Get cozy: 5 delicious recipes for fall
By Courtney Cohn
October 7, 2020
Image Credit: Emily Eckles
The transition from summer to fall brings colorful leaves, cool weather and a countdown until the holidays, but nothing makes us feel like fall has arrived more than pumpkin, cinnamon and the warm aroma of fall foods.
It may be hard to make gourmet fall meals and desserts while living on a college campus, but there are many easy recipes that students can make right in their dorms or apartments. Here are five fun fall recipes that are not only easy to make, but also taste delicious!
The first two fall recipes are from Leah Packer, a sophomore theater and communications major, who has a cooking channel with her mom on Youtube. Her channel is called “Because I Said So - Cooking for College,” and she posts videos of recipes that are perfectly suited for college students.
Vegan Apple Crisp
Ingredients:
How to Prepare:
Packer believes that it is important to include vegan and gluten free recipes on her channel because she wants college students to be able to enjoy and make delicious meals regardless of their food intolerances, allergies or different diets.
“We always promote using ingredients that you’re comfortable with because everyone’s allergies are different, and we always like to try our best to make our food accommodating for everybody,” Packer said.
Smashed Potatoes
Ingredients:
How to Prepare:
“I feel like very warm, rich, seasonal recipes just kind of hit differently in the fall, like you’re looking for something warm that fills you up. It’s nice to have a fall meal that you’re excited about,” Packer said.
The next recipe is from Talya Horn, a sophomore cell biology and genetics major, who bakes intricate recipes, like homemade croissants, and more simple ones, like the pumpkin bread recipe below, for fall.
“I think when I start making pumpkin bread it’s like the biggest cue or key to starting fall,” Horn said. “It really [puts] me in the nice autumn mood.”
Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chips
Ingredients:
How to Prepare:
Follow the directions on the Pumpkin Bread mix, and add chocolate chips to the batter.
The final recipes are from Emily Eckles, a junior accounting major, who enjoys baking in her free time and has many fall recipes, such as pumpkin biscuits, banana bread, cinnamon rolls and pumpkin cupcakes. These recipes are not only convenient to make, but they are also guaranteed to be fan-favorites.
“Just like in terms of convenience, they’re super quick, but also at the same time you’re not really sacrificing that time value for the taste of the dessert,” Eckles said. “Some of the most delicious recipes are incredibly simple.”
Pumpkin Cupcakes from sallybakingaddiction.com
Ingredients:
How to Prepare:
Cinnamon Rolls from jocooks.com
Ingredients:
Now that October has begun, it is time to embrace the flavors of fall. Everyone can bring the essence of fall into their kitchens this year with the help of these students’ favorite recipes.
It may be hard to make gourmet fall meals and desserts while living on a college campus, but there are many easy recipes that students can make right in their dorms or apartments. Here are five fun fall recipes that are not only easy to make, but also taste delicious!
The first two fall recipes are from Leah Packer, a sophomore theater and communications major, who has a cooking channel with her mom on Youtube. Her channel is called “Because I Said So - Cooking for College,” and she posts videos of recipes that are perfectly suited for college students.
Vegan Apple Crisp
Ingredients:
- 6 medium apples or 4-5 large apples (Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Gala or Fuji)
- ⅓ cup olive oil or canola oil
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon maple extract
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 cut gluten-free oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Dairy-free margarine
- Maple syrup
How to Prepare:
- Cut apples and set aside
- Use whisk or fork to combine olive/canola oil and coconut sugar
- Add vanilla extract and maple extract
- Add oat flour and gluten-free oats
- Add baking powder and cinnamon
- Mix until mixture becomes crumbly
- Spread dairy-free margarine or oil at the bottom of a pan
- Place apple slices into the plan
- Add maple syrup over the top of the apples
- Sprinkle crumbly topping on the apples
- Place in preheated oven for at 350°F for 40-50 minutes
Packer believes that it is important to include vegan and gluten free recipes on her channel because she wants college students to be able to enjoy and make delicious meals regardless of their food intolerances, allergies or different diets.
“We always promote using ingredients that you’re comfortable with because everyone’s allergies are different, and we always like to try our best to make our food accommodating for everybody,” Packer said.
Smashed Potatoes
Ingredients:
- Red potatoes (any amount)
- 1 tablespoons and 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 teaspoons salt
- Onion powder (any amount)
How to Prepare:
- Place red potatoes in a pan, add water, and boil them on the stove.
- Let potatoes cool
- Drizzle 1 tbsp of olive oil over the potatoes
- Push plate onto potatoes in order to flatten them
- Drizzle 3 tbsp of olive oil onto the potatoes, sprinkle and some onion powder onto the potatoes
- Cook potatoes for 20 minutes at 450°F in the oven (longer if necessary)
“I feel like very warm, rich, seasonal recipes just kind of hit differently in the fall, like you’re looking for something warm that fills you up. It’s nice to have a fall meal that you’re excited about,” Packer said.
The next recipe is from Talya Horn, a sophomore cell biology and genetics major, who bakes intricate recipes, like homemade croissants, and more simple ones, like the pumpkin bread recipe below, for fall.
“I think when I start making pumpkin bread it’s like the biggest cue or key to starting fall,” Horn said. “It really [puts] me in the nice autumn mood.”
Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chips
Ingredients:
- Pumpkin Bread Mix
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup oil
- 2 large eggs
How to Prepare:
Follow the directions on the Pumpkin Bread mix, and add chocolate chips to the batter.
- Lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
- Stir together water, oil, bread and egg mix until smooth (add chocolate chips).
- Spoon batter into pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Cool for ten minutes, gently loosen and remove from the pan.
The final recipes are from Emily Eckles, a junior accounting major, who enjoys baking in her free time and has many fall recipes, such as pumpkin biscuits, banana bread, cinnamon rolls and pumpkin cupcakes. These recipes are not only convenient to make, but they are also guaranteed to be fan-favorites.
“Just like in terms of convenience, they’re super quick, but also at the same time you’re not really sacrificing that time value for the taste of the dessert,” Eckles said. “Some of the most delicious recipes are incredibly simple.”
Pumpkin Cupcakes from sallybakingaddiction.com
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 and 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice*
- 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil*
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 8 ounces full-fat block cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, plus an extra 1/4 cup if needed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
How to Prepare:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together in a large bowl.
- Whisk the oil, eggs, brown sugar, pumpkin, and vanilla extract together until combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and use a mixer or whisk until completely combined.
- Pour/spoon the batter into the liners.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until smooth and creamy.
- Add 3 cups of confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes.
Cinnamon Rolls from jocooks.com
Ingredients:
- Active dry yeast
- Milk
- Granulated sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Salt
- Eggs
- All-purpose flour
- Dark brown sugar
- Cinnamon
- Powdered sugar
- Cream cheese
- Vanilla extract
- Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Add the sugar, butter or margarine, salt, eggs, and flour and mix to a bowl.
- Pour the milk/yeast mixture over the flour mixture and mix well.
- Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour.
- For the filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
- Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface.
- Spread the 1/3 cup of butter evenly over the dough, then sprinkle with the sugar evenly over the surface of the dough.
- Roll the dough down to the bottom edge.
- Place the cut rolls in a buttered pan.
- Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rise for another 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface.
- Bake them in a 350 F degree oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Make the icing by mixing all the icing ingredients and beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy and smooth.
Now that October has begun, it is time to embrace the flavors of fall. Everyone can bring the essence of fall into their kitchens this year with the help of these students’ favorite recipes.