25 Easy Apple Dessert Recipes to Enjoy All Year

Apples are easy to find and one of the most popular baking fruits in the country. Apple pies, cakes, fritters, cookies, they all exist and are delicious. We just need some easy apple dessert recipes to try out at home.

Try some easy apple dessert recipes that are perfect as party desserts, fall desserts or even just a quick snack at home. Good old American pie, we can’t escape it during the summer. Why would you want to? This pie is the quintessential American dessert.

Though there is something to be said about variety and it being a spice of life, apples are not only for pies. In fact, we can turn apples into many different types of desserts. Sometimes, all you need is a little brown sugar, cinnamon, and apple slices.

The best apples come during apple season, so apples have also become a staple in our list of favorite fall desserts. There’s nothing like picking some fresh apples and using them in an easy dessert that is filled with slices of delicious apples.

The process of cooking those apples until they are golden brown also fills our homes with the scents of fall. Of course, we can’t all go apple picking since we don’t all live near apple orchards.

However, we don’t have to use freshly picked apples for apple recipes. Instead, we can run to the grocery store and pick our favorite apples to make some easy apple desserts that may just end up being our next personal favorite.

We can’t start enjoying the best fall desserts without having a place to start. Your favorite apple dessert begins with picking out an apple. 

How Ripe Should Apples Be for Baking?

Most apple desserts will be baked, but even those that aren’t would benefit from baking apples. Baking apples come in a variety of flavors ranging from tart to sweet. Most people like to use granny smith apples for baking, and that homemade apple pie has them.

Of course, the tartness and sweetness level will depend on the recipe we use. For example, a classic apple crisp recipe with quick oats will benefit greatly from granny smith apples.

The recipe adds sweetness through sweetener, so we want the apples to be a bit more tart to balance things out. Thin slices, thick slices, they will all be the perfect level of tartness. We also want apples that are firm and without bruises.

This will ensure your favorite dessert will come out perfectly the first time. No one wants to start out with mushy apples, even in something like an easy apple crisp mini cheesecake recipe.

Yes, the apples will be mushed into the recipe, but we don’t want to start with bad apples. The variety of apples you use should be perfectly ripe; no waiting around for browning like bananas. 

​Should Apples Be Peeled Before Baking?

Making easy apple desserts does bring up a few questions. The first and most obvious one is how to find the right apples for baking. We know the flavors, and now we know what to look for in the apple. The next question is all about the skin.

Should we peel the fruit before using it in an apple filling, or do we keep the juicy apple whole, skin and all? This one comes down to preference. The kind of apples and whether you leave the skin on both come down to your preference.

You can easily make an apple crumble recipe, an apple fritter bread recipe, or even Hasselback apples with the skin intact. The skin will add a ton of nutrients to the dessert as well.

This means we can feel less guilty about enjoying a slice of that amazing apple dapple cake recipe we made, given that it is healthy, too. However, the skin may change the texture of the dessert.

The crisp topping of a flaky crust might not mesh as well with the tartness of the apple skin. Pick your favorite way to prep apples and run with it. You can always adjust the choice next time. 

What Do You Soak Apples in Before Baking?

Did you know that making easy apple dessert recipes is even easier when you prep the apples correctly? The only thing most apple bakers will strongly recommend is to soak the apples before baking.

Soaking the apples is a way of preventing them from going brown. Yes, most recipes will require us to get the apples golden brown. However, there is a difference between the browning that happens during the baking time and the browning that happens from oxidation.

We can make one wonderful apple fritter cake recipe or an impressive caramel apple bar recipe with perfectly golden browned apples. The trick is to take the apple slices and soak them in a saltwater solution. Kosher salt is highly recommended.

Your classic fall dessert will be that much better, benefitting from the proper preparation. This is an additional step that most recipes may not include in the recipe card.

However, those muffin tin apple pies will do a whole lot better with the soaking. In fact, you may even want to cook the apples separately. 

Should You Cook Apples Before Putting in Pie?

Most apple dessert recipes will let you know how to get the best results from the apples. The recipe card should handle cold butter, melted butter, all-purpose flour, and flaky pie crusts.

However, some people have learned some tricks over time that make baking apples in desserts even easier. Your favorite recipes can be made even better with the right tips that can turn that pie crust into a flaky pie crust or even how to slice apples for those baked apple fritters.

One of those tips is to cook the apples separately from the pastry first. Doing so will help render the apples, release the water, and make the baking process easier. Of course, some recipes require us to cook the apples separately, like a fun apple delight recipe or a salted caramel apple pie bar recipe.

We can use a fried apples recipe to prep the apples before putting them in a pie tin or even to top with a scoop of ice cream and eat as is. You will also get a fuller apple pie with delicious apple filling from the bottom to toe the top of the flaky homemade pie crust.

How do You Keep Apple Desserts from Getting Too Watery?

Apples are fruit, which means they are loaded with juice. That juice is excellent for drinking, and some recipes may even benefit from those juices. However, some of the easy apple dessert recipes will require a bit more dryness.

No one wants to make a delicious apple scone recipe only to pick up a scone, and juices spill from the corners. Could you imagine what runny apples would do to an easy apple crips shortbread cookies recipe?

Luckily, there is a very simple trick to keep things perfectly between apple juice and baked apples: cornstarch. In fact, we can add whatever we would like to the apples as they cook to thicken up the liquid.

Cornstarch is an easy choice because it lacks flavor but will get the job done. You may not want anything adding flavor to your cinnamon apple bread recipe. However, a recipe may benefit from those juices, such as a caramel apple dump cake recipe.

Those juices can help flavor the caramel, so be sure to keep those juices nearby.

Easy Apple Dessert Recipes

We know everything we need to know about baking with apples. Making any of these amazingly easy apple dessert recipes will be a breeze. Want to make some fried apple rings? Not a problem. Is a caramel apple dump cake recipe calling your name?

You’re ready for it. Go out and gather your simple ingredients to make maple-glazed apple blondies, and rest assured that you will make the right choices. Just be careful, apple pie bombs will be gone in an instant once friends and family get a taste.

It might be a good idea to save one or two recipes for yourself. No one has to have a taste of the apple fritter monkey bread you made unless you want to let them. Though, there are some recipes that are perfect for sharing like the apple fritter bites recipe or the apple cookies recipe. Just keep the caramel apple poke cake to yourself.

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