When a chill enters the air, it can only mean one thing: It’s pumpkin spice season. Whether or not you love the controversial flavor, there are plenty of treats that incorporate all the flavors of fall. Try these cookies, ice cream, cupcakes, doughnuts and other desserts to satisfy your sweet tooth on Halloween and all the way through to winter.
Credit: Courtesy of Butter and Cream
Credit: Courtesy of Butter and Cream
Butter and Cream. It might be cooling down, but there’s never a bad time for frightfully delicious ice cream. The Trick or Treat flavor from Butter and Cream sees peanut butter cups, nougat caramel peanut butter bars, chocolate-covered marshmallows, and cookie bars covered in caramel and chocolate, all embedded in salted vanilla ice cream.
Duck Donuts. Try the doughnuts in the Spooky Box at Duck Donuts through Oct. 31. Options include the Dirt ‘n Worms, with chocolate icing, Oreo cookie pieces and a gummy worm; So Mummy with vanilla icing, topped with shredded coconut and hot fudge; and the Werewolf, a doughnut with maple icing, chopped bacon and raspberry.
3005 Old Alabama Road, Alpharetta, 470-385-6303; and 1281 Johnson Ferry Road, Marietta, 770-693-1622. duckdonuts.com
Credit: Courtesy of Georgetown Cupcakes
Credit: Courtesy of Georgetown Cupcakes
Georgetown Cupcakes. The Trick or Treat assortment from Georgetown offers ghoulish delights including cupcake varieties such as salted caramel jack-o-lantern, midnight cookies and creme and pumpkin spice haunted house. The boxes are available for overnight nationwide shipping, delivery or store pick-up.
267 E. Paces Ferry Road NE, Atlanta. 404-257-6502, georgetowncupcake.com
Credit: Courtesy of Ghoul Next Door
Credit: Courtesy of Ghoul Next Door
Ghoul Next Door. Spooky season is Ana Arriaga’s time to shine. The baker behind Ghoul Next Door has “always been into weird oddities and horror movies,” she said. She borrowed from her love of all things scary for both the name of her business and the creations she whips up around Halloween.
Get in the spirit with an oatmeal cookie with cinnamon, chocolate chips and M&Ms and covered in candy eyeballs, or go a gorier route with a brown sugar cookie inspired by the “Terrifier” movie franchise, dotted with pieces of Rollos, Twix bars, Whatchamacallits and black and white M&Ms and splattered with royal icing meant to look like blood.
Want something a little gentler for the fall? Try a pumpkin spice latte cookie or a gluten-free and vegan option made with pistachio, cranberry, cardamom and orange zest.
Find Ghoul Next Door popping up around town, or order cookies directly from the website.
Credit: Courtesy of Hero Doughnuts
Credit: Courtesy of Hero Doughnuts
Hero Doughnuts. Find treats for Halloween and the fall season at Hero. Available through Oct. 31, the Walking Bread doughnut is stuffed with sweet buttercream frosting and dipped in a lime green monster glaze. Topped with toasted coconut and a vanilla bean glaze, the pumpkin spice doughnut is available through fall.
33 Georgia Ave. SE, Atlanta, 470-369-6800; and 210 Trilith Parkway, Fayetteville, 678-716-7587. herodoughnutsandbuns.com
Credit: Courtesy of Claudia Martinez
Credit: Courtesy of Claudia Martinez
Miller Union. Pastry chef Claudia Martinez set out to challenge herself when she developed an autumn-inspired dessert for the menu at Miller Union that pairs a spice cake with apple-tamarind compote, pecan streusel, dulcey chocolate cremeux and caramel ice cream.
“I was trying to find a new ingredient to pair with apple that wasn’t something I worked with before,” she said. “I found inspiration in using tamarind juice instead of cooking the apples in another liquid to give it a nice depth and acidity to it.” Guests can find the deconstructed apple cake on the menu for at least the next two weeks.
999 Brady Ave. NE, Atlanta. 678-733-8550, millerunion.com
Saint Germain. Through Nov. 8, head to Saint Germain’s Buckhead location for some tasty seasonal treats including a spider made with pear caramel, pear mousse, caramelized pears and vanilla sponge; a pumpkin, made with vanilla mousse, white chocolate, pumpkin and cranberry sunflower jam; an eyeball with chocolate, ginger, sesame and caramel; and the mummy with hazelnut, espresso and caramel.
3014 Bolling Way NE, Atlanta. 678-732-0437, stgermainatl.com/location/st-germain-bakery-cafe-buckhead-village
Credit: Courtesy of Sugar Shane's
Credit: Courtesy of Sugar Shane's
Sugar Shane’s. Treat yourself this holiday with Sugar Shane’s Brookie. Half chocolate, half vanilla with an orange twist, the middle comes with the ultimate treat: an edible cookie dough ball.
Multiple locations. sugarshanes.com
Credit: Courtesy of Tiny Lou's
Credit: Courtesy of Tiny Lou's
Tiny Lou’s. Charmain Ware, the pastry chef at Tiny Lou’s, waxes poetic when she talks about her inspiration for a dessert called Autumn that’ll be on the menu for the next couple of weeks, drawing from the chillier evenings that have finally descended on Atlanta.
“I started noticing the leaves falling on the ground and how fresh the air smelled while I was drinking chamomile tea with honey outside,” she said. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if I came up with a dessert based on this exact moment?’”
Toasted almonds represent the leaves on the ground; matcha sponge cake is for the little bit of greenery hanging on; honey caramel comes from the tea in her mug; and blueberries represent berries and other plants falling off the trees; and the cheesecake rim “is like a warm jacket,” Ware said.
Once Autumn comes off the menu, continue to treat yourself with beignets with apple butter and roasted apples and a s’mores campfire crepe cake through the end of November.
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