There’s something about fall that makes me want to bake. The air turns crisp, leaves crunch underfoot, and the smell of cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin spice feels like a hug in itself. On mornings like this, I love to slow down and make spiced pumpkin bread—warm, aromatic, and perfect for cozying up with a blanket and a hot drink.

Baking is my kind of self-care. It’s not just about the food—it’s about creating a small ritual in your day, something that smells like home and feels grounding in a busy world.

I don’t have much of a sweet tooth and, haven’t baked anything in a while. I’m getting ready to move and I’m trying to clean out both my fridge and pantry to make the move easier. When I was going through my pantry I stumbled upon my baking supplies and thought these items could easily spill and make a mess. So I decided to use them up and make a sweet treat. One of my favorite treats is a chocolate chip cookie cake with a scoop of ice cream. Chocolate chip cookie cakes are easy to make, which makes them great for last-minute parties. They’re also customizable. You can add different types of chocolate chips or your favorite chocolate candy. It has a chewy center and crispy outside that satisfies my sweet tooth.

Is it truly fall if you don’t have something with pumpkin or pumpkin spice in it? I think not. The smell of pumpkin spice has been drifting through my apartment all month. Soon as I see the canned pumpkin hit the shelves, I start thinking of all the goodies I can make with it. And this year is no different. When it to making treats using canned pumpkin my go-to’s are muffins, donut holes, or everyone’s favorite pumpkin pie. But this year, I wanted to do something different and ended up experimenting with cookies. Since it’s easy to make them in small batches or freeze the leftovers. So I present to you vegan pumpkin cookies.

A few years ago I used to live in Georgia where peaches were everywhere. I remember driving down country roads and seeing signs for fresh peaches or peach salsa. While I lived in Georgia, I ate a lot of peaches. I’d often bake with them, put them in smoothies, or add them to my fruit salad. Since moving to Missouri, peaches aren’t something I don’t eat often. But while I was cruising through the produce section, I spotted some peaches on sale. I grabbed a few and tried to think of what I could make with them. I decided to bake a peach cobbler since it’d be easy, but to shake things up, I added some strawberries since they were also on sale. So instead of a regular peach cobbler, I made a vegan strawberry and peach cobbler instead.

Homebaked cookies are way better than store-bought cookies any day. But sometimes you don’t have anyone to share a fresh batch of cookies with, and you end up with way more than you can eat. That’s when small batch recipes come in handy. I love a fresh batch of cookies with a glass of non-dairy milk or non-dairy ice cream as a weekend treat. But there’s no way I can eat over a dozen cookies all by myself. So I often like to bake small batches of cookies so I have just enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. And these vegan brownie cookies are just that. They taste like a brownie, soft, chewy, and go great with a glass of non-dairy milk or ice cream.