Although this is our second fall season since moving to Texas, this is the first one that we’ve had a chance to appreciate. Last year, I was buried under a 3000+ cookie order for the month of October, so it’s been really fun to have some time to play around with neat, easy cookie designs this year! 🙂

First up, Festive Caramel Apple Cookies!

I’ve seen caramel apple cookies before, but there was one little detail always missing… the “caramel” icing didn’t look gooey! I consider myself the #1 Caramel Apple Fan ever, and the BEST part is the ooey, gooey, drippy caramel! So… I devised a way to make the apple cookies look as closely as possible to the real thing.

I used this cutter for my apple-shaped cookies:

Since I was planning to add a popsicle stick to the finished cookies, I trimmed the leaf & stem from the cookie shape before baking. Once the cookies were baked & cooled, I iced them in a deep red color, and let that dry for a few hours before moving on to the next step.

To ice the “caramel” on the cookies, I prepared the overlap surface. I lined a baking sheet with waxed paper (parchment paper would work as well). I spaced the cookies a little further apart than usual, to allow for the icing to pool over the edges. Next, I flooded the cookies with the caramel-colored icing, making sure to really apply it to the edges of the cookie so it would spill over onto the waxed paper. (I wanted a few cookies to have festive sprinkles, so I added them at this point.) Then, without moving the cookies, I let the entire pan dry solidly overnight.

The next morning, I very carefully peeled the waxed paper from the back of each cookie (not the other way around!), and added the popsicle sticks to the back. Using a stiff piping icing in the colors I had on hand (I think mine was purple, but it doesn’t show, so don’t worry about matching!), I piped a stiff line of icing & firmly attached a stick 1/3-1/2 of the way down the top of the cookie. I let that dry for a few more hours, and that’s it! Easy Caramel Apple Cookie Pops! 🙂

For some other fun apple cookie ideas, check out these “Happy Apple Cookies” with a fun personality! I also made some cute apple minis a few years ago, along with some personalized apples for the boys’ teachers. They are ALWAYS well-received. 🙂

Next up, I made a few Classic Pumpkins to go with the Caramel Apple cookies, too.

To add dimension, I iced the sections of the pumpkin cookies in two stages: sections 2 & 4 first. After allowing 20-30 minutes for those first sections to crust a bit, I iced sections 1, 3 & 5. I waited another 10 minutes or so before using a bit of brown piping icing to add the stems.

Start to finish, I probably iced these pumpkins completely in just under 1 hour. They are pretty & so perfect for fall! 🙂