Cozy Up Your Kitchen With Fall Flavors

If you haven’t had baked oatmeal yet, we’re thrilled to be the ones making the introduction. We’re all about breakfast that tastes like dessert, of course, but as an added bonus, these options are vegan and easy to whip up in a matter of minutes. If you’re a pumpkin pie fan, our favorite version comes from vegan website Minimalist Baker, and relies on pumpkin pie spice and canned pumpkin at its base. And if you’re not a fan of pumpkin, no need to worry – Oh She Glows’ carrot cake baked oatmeal requires a tiny bit of legwork (grating carrots), but the medley of ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, and maple syrup that come together in the finish product makes those few labor-intensive minutes more than worth it. If you’re cooking for one, make the recipe in a ramekin and simply eyeball the proportions; one of our favorite things about baked oatmeal is that it offers all of the delicious flavors of a traditional baked good, without requiring overly precise measurements.

Though it’s admittedly a lot for a weekday lunch, if you find yourself with a few extra hours on a fall Saturday, we highly recommend treating yourself to this twist on pho (it’s not technically a traditional pho recipe, since the broth isn’t homemade, but it’s still absolutely delicious). It involves charing onions and ginger, followed by simmering your beef broth with star anise, cloves, cinnamon, and cilantro for a half an hour before serving. If the aroma that wafts through your apartment during the cooking process doesn’t say fall, the resulting warm and comforting broth certainly will.

The perfect recipe to keep simmering all day while you read one of our fall book recommendations in the background, this Moroccan lamb tagine is filled to the brim with incredible fall flavors; from nutmeg to ginger to saffron (one of our favorites for adding complexity to any fall dish) and apricots. You’re only actively preparing the recipe for about 45 minutes, which means the two and a half to three hours it sits in the oven are yours to while away however you please.

We’ve spoken about our favorite way to roast vegetables before–we’re partial to carrots and sweet potatoes, especially in the fall–but our favorite trick for taking them to the next level in the fall is simple: coat them in maple cinnamon ghee in lieu of the typical olive oil and sea salt and cook your vegetables, spaced apart, for 40 minutes at 450 degrees (Farenheit) as usual. No work required on your end, but if you serve this to guests, we guarantee they’ll ask you for the “recipe.”

A spiced cookie in the fall is a favorite simple pleasure of ours, and, while we’ve had our fair share of pumpkin spice, molasses, and gingerbread–all of which are classics for a reason–the first time we tried pfeffernusse cookies, our worlds changed. A spiced, iced cookie enjoyed in Germany and the Netherlands during the Holidays, pfeffernusse are made with a special German gingerbread spice called Lebkuchengewürz, which sounds intimidating, but isn’t hard to make at home on your own–though it’s available on Etsy, too. These cookies are admittedly somewhat fussy, requiring one to two nights of chilling in the fridge, but the rest of the process is simple and delicious. And if you’re still intimidated, Trader Joe’s also now sells a pfeffernusse cookie mix. We think the flavor payoff from making them at home is well worth it, but we promise we won’t tell.