Whether you’re sheltering indoors from a downpour of rain, or making the most of the British hedgerows and orchards, we have plenty of ideas to keep you and the kids happy this autumn. From fruit cakes, toffee sauces and puddings, pumpkin recipes and sparkling Bonfire Night classics, we’ve got you covered for any occasion!
Delve into a seasonally-spiced bounty of autumn desserts and autumn cakes. We’ve also collated our best top 20 autumn recipes, full of sweet and savoury dishes for you to explore. For family dinners, why not try out some of our autumn salad recipes or nutritious autumn vegetarian recipes? If you’re having a party or get together with under-18s, try these autumn mocktails, full of non-alcoholic spiced drinks, faux fizz and mulled deliciousness.
Our autumn baking projects for kids…
Blackberry recipes
Arm yourself and the children with baskets and containers, then head into the wilderness to forage a fine blackberry feast. Be sure to avoid hedgerows next to busy roads or areas that might be within reach of dogs.
When you get home, turn your treasures into something spectacular with our child-friendly recipes. Blackberry & coconut squares are a brilliant bake for under-11s, and the smallest hands can get involved in making our blackberry & apple loaf cake.
Use up a summer glut by making our easy blackberry jam or, if you’ve collected a hotchpotch of fruit, Angela’s flexible jam recipe is a great way of using it up. Keep the kids busy while you deal with hot pans by getting them to design labels, which is also a lovely way to make them gift-worthy.
Find more brilliant blackberry recipes.
Apple recipes
In October, the great British apple (and all its varieties) is celebrated up and down the country, with a number of apple festivals, from apple bobbing to apple pressing, to events with live bands and cider. There are plenty of festivals that offer fun for all the family, so it’s worth checking out what’s going on near you – toffee apples are compulsory.
But the apple love doesn’t have to stop there; get your child to don a mini pinny and put them to work in the kitchen. These little toffee apple cakes have been specifically tailored for kids aged between 8-14, whereas children in the 3-6 range can get stuck into making sweet baked apples. If you want to make a speedy, scrumptious snack to keep their energy levels up, our chewy toffee apple cookies will also go down a treat.
For a real project, get making our spectacular spiced toffee apple traybake, topped with sliced apples and drizzled in gooey toffee sauce. This is easily cut into squares, perfect for a kids’ party or Bonfire Night celebration.
Discover more delicious seasonal recipes in our apple and apple cake collections.
Fruity cakes and bakes
Picking seasonal fruit and vegetables to cook will help your kids recognise the different seasons, especially if you browse a local market or farm shop together. Our courgette muffins are suitable for those aged 8-14 years and will definitely get vegetable-dodgers thinking twice. Or, help them make their own lunchbox treats with simple recipes like sticky plum flapjack bars or apple & sultana muffins.
Remember, getting children involved in cooking doesn’t have to be a big project, simply providing easy, regular jobs like grating cheese or washing lettuce should give them confidence and, most of all, enthusiasm for cooking.
Pumpkin recipes
Revel in all things pumpkin and spice with great warming, autumnal treats for the whole family. As the weather gets cooler and jumpers and coats come out of storage, why not spend some time with the kids making delicious bakes? We have a cracking selection of pumpkin recipes, using leftover seasonal fruit and tinned pumpkin purée, which is so tasty in traybakes and sticky puddings. Pictured are our pumpkin pie s’mores, perfect for a kids party, Bonfire Night or as a weekend movie night treat. For more hands-on but simple kitchen baking, try out our pumpkin dessert recipes, which includes recipes like these pumpkin cupcakes, spiced with grated pumpkin, orange zest and juicy sultanas. Our pumpkin muffins are also a hit, flavoured with cinnamon or delicious pumpkin spice mix. These recipes are kid and family friendly and make great introductory baking activities for your little ones.
An American export, the all-things pumpkin craze is a sure winner for autumn inspiration and makes for incredibly versatile and tasty recipes. Why not also keep to the American theme and try this pumpkin pie recipe with the kids? It’s perfect with an afternoon cup of tea or coffee, to take to a potluck or as a simple autumnal dessert to enjoy after dinner.
Halloween recipes
The day is covered by the orange hues of autumn trees and by night, the air is filled with giggles from your kids ready to shout ‘boo!’ from behind a curtain. The time has come for sweet concoctions and devilish desserts for Halloween, where you can make simple treats with your little helpers. Above is our haunted graveyard cake, a delicious chocolate cake covered in chocolate ganache and decorated with ghouls and chocolate-covered biscuit headstones. Decoration makes for a great afternoon project, so it can take centre stage at the Halloween party later on. For more baking projects, ranging in difficulty and cooking time, follow our easy Halloween recipes, featuring impressive ghostly Halloween biscuits, hooting Halloween owl cupcakes and nutty chocolate apples.
For more layered centrepiece cakes, delve into our Halloween baking recipes, which includes monster Halloween cupcakes, a black cat cake and freaky finger red velvet cake. Jobs for your little ones range from mixing ingredients, breaking up nuts and cutting out dough with biscuit cutters.
Bonfire Night recipes
Bonfire Night is the perfect way to get the family together for a big celebration, and a great excuse to get baking! Our giant cookie recipe is the perfect sharing dessert – caramelly, chocolatey, fudgy and customisable with your choice of extra toppings. Get your little helpers in the kitchen making Bonfire Night snacks – both sweet and savoury – or helping with Bonfire Night desserts, including indulgent toffee cakes, cheesecakes and brownies. For seasonally spiced sponges to keep your warm whilst you watch the fireworks, try our Bonfire Night cakes, with traybakes, layered coffee cake, fruit loaves and more.
Simple cookery and baking tasks are highly beneficial to a child’s cognitive learning. Knowledge of different flavours and pairing of ingredients is also useful at any age, and could be the start of a culinary hobby – which, when delicious dishes arrive on your table, will benefit everyone.
More kids’ cooking inspiration
Top 5 easy bakes for kids
5 half-term recipes for kids
Activities for kids hub page
Fun baking projects for kids
Kids’ baking recipe collection
What are your favourite recipes to make with children? Comment below…
