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.

After Thanksgiving, I had a lot of leftover cranberry sauce. I usually only make a little to go with my cornbread dressing, but since the bag of frozen cranberries had been sitting in my freezer for a while I cooked the whole bag. As a result, I had a bowl full of cranberry sauce that I had no clue what to do with. I’m not someone who doesn’t like to waste food, so I try to find a use for leftovers. While I’m used to having leftover cranberries after Thanksgiving, but not leftover cranberry sauce. I searched the internet for ideas but came up empty. The recipes I came across called for whole cranberries and not cranberry sauce. After coming up empty I was worried that my cranberry sauce was going to go bad and I’d have to throw them out. So I decided to get creative and try to make a cranberry sauce coffee cake with the leftover cranberry sauce.

Well, I’m one of many who buys bananas to let them ripen so that I can make vegan banana bread. I’m not a fan of bananas, but I try to eat them every once in a while since they are packed with potassium. I put them in smoothies, make peanut butter and bananas sandwiches, or have them as a snack. But when I have a bunch and they start spotting I make vegan banana bread. I like to have it as a snack with my tea or as a quick breakfast when I’m on the go. It’s also a great way to keep them from going to waste. I usually have the ingredients to make banana bread in my pantry, so I can easily take an hour or so to make banana bread.

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.