Fall Dessert Shooters

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fall dessert ideas

As Thanksgiving approaches, the thought of sharing food with others carries quite a new meaning. While I would love to share a piece of pie with my mom at our packed Thanksgiving table, that isn’t a reality this year. We will be trading packed tables for socially distanced corners of the patio. And that fact that I can even do that is at the top of my list of gratitude this year.

If you still want to cook or bake for others, fall desserts shooters are a great alternative. Each shooter is contained so you can grab your dessert choices (my choice is all three), and head back to your corner of the patio without touching anyone else’s food. And the flavors offer something for any palette - S’mores for chocolate lovers, pumpkin pie for the true fall enthusiasts, and caramel apple for those with the sweetest sweet tooth.

These easy fall desserts have become a go to for me because they pack a festive punch with little effort. There is more time spent assembling my fall dessert shooters vs. actually baking because all of these recipes are easy no bake desserts.

So if you’ve been looking for fall dessert ideas that keep the realities of 2020 in mind, look no further! Below are the easy recipes + ingredients lists.

And don’t forget to get the shooter glasses in advance and give them a good scrub before you load them with your tasty desserts. I ordered these dessert shooter glasses because the slanted cylinder shape made it easier to add toppings.

Easy fall desserts

Pumpkin Pie Dessert Shooter

Ingredients:

Graham crackers

Butter

4 oz. cream cheese (softened)

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

4 oz. Cool Whip + extra for topping

Optional: 1 box vanilla box cake mix (and all ingredients required per label)

Directions:

  1. Optional: Make boxed vanilla cake according to instructions if you want a bite size piece of cake included in your shooter.

  2. Cream together cream cheese, pumpkin puree, and brown sugar using a mixer.

  3. Add pumpkin pie + vanilla. Mix until combined.

  4. Add powdered sugar. Mix until combined.

  5. Stir in Cool Whip gently by hand to create pumpkin pie mixture.

  6. Add graham crackers to a food processor and pulverized. I winged the amount, but I would start with just a few crackers.

  7. Add melted butter (also winged it, but start with a few tablespoons) to graham crackers until you get a sandy texture. You want to be able to press it firm in the base of your shooter glass.

  8. Begin layering - graham cracker, pumpkin pie mixture, bite sized cake, pumpkin pie mixture to fill glass to the top.

  9. Top with Cool Whip.

Yields: 6 shooters

no bake fall desserts

S’mores Dessert Shooter

Ingredients:

Graham crackers

Butter

1 Box Jell-O Chocolate Pudding

Cool Whip

Hershey’s and marshmallows for edible garnish

Directions:

  1. Make Jell-o pudding according to box instructions.

  2. Add graham crackers to a food processor and pulverized. I winged the amount, but I would start with just a few crackers.

  3. Add melted butter (also winged it, but start with a few tablespoons) to graham crackers until you get a sandy texture. You want to be able to press it firm in the base of your shooter glass.

  4. Begin layering - graham cracker mixture, pudding to the top of the glass then top with Cool Whip, a Hershey’s square, and a marshmallow.

Yields: 6 shooters

easy fall dessert

Caramel Apple Dessert Shooter

Ingredients:

Graham crackers

Butter

4 oz. cream cheese (softened)

1/2 can sweetened condensed milk (split into two portions below)

caramel ( amount is at your discretion, but I would start with 1/2 cup)

Cool Whip

Optional: 1 box vanilla box cake mix (and all ingredients required per label) + apples, cinnamon, butter for topping

Directions:

  1. Optional: Make boxed vanilla cake according to instructions.

  2. Cream together cream cheese and 2/3 of the sweetened condensed milk. Set aside.

  3. Combine caramel and remaining 1/3 of sweetened condensed milk.

  4. Add graham crackers to a food processor and pulverized. I winged the amount, but I would start with just a few crackers.

  5. Add melted butter (also winged it, but start with a few tablespoons) to graham crackers until you get a sandy texture. You want to be able to press it firm in the base of your shooter glass.

  6. Begin layering - graham cracker, cream cheese mixture, caramel mixture, bite sized cake, cream cheese mixture to fill glass to the top.

  7. Top with Cool Whip.

  8. Optional: Chop some apple, cook in melted butter and sprinkle some cinnamon on top. Use for garnish.

Yields: 6 shooters

This one is really sweet. If your crowd isn’t a fan of super sweet things, consider a light hand on the caramel layers. This one will also be the runniest and subsequently it will have be less likely to have straight and even layers.

These easy fall dessert ideas are sure to please a socially distanced crowd in terms of flavor and public health! Enjoy and celebrate safely!