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We’ve collected the 21 Best Apple Dessert Recipes to make this year! We have cultivated a wide variety of apple desserts from the usual pies, cakes, and crisps to the more unexpected apple pavlova and apple pie dip. Find easy recipes alongside more elaborate recipes to delight your tastebuds and spark your imagination.
Table of Contents
Frequently Asked Questions
When you have a lot of apples and you’ve eaten as many as you can handle, it’s time to get out a big pot for a batch of apple butter, apple sauce, apple compote, or juice them to make apple cider from scratch! You can also freeze them for later baking. Desserts that use a large number of apples are also great options: apple crisp, mile high apple pie or homemade apple pie filling.
The best cooking apples are those that you prefer. That being said, I always use a variety of apples for the best flavor and texture. Choose apples that retain a bit of texture when baked like Cripps pink, honey crisps, granny smiths, Braeburn, Gala or Fuji. In apple desserts I choose a balance of tart and sweet varieties to balance the sweetness of the topping, filling or cake.
You can freeze apples, but it will change their texture when they thaw. Previously frozen apples will be a bit soft and mushy. This is because the water held in the cells expands as it freezes, which bursts the cell walls. It sounds dramatic but it can be used to your advantage.
Use them for baked apple desserts where you want the moisture to come out and create a sauce like apple crisp, baked apple topping for pork, or apple pie. I suggest tossing them in a bit of lemon juice to keep them from browning after slicing.
21 Best Apple Dessert Recipes
I’ve used my experience as a professional pastry chef to curate the 21 Best Apple Desserts by categories to make it as easy as {apple} pie to find what you’d like to make!
Apple Cakes & Cupcakes Recipes
There is nothing better than a warm slice of apple cake topped with vanilla bean ice cream. Find moist apple cakes, beautiful upside down cakes and spice cakes to end a perfect Fall meal.
These caramel apple cupcakes have a moist cinnamon cake filled with a spiced apple compote that is topped with an easy salted caramel buttercream. You could also use this caramel Swiss meringue buttercream for a less sweet frosting.
Caramel Apple Cupcakes
This traditional German Apple Cake with streusel topping from House of Nash Eats is moist, tender and flavorful. It has a buttery shortbread crust topped with a lightly spiced apple filling and a generous amount of streusel topping. Streusel topping is my love language so this recipe had to make the top of the list.
German Apple Cake with Streusel Topping (Apfelkuchen mit Streusel)
This apple upside-down cake from Upstate Ramblings is a moist, apple pie spiced cake with caramel apples baked right on top (well, on the bottom!). I live for a good upside-down cake like my pear upside-down cake especially when served warm with a mountain of vanilla bean ice cream!
Apple Upside Down Cake
This apple almond cake from Vanilla Bean Cuisine is a beautiful combination of a French apple cake and coffee cake. It has a soft, spice cake filled with fresh apples and topped with an almond crumble!
Apple Almond Cake
An easy apple butter spice cake made with apple butter and tons of spices! You can bake it into cupcake or make an easy layer cake with your favorite frosting like the best cream cheese buttercream frosting!
Apple Butter Spice Cake
This apple cider cheesecake from Stephanie’s Sweet Treats tastes like an apple cider donut in cheesecake form! Smooth creamy apple cider cheesecake filling baked on an easy graham cracker crust. There is a cinnamon streusel that is swirled and baked right into the cheesecake. Epic flavor!
Apple Cider Cheesecake – Stephanie’s Sweet Treats
Apple Pies & Tarts
These apple pies & tarts are far from the ordinary! There is a classic apple pie but you will also find interesting variations that range from the more complicated to a super simple galette!
This easy apple pie has a cinnamon apple filling baked inside a foolproof vodka pie crust! To make it even easier, use store-bought pie crust. This is the apple pie you will be making on repeat! Top it with creme anglaise for the perfect Fall dessert.
Easy Apple Pie
This is a professional pastry chef’s recipe for the perfect apple tart tatin! Halved apples are cooked in caramel underneath puff pastry for a showstopping apple dessert! Bonus points for making homemade puff pastry. You can find a recipe for classic puff pastry and inverse puff pastry by Chef Lindsey. Choose the method that works best for you.
Apple Tarte Tatin
This caramel apple tart is an epic apple dessert. A sweet tart crust topped with layers of salted caramel sauce and sliced apples bake underneath a cinnamon brown sugar streusel! Bring this apple tart to your next gathering and wait for the rave reviews to pour in!
Caramel Apple Tart with Cinnamon Streusel
Apple hand pies or mini apple pies are the perfect hand-held Fall dessert. This easy version uses apple compote and my all-butter pie crust but you could also use store-bought pastry. Serve them with warm salted maple caramel sauce or crème anglaise for dipping.
Apple Hand Pies
This mile high apple pie uses 5 pounds of apples! A pastry chef teaches you all the tricks for eliminating that gap between the apples and top crust for a show-stopping pie. Pour some caramel sauce or butterscotch sauce in the filling for an easy variation!
Mile High Apple Pie
There is something so elegant about the simplicity of a galette. This easy apple galette from Pass Me a Spoon is no exception. A flaky crust folded around a cinnamon spiced apple filling will have you reaching for another slice!
Super Easy Apple Galette
Easy Apple Desserts
Every cook needs these easy apple desserts in their arsenal! There are crisps you can make in the microwave, crumble bars, a skillet pie, and more. These are the easiest of the easy apple desserts. Whether you are whipping up a quick dessert for tonight or you are making dessert for a crowd, these desserts have you covered.
It does not get any easier than a microwave apple crisp! This simple and satisfying dessert by Running to the Kitchen will have you making dessert every night!
Microwave Apple Crisp
This easy twist on apple crumble uses fresh ginger in the apple filling and ground ginger in the crumble topping. You won’t want to miss this ginger spice apple crumble by Knife & Soul.
Ginger Spiced Apple Crumble
This easy apple crisp is baked in the oven but make enough to serve a crowd! The sweet brown sugar streusel topping balances a tart apple filling.
Easy Apple Crisp
Sometimes only a bar cookie will do. These apple plum crumble bars are soft and chewy and so flavorful.
Apple and Plum Crumble Bars
In case you aren’t in the cool club, an apple pandowdy is like an easy, skillet apple pie. Bake the filling under a top crust, slice and scoop. This recipe truly is easy as pie! Scoop on some vanilla bean ice cream and serve it up!
Apple Pandowdy Recipe
Unexpected Apple Desserts
These are some apple desserts that think outside of the pie box! Some are easy, some are cold, some are bite-sized, but they are all unexpected apple desserts that are perfect for entertaining or an easy Fall dessert.
Pavlovas are my favorite dessert like this pavlova cake, but when the weather turns crisp, you will want to bake up this apple pavlova from Pass Me a Spoon! Perhaps a dollop of homemade whipped cream would be nice.
Apple Pavlova
These easy apple pie bites are made using wonton wrappers, but they would also be fabulous in a homemade pie crust like this all butter pie crust or Crisco pie crust.
Apple Pie Bites Easy Dessert Recipe
Do not stand between me and one of these apple fritters from Of Batter and Dough! They have a yeasted donut dough, tons of apple filling and are fried to perfection. And the maple glaze is finger-licking good!
Apple Fritters with Maple Glaze
It doesn’t get much more unexpected than serving up a platter of apple dessert nachos! For a less healthy option try using apple chips instead of sliced apples. Yum!
Healthy Apple Nachos Recipe
This is the kind of ice cream I can get behind! Scoop up a big bowl of this apple pie ice cream, pour on the salted caramel sauce and grab a spoon! Actually, get your own, because this bowl is mine!
Apple Pie Ice Cream
I saved the easiest dessert for last. This caramel apple pie dip is sweet, decadent and way easier than pie! I love the layer of crunchy nuts that is hidden on the bottom. A salty, crunchy surprise!
Caramel Apple Pie Dip | Entirely Elizabeth
Before you go!
If you loved these apple recipes, you might love our collection of Fall dessert recipes or the 25 Best Pumpkin Dessert Recipes for Fall.
