Every fall I go a little overboard with pumpkin. It started back in 2014 with one batch of mini cheesecakes, and somehow eleven years later I have enough pumpkin desserts to fill an entire baking season.
So I pulled together every pumpkin recipe I’ve made and actually stand behind — 25 of them. Not a list I scraped from around the internet. These are all mine: baked in my kitchen, photographed on my table, and most of them made again and again because my family kept asking.
I’ve grouped them so you can jump straight to what you need:
Pumpkin cheesecakes come first, because that’s where this whole obsession started. Then pumpkin cakes and coffee cakes for when you want something you can slice and serve. No-bake pumpkin desserts for the days your oven is already full — Thanksgiving, I’m looking at you. Cookies, bars, and bite-sized treats for lunchboxes, parties, and Halloween. And finally pumpkin breakfast recipes, because pumpkin muffins on a cold morning are one of life’s genuinely good things.
A quick note on pumpkin: every recipe here works with plain canned pumpkin puree — not pumpkin pie filling, which is already sweetened and spiced. If you’d rather make your own, here’s how I make homemade pumpkin puree. Just strain it well; fresh puree holds more water than canned and can throw off a batter.
Let’s start with the one that began it all.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipes
Mini Pumpkin Swirled Cheesecakes
This is the recipe that started my pumpkin habit, and eleven years later it’s still the one readers make most. A graham cracker crust, a snow-white cheesecake layer, and that pumpkin swirl marbled across the top with nothing more than a toothpick. They bake in a regular muffin pan, they hold up in the fridge for days, and because they’re individual, nobody has to slice anything at the table. Two small tips from years of comments: use canned puree if you want the swirl to stay bright orange, and go easy on the mixer once the eggs go in.
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Oreo Crust
When you want a proper showstopper, this is the one. Two distinct layers — plain vanilla cheesecake and spiced pumpkin — sitting on a dark chocolate Oreo crust that makes the whole thing look far more complicated than it is. The chocolate crust is what sets it apart from every other pumpkin cheesecake out there; it cuts the sweetness and gives you that clean dark line against the orange when you slice it.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Crumb Cake
Three desserts in one pan: pumpkin pie, cheesecake, and buttery crumb cake. It sounds like too much until you taste it — the crumb topping keeps everything from being too rich, and it slices into neat squares instead of wedges, which makes it easy to bring somewhere. This is my answer whenever someone can’t decide between pumpkin pie and cheesecake.
Pumpkin Bread Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Topping
This is the go-all-out recipe. Moist pumpkin bread and creamy cheesecake baked together, then finished with a pecan praline topping that sets into a crackly, caramelized layer. It takes more time than anything else on this list, and it’s the one I make when I want people to stop talking when it comes out. Save it for Thanksgiving.
Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes with Streusel Topping
The cozier cousin of the swirled minis at the top of this list. Instead of a marbled top, these get a buttery cinnamon streusel that bakes into a crumbly, golden crown. Same individual-portion convenience, completely different texture — soft cheesecake underneath, crunch on top. If you’re making a dessert table, these two together look like you spent the whole day baking.
Pumpkin Cakes and Coffee Cakes
Pumpkin Poke Cake
Poke cakes are the easiest way to get a lot of flavor into a simple sheet cake, and pumpkin takes to the method beautifully. You bake it, poke holes across the top while it’s still warm, and let the filling soak down into every one of them. The result is a cake that stays moist for days and cuts into neat squares straight from the pan — no layering, no frosting a round cake, no stress. This is my recipe for feeding a crowd without spending the afternoon in the kitchen.
Pecan Pumpkin Crunch Cake
Pumpkin, pecans, and brown sugar-cinnamon spice, with a crunchy topping baked right over a soft pumpkin base. What makes this one work is the contrast — the bottom stays custardy and spoonable while the top turns golden and crisp. Serve it slightly warm with a scoop of whipped cream and it disappears fast. It’s a Thanksgiving regular here, and it works just as well on a Christmas table.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
A ribbon of sweetened cream cheese running through a spiced pumpkin cake, with streusel on top. The cream cheese layer does two things: it keeps the crumb tender, and it gives you that pale swirl through every slice. This is the one I make on a Saturday morning when people are staying over — it’s technically breakfast, but nobody treats it that way.
Pumpkin Coffee Cake
The simpler, everyday version — no cream cheese layer, just a soft pumpkin crumb under a generous cinnamon streusel topping. Fewer ingredients, less time, and it’s the one that actually gets made on a regular Tuesday. Cut a slice, pour the coffee, and that’s a good start to a cold morning.
No-Bake Pumpkin Desserts
Pumpkin Lasagna
No oven, four layers, and one of the best things I’ve ever put on a fall table. A buttery crust on the bottom, sweetened cream cheese over it, spiced pumpkin pudding on top of that, and whipped cream to finish — chilled until it slices clean. Dessert lasagnas have become a bit of a specialty around here; if you like this one, I’ve collected all my dessert lasagna recipes in one place. But the pumpkin version is the one I make every single fall.
Pumpkin Lasagna Cupcakes
Same four layers, built in a muffin pan instead of a baking dish. Still no baking required. The advantage isn’t just portion size — because each one is assembled separately, the layers stay sharp and defined instead of shifting when you cut. Make them the night before a party, keep them in the fridge, and serve them straight from the liners.
White Chocolate Pumpkin Truffles
Small, rich, and genuinely hard to stop eating. A spiced pumpkin center rolled and dipped in white chocolate, which is exactly the right pairing — white chocolate is sweet enough to stand up to the pumpkin spice without competing with it. They keep well in the fridge, they travel without falling apart, and they make a good homemade gift when you need one in a hurry.
White Chocolate Pumpkin Cups
Same flavor pairing as the truffles, but set in paper candy cups instead of rolled by hand — which means no chilling, shaping, or dipping. If truffles feel like too much handling, make these instead. A layer of white chocolate, a pumpkin layer, another layer of white chocolate, and into the fridge until firm.
Pumpkin Cookies, Bars and Bite-Sized Treats
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese
If you make one thing from this section, make these. A soft, spiced pumpkin base baked in a sheet pan, topped with cream cheese frosting piped in stripes across the top. They’re moist without being heavy, they cut into as many pieces as you need, and they hold in the fridge for days. This is the pumpkin recipe I hand over when someone asks me for something easy that always works.
Snickerdoodle Pumpkin Cookies
My favorite pumpkin cookie, and it’s not close. Soft, cakey pumpkin cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking, so they come out with that crackled snickerdoodle shell over a tender middle. Pumpkin makes cookies softer than a standard dough does — these are pillowy rather than chewy, and that’s exactly the point.
OMG Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes
Essentially a whole pumpkin pie, scaled down to something you eat with your hands. No crust to roll out and no pie plate to fuss with — the batter sets into its own crust as it bakes, and each one comes out looking like a tiny pie. They’re a good option when you want pumpkin pie flavor without committing to a whole pie.
Pumpkin Pie Bombs
Crescent dough wrapped around a pumpkin pie filling, baked until golden, then rolled in cinnamon sugar while still warm. Kids love these, and they take about fifteen minutes of actual work. They’re best the day they’re made, straight from the oven — which has never once been a problem in this house.
Mummy Pumpkin Cookies
The Halloween entry on this list. Pumpkin pie filling wrapped in a simple pie crust, with strips laid across the top to make the mummy wrapping and two small eyes peeking through. They’re genuinely fun to make with kids, and they taste like miniature pumpkin pie — which means the adults finish them off after the kids go to bed.
Pumpkin Spice Latte Tacos
The most unexpected recipe on this list, and one of the most fun. A crisp shell folded taco-style and filled with pumpkin spice latte cream — all the flavor of the drink everyone waits for in September, in dessert form. Make these when you want something nobody at the table has seen before.
Pumpkin Breakfast and Brunch Recipes
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
A spiced pumpkin muffin with a pocket of sweetened cream cheese baked into the middle. The filling stays soft and slightly tangy against the pumpkin, and it keeps the muffin moist for days longer than a plain one would. Cream cheese muffins are something of a running theme on this blog — I’ve put together a full guide to cream cheese muffins if you want the whole collection. But the pumpkin version is the one that owns October.
Pumpkin Roll Muffins
Everything people love about a classic pumpkin roll, without any of the rolling. No damp towel, no cracked cake, no holding your breath while you unroll it. Spiced pumpkin batter and a cream cheese swirl, baked in a muffin pan and done in under half an hour. If a pumpkin roll has ever fallen apart on you, make these instead.
Pumpkin French Toast Muffins
French toast flavor in muffin form — cubes of bread soaked in a spiced pumpkin custard, baked until the tops go golden and the insides stay soft. You can assemble them the night before and bake them in the morning, which makes them a good choice for a house full of people. Serve warm with maple syrup.
Pumpkin Pie Cinnamon Roll Casserole
Store-bought cinnamon rolls cut up and baked in a pumpkin pie custard, then finished with the icing that comes in the tube. It takes about ten minutes to put together and comes out of the oven bubbling. This is a Thanksgiving-morning recipe here — it feeds everyone, it uses one pan, and it leaves the oven free for the rest of the day.
Crescent Pumpkins with Cream Cheese and Pumpkin Pie Filling
Crescent dough shaped into little pumpkins, filled with cream cheese and pumpkin pie filling. They look like they took real effort and they don’t — the shaping is simple enough that kids can help, and the whole thing comes together with refrigerated dough. Breakfast, dessert, or an afternoon snack; they work for all three.
That’s the full collection — every pumpkin dessert I’ve made and kept coming back to. If you’re deciding where to start, the mini pumpkin swirled cheesecakes at the top of this list are the ones readers have been making for over a decade now, and the pumpkin bars with cream cheese are the easiest place to begin. Pin whichever ones you want to remember, and come back for the rest when the weather turns.
