16 Healthier Recipes For Your Favorite Fall Desserts

You don't have to consume your weight in butter this holiday season.
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Earthly Taste

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When autumn rolls around, there’s just no keeping us out of the kitchen.

Our cinnamon consumption increases tenfold, mugs brimming with spiced tea and hot chocolate become everyday accessories and our diet consists of ninety-percent baked goods.

And while baking is fun and fruitful, it often feels like every recipe is full of processed sugar, heaps of butter and tons of calories. Granted, that’s not a terrible thing ― but there are ways to make your favorite fall desserts a little healthier.

Make your favorite fall recipes significantly more nutritious by using more natural flours, nuts, fruit and fewer refined sugars. With these delicious swaps and substitutions, you can feed your love of baking without consuming your weight in butter.

Below, 16 healthier alternatives for your most beloved fall recipes.

1
Fall's ultimate classic, with homemade pumpkin puree and a lighter crust
Skinny Taste
Get the Skinny Pumpkin Pie recipe from Skinny Taste
2
Vegan pumpkin scones that are totally breakfast-appropriate
Hot For Food
3
An alternative to pie that puts the apples front and center
How Sweet It Is
4
Gluten-free pumpkin whoopie pies with no refined sugar
Lemons & Basil
Get the Pumpkin Whoopie Pies recipe from Lemons & Basil
5
A decadent fudge made with just 7 simple ingredients
Oh She Glows
6
A pecan pie with *gasp* no butter
The Natural Nurturer
Get the Chocolate Maple Pecan Pie recipe from The Natural Nurturer
7
Apple cinnamon muffins made with whole-wheat flour
Sally's Baking Addiction
Get the Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon Muffins recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction
8
Hot chocolate with all of the flavor and none of the unnatural ingredients
Fit Foodie Finds
Get the Healthy Maple Sea Salt Hot Chocolate recipe from Fit Foodie Finds
9
Gluten-free apple crisp with the most incredible crumble
Cookie + Kate
Get the Healthy Gluten-Free Apple Crisp recipe from Cookie + Kate
10
Fudgy brownies you won't believe are vegan
Earthly Taste
Get the Vegan Turtle Caramel Brownies recipe from Earthly Taste
11
A low-calorie pumpkin cheesecake bar (what an oxymoron)
Chocolate Covered Katie
Get the Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie
12
Toffee bites made with dates and dark chocolate
Earthly Taste
13
An energy-packed twist on fall's favorite flavor
Desserts With Benefits
Get the Healthy Pumpkin Pie Energy Bites recipe from Desserts With Benefits
14
Pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes that make greek yogurt taste like dessert
Skinny Taste
15
A picture-perfect bark chock-full of crunchy toppings
Lemons & Basil
16
Moist pumpkin cake without all the fat
Amy's Healthy Baking
Get the Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe from Amy's Healthy Baking

Before You Go

Fall Ice Cream Taste Test
Ben & Jerry's Pumpkin Cheesecake(01 of11)
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This tastes exactly like it sounds. If extra creamy, decadent pumpkin is your thing, this limited edition ice cream from Ben & Jerry's is your soulmate. (credit:Ben Jerrys)
Three Twins Land Of Milk And Honey(02 of11)
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Honey-flavored ice cream is something special, and Three Twins proves that with their Land of Milk and Honey pint. Eat this on a slice of apple pie and you'll win at life. (credit:Three Twins Ice Cream)
Salt & Straw's Jack O' Lantern(03 of11)
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There's a lot of pumpkin going on this time of year, which some folks love and others loathe. But this pumpkin sherbet by Salt & Straw is truly unique. Its clean, light flavor will delight you in how unlike every other pumpkin dish out there it is. It's made without spice, too. (credit:HuffPost Taste)
McConnell's Burnt Caramel Apple(04 of11)
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Wow, wow, wow. Burnt caramel is a special flavor that the world needs more of, and McConnell's is the right place to get it because they do caramel in ice cream so well -- they load it up with gobs and gobs of the sweet stuff. In this fall flavor, burnt caramel is swirled into an apple-flavored ice cream base. There are no chunks of fruit here to be found in this pint, if you're one of those people against that sort of thing (we know you're out there). (credit:McConnells)
Salt & Straw's Pear With Blue Cheese(05 of11)
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Skip the cheese plate and go for the pint. This ice cream flavor perfectly nails the blue cheese and pear flavor. Blue cheese mellows out slightly paired with the heavy cream and the pear shines through wonderfully. (credit:HuffPost Taste)
Talenti Caramel Apple Pie(06 of11)
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We have two caramel apple flavors in this lineup, but they're both unique in their approach. Talenti's version -- which is very hard to stop eating -- incorporates bits of flaky piecrust and apple pieces blended into a cinnamon-spiced gelato. It's glorious. And did we mention the caramel swirls? (credit:Talenti)
Salt & Straw's Dracula's Blood Pudding(07 of11)
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This pint is not for everyone -- especially once you realize that it's made with a "heady mix of spices and cream that are cooked into real blood pudding, with a hint of chicken liver" -- but if you taste before judging you will soon see that these unusual ingredients absolutely belong. (credit:HuffPost Taste)
Three Twins Dad's Cardamom(08 of11)
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Put down the vanilla for the rest of the season, this is your new go-to flavor. This cardamom-flavored ice cream is what your fall pie has been asking for. It's perfectly spiced, creamy ice cream -- nothing more, nothing less. (credit:Three Twins)
Jeni's Darkest Chocolate(09 of11)
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Dark, dark chocolate ice cream. This is the kind of pint you can get lost in (and too quickly find yourself at the bottom of). It is smooth, rich, darkly chocolate-y and absolute perfection. It's the only chocolate ice cream worthy of fall. (credit:Jenis Splendid Ice Cream)
McConnell's Earl Grey Tea With Butter Biscuits(10 of11)
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Tea and cookies, that's all we want on a brisk fall day, right? Wrong, we want tea and cookies mixed into a pint of smooth, creamy ice cream. This flavor is like cookies and cream for grownups and we're so grateful it exits. Thank you McConnell's for making our Autumn dreams come true. (credit:McConnells)
Salt & Straw's The Great Candycopia(11 of11)
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Ding, ding, ding, this is it. This is the pint of ice cream you need to, have to, absolutely must eat this fall. It's made with butterscotch ice cream, and loaded with an insane amount of candy. We're talking homemade snickers, whoppers, heath bars and peanut butter cups. With this pint of ice cream in hand, all of your trick or treating hopes will come true -- without every having to get off the couch. (credit:Salt And Straw)

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