Whether you make them for an afternoon snack or a weekend tailgating party, these 20 cookie recipes will bring autumn's scents and flavors into your home.
01of 20
Caramel Apple Cookies
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Chopped apple, pecans, apple juice, apple pie spice and more combine for a hearty, delicious cookie. The frosting and nuts add just the right touch of sweetness and crunch on top.
The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes
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02of 20
CCCC Cookies
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In the Middle East, cardamom often flavors coffee. Here, that duo teams up with cloves and chocolate shards in a bakehouse-style cookie with cozy chai vibes. (Trust us: The extra step of melting chocolate, spreading it out and breaking it into shards, rather than use chips, is worth it for a totally elevated cookie.)
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03of 20
Mood-Booster Cookies
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Gray fall afternoon, as the season slowly slides toward winter? Slip yourself one of these insanely rich morsels, which fall somewhere between a truffle and a cookie.
Decadent Chocolate Dessert Recipes
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04of 20
Miss Rosa Lee's Oatmeal Cookies
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Nothing fancy here; this is the perfectly chewy lunchbox classic, pebbled with walnuts and plump raisins. A combination of vegetable oil and butter ensures a chewy texture and rich flavor. This recipe comes from Patty Pinner's cookbook Sweets.
Easy Drop Cookies for No-Fuss Sweets
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05of 20
Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies
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Fall means back-to-school, and that means peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...right? These easy, nostalgic-tasting cookies are a favorite of Stephanie Simmons, the Wisconsin blogger behind Blue Bowl Recipes and author of the cookbook, The One-Bowl Baker. Use your favorite preserves—Stephanie likes raspberry.
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06of 20
Rene's Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Coconut adds chewiness to this full-of-chips cookie. The recipe is from Rene's Bakery in Indianapolis, one of the most popular Indy bakeries.
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07of 20
Jumbo Cherry Chocolate-Oat Cookies
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These huge cookies (5 inches in diameter!) will satisfy any fall cookie cravings. But if you want smaller ones, use a 1/3-cup measure to portion the dough for 15 or 16 cookies.
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08of 20
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Mix pumpkin and chocolate and you have...fall! These cookies make a great after-school treat or any-time snack.
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09of 20
Molasses Cookies
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Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside: This spice cookie has it all. Trust us, it will fill your house with all the fall scents while it's cooking.
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10of 20
Avalon's Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies
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Avalon International Breads in Detroit sells these delicious drop cookies.
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11of 20
S'more Cookies
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Fall is camping season, and camping means making s'mores. Recreate those autumn vibes at home with this cookie; cinnamon, brown sugar, oats and finely crushed grahams cradle a thumbprint filling of marshmallow creme and an upside-down milk chocolate candy.
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12of 20
Peanut Butter Apple Cookies
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Looking for a healthier cookie? Shredded apple, whole wheat flour, canola oil and wheat germ reduce saturated fat and add whole grains and flavor to peanut butter cookies.
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13of 20
Chocolate-Cranberry Biscotti
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Whether your autumn brew is coffee or tea or just a glass of milk, take a break with a tempting homemade biscotti.
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14of 20
Quadruple Ginger Cookies
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To make ginger juice, Patty Erd of the Spice House in Evanston, Illinois, squishes coarsely chopped fresh ginger in a clean garlic press.
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15of 20
Crisp Cherry-Almond Bars with Marshmallows
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Dried fruit and crunchy almonds bring antioxidants and omega-3s to these bars made from two kinds of rice cereal—regular and chocolate flavored—in our version of marshmallow-cereal bars.
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16of 20
Spiced Apple Drops
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An apple a day tastes even better in cookie form, especially with frosting on top!
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17of 20
Anita's Cranberry Scones
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Coarsely chopped cranberries spread the sweet-tart flavor throughout this tender scone, a winner at the Warrens Cranberry Festival fall recipe competition. A sweet almond frosting complements the berries.
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18of 20
Fat Molasses Cookies
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Packed with flavor from molasses, ginger, cinnamon and brown sugar, these cookies look especially nice when cut with a scalloped or round cutter and sprinkled with coarse sugar or crystallized ginger.
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19of 20
Lindsay's Chocolate Cafe Chocolate Chip Cookies
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This cookie, from the former Lindsay's Chocolate Cafe and Coffee House in O'Fallon, Missouri, wowed us with its flavor-packed lineup of ingredients. "These are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had!" says one of our website reviewers. "These are wonderful with a glass of cold milk while the cookie is still warm!"
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20of 20
Peanut Butter Munchies
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A Hanover, Kansas, reader sent the recipe for these chocolate cookies with peanut butter centers to a Midwest Living cookie contest. A judge described them as "regally rich chocolate with a peanut butter kick."
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