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7 Dried Herbs To Include In Your Spice Rack This Fall

As the weather turns chilly, dream kitchens become filled with the aroma of cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. These spices help to usher in the season — and are a must for holiday cooking and baking. But what about the often overlooked herbs that also grace our dinner table each night?

Fresh herbs are a spring and summer delight, but come autumn, it’s time to switch to the dried variety. Dried herbs can easily be substituted for fresh in any recipe. They are also more concentrated, and help to add a powerful punch of flavor to soups, stews and other hearty dishes. When stocking your kitchen cabinet spice rack this fall, don’t forget to include these seasonal staples!

Basil: Sweet, dried basil is a must-have for tomato sauce, and comfort foods like lasagna and chicken parmesan. As this popular summer herb begins to die back in cooler weather, you can dry your remaining basil leaves and store them in a dark kitchen cabinet. For an easy method from Gardening Know How, click here.

Bay: This fragrant, dried leaf comes from the laurel tree. While hard and inedible, bay helps to add depth when added to soups and slow-cooker stews. Simply drop in a whole dried leaf and let it work its magic. The longer bay simmers, the more it infuses your dish with flavor. Just be sure to remove the leaf before serving!

Parsley: Dried parsley is mildly bitter, and helps to add brightness and balance to savory dishes like fish, fettuccine alfredo, and shepherd’s pie. Versatile by nature, dried parsley can also be used in salad dressings and pairs nicely with roasted vegetables.

Oregano: This earthy herb is strongly scented and has a peppery, pungent taste. Dried oregano gives homemade pizza its distinctive, robust flavor. It is also often found in salad dressings or in marinade and dry rub recipes for lamb, chicken, and beef.

Rosemary: Rosemary is an aromatic herb with needle-like leaves. It’s sharp, woodsy scent and flavor is reminiscent of pine and citrus, with bitter-sweet notes. Extremely potent, rosemary is often used in homemade artisan breads like focaccia, or paired with rich meats, like pork roast or lamb chops.

Thyme: Highly fragrant and slightly sweet, dried thyme adds delicious flavor to herbed breads, roast beef and brisket, turkey, chicken thighs, and oven baked potatoes. It can stand up to slow cooking and braising but should be used sparingly. It should also be added early on in the cooking process to allow the flavors to mellow.

Sage: Dried sage is the characteristic flavor in Thanksgiving stuffing, and works well with savory squash and pumpkin recipes. You can also add sage to baked chicken, pork, or sausage, and to enhance the flavor of beans, gravies and sauces.

Contrary to what you might believe, most dried herbs and spices do have a shelf life and can lose potency. If you can’t remember how long it’s been since you purchased the seasonings in your kitchen cabinet spice rack, it’s best to toss them and start fresh this fall.

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4 Fabulous Fall Fruit Cobblers And Crisps

Warm fruit cobblers and crisps are a perfect way to enjoy the bounty of seasonal fall produce.

Unlike a traditional pie, cobblers and crisps feature a crumbled topping (made of oats, sugar and spices), homemade shortcake biscuits, or a cake batter crust.

There’s no need to visit a country bakery or fall festival stand when you can easily make a scrumptious fruit cobbler or crisp at home, with fresh, wholesome ingredients from your kitchen pantry cabinet. If this sounds heavenly to you, here are a few fabulous recipes to try this fall!

Apple Cranberry Crisp

This delightfully simple recipe from Better Homes and Gardens lets cranberries and apples shine. Two fall favorites, these fresh fruits can be a tad on the tart side, but the crunchy oat, cinnamon and brown sugar topping adds just the right amount of sweetness. For the recipe from BHG, click here. While fresh fruit generally makes cobblers and crisps healthier than most desserts, this one is also on the lighter side at just 213 calories per serving!

Pear Cobbler

Pears are harvested in the fall, and come in a variety of shapes and textures, but firmer varieties like Bosc, Anjou, or Asian pears are most suited for baking in a crisp. This easy Pear Crisp recipe from The Spruce Eats has a buttery cake batter crust, and you can mix and match whichever pears you prefer. Once baked, this cobbler can sit at room temperature on the kitchen island for two days or in the refrigerator for five days — but we bet it won’t be around that long! Click here for the recipe from The Spruce Eats.

Pineapple Ginger Crisp

Pineapples are in season year-round, but when paired with freshly grated ginger and a crumbled topping of old-fashioned oats, brown sugar, and nutmeg from your spice rack, you’ll have the perfect sweet and spicy cobbler to welcome fall. This recipe from Fine Cooking is easy to make and bakes up bubbly brown in just 20 minutes. Click herefor the instructions and ingredients you will need from your kitchen pantry cabinet.

Cherry Cobbler

With sweet cherries, vanilla and almond extract, and warm cinnamon, Bon Appétit’s Cherry Cobbler is sure to be a fall favorite. Topped with shortcake biscuits, this delicious dessert takes a bit more work than the others, but it is well worth the effort when you have a gorgeous cherry cobbler sitting on your kitchen countertop. To get the recipe, click here.

Dream kitchens are meant to be filled with the warm aroma of freshly baked desserts come autumn, whether it’s a pie, cobbler or crisp cooling on the kitchen island or in a bowl topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Which one are you most excited to try?

3 Make-Ahead Breakfast Breads For Busy Fall Mornings

If your mornings consist of a bowl of cereal at the kitchen island or a granola bar and quick cup of coffee as you head out the door, you are not alone. Between work and school and the general rush of daily life, it’s hard to find time for a wholesome and delicious homemade breakfast. But there is a compromise. A good breakfast doesn’t have to be a hot meal, and it doesnt have to be corn flakes, either. Not when you can easily whip up a tasty breakfast bread the night before — in your very own kitchen! Make it, bake it and set it to cool on the kitchen island, and you’ll have a sweet and satifying breakfast waiting for you in the morning. All you need to do is cut off a slice and enjoy! Here are a few of our fall favorites.

Banana Bread

Banana bread is a classic, and it has seen a huge resurgence this year. In fact, CNN called it the “unofficial snack of the coronavirus pandemic” in a recent article titled, Banana Bread is Having a Moment. Not only is baking good for your mental health, but there is no better use for spotty bananas! As bananas age, they get sweeter, but they also become a bit too mushy to eat like you normally would. Instead, pull up your heavy-duty mixer and put them to good use.

There are tons of recipes out there, from old-fashioned cookbooks to Pinterest, but we like this one from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Super moist, thanks to the addition of yogurt or sour cream, plus crunchy nuts (optional) and a hint of ground cinnamon from your spice rack, this breakfast bread is healthy and sure to please. For the complete recipe, plus how to make a fabulous cream cheese frosting, click here. You can even use leftovers to make Banana Bread French Toast on a lazy weekend morning!

Pumpkin Bread

Lightly sweet and also a bit savory, Pumpkin Bread is the quintessential autum breakfast. This healthy version features all the warm spices traditionally paired with pumpkin (allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg), plus a few unexpected ingredients from your kitchen pantry cabinet, like whole wheat pastry flour and extra virgin olive oil — and pumpkin puree, of course. For the recipe from Love & Lemons, click here.

Apple Cinnamon Bread

Perfect for busy fall mornings, this recipe from Delish food editor Lena Abraham calls for tart Granny Smith apples, but feel free to substitute your favorite variety. Like apple pie in loaf form, Apple Cinnamon Bread is sure to become your family’s new fall favorite. And it’s healthy, too! According to Eating Well, there is truth behind the old adage, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Like the other fruits that flavor this list of breakfast breads, apples are both delicious and nutritious, and are a great ingredient to help start the day off right. Click here for the recipe from Delish.

All of these breakfast breads should keep well at room temperature for a few days, or store them in the refrigerator until you want a slice. Just make sure to let them cool completely on the kitchen island first and then wrap them well.