids crush some vanilla sandwich cookies in a plastic bag (why sure, you can use a hammer!). Line up nine half-pint jars and layer the ingredients starting with the cookie crumbs, followed by pudding and whipped topping.
As much as I wanted to make these, that little voice in my head told me the kids would eat just the whipped cream. Which would inevitably lead to me eating all of the leftovers. While that sounds glutinously glorious, my jeans will likely thank me for opting to wait on these. These parfaits can be altered in multiple ways to fit your desired taste. And, they only take about 10-minutes to make. If you can convince your kids to eat past the whipped cream, please give these a try!
5. Apple Chips
Last, but certainly not the least of the fall treats to make with kids are these crisp gems – apple chips! Who knew that apple chips would be so mind-blowingly easy to make. I gave the kids the reign of our apple peeler/corer/slicer, and they thought it was even better than the hand-mixer. I swear, it’s the little things…
This was our first go at these, and my kids ravenously attacked them. We blew through about a dozen apples in two days thanks to this snack. I discovered this is the perfect way to get the kids to eat the not-so-perfect apples, which they tend to reach past. I also found these were great for packing in school lunches. Since our last chip has disappeared the request for these has been made almost daily.
If you only try one of our suggested recipes, I urge it to be this one!
Easy Apple Chips
These easy-to-make apple chips are the perfect fall snack.
- 2 apples (thinly sliced)
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- Pre-heat oven to 200º.
- In the large bowl, add sliced apples, cinnamon, sugar. Close lid tightly and toss apples until they are evenly coated.
- Place a cooling rack or grilling rack onto a baking sheet.
- Lay apple slices onto the cooling rack/grilling rack so that no apples overlap.
- Cook for 2-3 hours, flipping halfway through. (We baked ours for 3 hours for a crispier apple chip.)
- Bake until apples are dried out but still pliable. Apples will continue to crisp while cooling.
5 easy fall-inspired recipes to make with kids
There you have it! Five super easy and insanely delicious fall treats to make with kids with goodies you bring home from the pumpkin patch or apple orchard. Let your kids have some fun in the kitchen with the fruits of their labor and create some delicious snacks. Getting them involved in the process from beginning to end not only teaches them about where food comes from, but helps them develop a skill and makes them appreciate the snacks even more.
Have you tried any of these?
What are your favorite fall treats to make with kids?
I’m Desirée; wife to Scott, mom to Marcus and Julia. I’m the domestic engineer (that’s my fancy term for stay-at-home-mom) of the family. Our family loves the outdoors. Our favorite ways to explore are hiking the coastal trails, as well as combing the tide pools for aquatic treasures. To quench our thirst for wide-open spaces beyond the hustle and bustle of our urban jungle we love to visit state and national parks, as well as conservation areas and nature preserves.
You can find more from Desirée in the following locations:
Instagram: @desireemacke
Cookie business: @coolingrackconfections
Website: Macke Monologues
Cookie Facebook: Cooling Rack Confections
All RWMC posts: Desirée Macke
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