Best Fall Ice Cream Flavors to Try in 2026
Best Fall ice cream selections from Trader Joe's and Target, Jet-puffed candy corn marshmallows
Pumpkin spice gets most of the attention once September arrives, but personally, I think fall ice cream flavors are a lot more fun.
Pumpkin, apple cider, caramel, maple, cinnamon, brown sugar, pecan—ice cream shops and grocery-store freezer aisles start filling up with flavors that taste like fall even when it's still 80 degrees outside.
Which, living in Southern California, is pretty much my ideal way to celebrate the season.
I originally wrote this post way back in 2019 as a hunt for the best fall ice cream flavors around Los Angeles. A lot has changed since then, so I'm giving it a major update for 2026 with seasonal ice cream you can find around the country, grocery-store finds we've actually taste-tested, some of my favorite Los Angeles ice cream shops, plus Halloween and Thanksgiving ice cream ideas.
What Are the Best Fall Ice Cream Flavors?
Pumpkin is the obvious answer, but there are so many more autumn ice cream flavors than pumpkin spice.
Apple and apple cider are especially big this year, along with caramel, maple, cinnamon, brown sugar, hazelnut, pecan, butterscotch and pie-inspired flavors.
You'll even find fall gelato and sorbet flavors, so I wanted this guide to go beyond a simple list of pumpkin ice creams.
And after doing our own fall ice cream taste test this year, I have to say: apple might actually be giving pumpkin some serious competition.
Fall Ice Cream Flavors at Scoop Shops
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
Jeni's is always one of the first places I look when seasonal ice cream flavors start appearing.
For fall 2026, Pumpkin with Brown Sugar Blondies combines heirloom pumpkin ice cream with warm spices, caramel and brown sugar blondie pieces. The current lineup also includes Miso Butterscotch Brownie and Hazelnut Stracciatella. Jeni's also ships its ice cream, so you don't necessarily need a scoop shop nearby to try the seasonal collection.
Pumpkin, caramel and blondies all in the same pint sounds exactly like what I want from fall ice cream.
My pick:Hazelnut Stracciatella
Salt & Straw
Salt & Straw apparently decided apple deserved its own pumpkin-spice moment this year, and I'm here for it.
Its September Apple Series includes Apple Cider Donuts, Apple and Cheddar Cinnamon Rolls, Salted Caramel Apple Pie, Vanilla Apple Custard Tart and Hoppy Apple Cider Sorbet.
Apple Cider Donuts combines cider-donut flavor with everything I want from fall, while Salted Caramel Apple Pie takes the apple-pie route.
And then there's Apple and Cheddar Cinnamon Rolls.
That's weird enough that I obviously want to try it.
If you're specifically searching for fall sorbet flavors, the apple cider sorbet also makes this lineup particularly fun.
My pick:Apple Cider Donuts, although Salted Caramel Apple Pie is a very close second
Baskin-Robbins Pumpkin Cheesecake
If you want a true fall flavor that's easy to find around the country, Baskin-Robbins Pumpkin Cheesecake is back.
It combines pumpkin and cheesecake-flavored ice creams with cinnamon cream cheese swirls and gingersnap cookie pieces and is available nationwide for a limited time beginning September 1.
This might be one of the easiest pumpkin ice creams on the whole list to actually go out and get.
My pick:Pumpkin Cheesecake
Dairy Queen Fall Blizzards
Dairy Queen is leaning hard into fall too.
The Pumpkin Pie Blizzard is back with real pumpkin pie pieces, and the 2026 fall collection also includes the new Brown Sugar Cookie Dough Blizzard. DQ started the season even earlier with a Caramel Apple Cheesecake Blizzard.
Pumpkin Pie is the classic, but brown sugar cookie dough sounds dangerously good.
My pick:Brown Sugar Cookie Dough Blizzard
Fall Ice Cream Sandwiches from Target and Trader Joe's
Fall Ice Cream Flavors at the Grocery Store
You definitely don't need to track down a specialty scoop shop anymore to find interesting fall ice cream.
In fact, some of the things we liked most this year came straight from regular grocery-store freezer aisles.
Target Favorite Day Fall Ice Cream
Target Favorite Day Fall Ice Cream
Target has a surprisingly good fall freezer section.
Its current fall assortment includes Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream, Caramel Apple Pie Ice Cream, Caramel Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie Ice Cream, Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream Bites and the adorable Pumpkin Jack-o'-Lantern Ice Cream Sandwiches. Target is also currently selling Caramel Apple Ice Cream Sandwiches.
At my local Target, I found even more to try, including Apple Cider Ice Cream and Caramel Cinnamon Ice Cream, so definitely check the actual freezer case because the assortment can vary.
And we did not just look at them.
We brought a whole pile home.
The Caramel Apple Ice Cream Sandwich ended up being much better than I expected. The cookie had an almost graham-cracker-like flavor that gave it a really familiar, cozy taste and worked surprisingly well with the apple ice cream.
The Pumpkin Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich wins on looks alone. The little jack-o'-lantern face is ridiculously cute.
My pick: Apple Cider Ice Cream for the pint; Caramel Apple for the sandwich
Pumpkin, apple, maple leaf ice cream sandwiches
Trader Joe's Fall Ice Cream
Trader Joe's in fall is basically its own seasonal activity.
Their Maple Leaf Ice Cream Sandwiches are made with maple-flavored ice cream containing real maple syrup between maple leaf-shaped cookies. Trader Joe's even calls them an ideal size to share with kids.
And they are easily the prettiest ice cream sandwiches we tried.
The maple leaf cookie has a beautiful embossed design, and the maple flavor is subtle rather than overwhelming.
Trader Joe's also has a current Apple Pie à la Mode Ice Cream in its new-product lineup, so apparently apple really is having a moment this fall.
My pick: Maple Leaf Ice Cream Sandwiches
Also Spotted at Trader Joe’s
Two more fall flavors I somehow left behind: Pumpkin Ice Cream and Salted Maple Ice Cream.
I haven’t tried either one yet, so consider these my honorable mentions / next-trip picks.
The Salted Maple is especially tempting after trying the Maple Leaf Ice Cream Sandwiches. We really liked the maple ice cream in those, so if the Salted Maple Ice Cream has that same maple flavor with a little salty contrast, it could be a game changer.
And of course, Pumpkin Ice Cream is about as classic as a fall freezer find gets.
To try next: Salted Maple Ice Cream
Kroger Private Selection Fall Ice Cream
Private Selection is one of my favorite grocery-store ice cream brands, and Kroger currently has two flavors that fit this list perfectly.
New York Style Pumpkin Cheesecake is currently available alongside limited-edition Amaretto Cookie and Apple, which combines apple with an amaretto-cookie swirl and cinnamon-spiced elements.
I especially like that the apple flavor is something a little different from the endless variations of pumpkin cheesecake.
My pick: Amaretto Cookie and Apple
Talenti Fall Gelato
If you're searching specifically for fall gelato flavors, Talenti is worth checking.
Talenti lists Pumpkin Pie Layers and Caramel Apple Pie among its seasonal flavors.
My pick: Pumpkin Pie Layers
Ben & Jerry's Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream
Ben & Jerry's Pumpkin Cheesecake
Ben & Jerry's also makes a Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream with a graham cracker swirl.
So if pumpkin cheesecake is your fall flavor of choice, there are plenty of ways to get it without having a specialty scoop shop nearby. I found this one at Target!
My pick: Pumpkin Cheesecake
Fall Ice cream sandwiches - pumpkin, apple and maple flavored
Our Fall Ice Cream Taste Test
We brought home a mix of fall ice cream pints and sandwiches to figure out which ones were actually worth buying again. We subjected our besties to help with this assignment!
And the biggest surprise?
We really liked the apple flavors.
Pumpkin seems like the automatic winner when you think about fall ice cream, but apple kept beating our expectations.
Among the pints, Apple Pie à la Mode and Apple Cider were the clear winners. I also really liked the Pumpkin Cheesecake, while the caramel ice cream was just okay compared with everything else we tried.
The sandwiches were fun for completely different reasons.
The Caramel Apple Ice Cream Sandwich surprised us with that graham-cracker-like cookie, which gave it a familiar fall-dessert flavor.
The Trader Joe's Maple Leaf Ice Cream Sandwich was easily the prettiest.
And the Pumpkin Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich was definitely the cutest.
We also grabbed the Jet-Puffed Candy Corn Marshmallows for our tasting board. Despite the name, they’re not candy-corn flavored—they’re just marshmallows shaped and colored like candy corn. They tasted like regular marshmallows, but the little orange, yellow and white pieces made the whole fall ice cream board look so much cuter.
Our 2026 Fall Ice Cream Awards
Favorite pint: Apple Pie à la Mode + Apple Cider — basically a tie
Biggest surprise: Apple Cider
Favorite unexpected sandwich flavor: Caramel Apple Ice Cream Sandwich
Prettiest: Trader Joe's Maple Leaf Ice Cream Sandwich
Cutest: Pumpkin Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich
Best pumpkin: Pumpkin Cheesecake
Just okay compared with the others: Caramel Commotion
Apparently the moral of this taste test is that we should stop automatically assuming pumpkin wins fall.
Apple showed up.
Fall ice cream in Los Angeles
Where to Find Fall Ice Cream in Los Angeles
This post originally started as my guide to fall ice cream flavors in Los Angeles, and I didn't want to completely lose that part of it.
Plus, there are a few California ice cream shops I still genuinely love.
Ginger’s Divine Ice Creams
Ginger's is one of the shops from my original fall ice cream hunt that I still love.
The menu rotates, which is actually part of the fun.
This is the kind of place where I'd rather walk in, look at what's in the case and pick whatever sounds most interesting that day than show up for one specific mass-produced seasonal flavor.
Previous Fall Flavors included:
Butterscotch Pumpkin Brulee
Ginger Cinnamon
Browned Butter Apple Spice Cake
Vegan Pickled Strawberry & Boysenberry Pie
Sweet Corn Blueberry & Thyme
My pick:Whatever sounds weirdest that day.
Butterscotch Pumpkin Brulee and Browned Butter Apple Spice Cake at Ginger’s
McConnell's Fine Ice Creams
McConnell's is another California favorite I wanted in the updated guide.
Its current lineup includes Miso Sticky Toffee, made with white miso in milk and cream with ribbons of butterscotch, and McConnell's also has a Cozy Fall Flavors collection featuring Salted Caramel Chip.
The Miso Sticky Toffee is exactly the sort of slightly unusual flavor that makes me want to order a scoop just to see if it works.
My pick: Salted Caramel Chip
Minnie Witch Shake at Schmoozies - Disneyland California Adventure
Halloween Ice Cream Treats
Fall ice cream gets even more fun once October arrives.
September tends to be about pumpkin, apple, caramel and maple. By October, candy, chocolate, cookies, Halloween colors and novelty desserts start taking over.
And after seeing the actual Pumpkin Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich outside its box, I can confirm that it is every bit as cute as it looks.
I'll keep updating this section as more 2026 Halloween ice cream flavors are released.
More Not-So-Spooky Halloween Fun With Kids
And if you're looking for something to do between ice cream runs, I have plenty of Halloween ideas around here too.
🎃 10 Easy Not-So-Spooky Halloween Activities for Toddlers & Preschoolers
If your kids are into Cars, we also turned an old Radiator Springs playset into a tiny Halloween town for less than $10.
🏎️ Halloween Radiator Springs: An Easy Cars Halloween Activity for Kids
For something edible:
👻 Chocolate Haunted Cookie House: How to Make a Cute Halloween Cookie House
And if you're headed to Disneyland:
🏰 Disneyland Halloween Time: Decorations, Rides, Food & Tips
A Halloween Book for Kids Who Love Trucks
If your kids happen to love trucks as much as mine do, The Trucks That Saved Halloween is my not-too-spooky Halloween picture book about a group of trucks working together to transform an old farm into a Halloween carnival, complete with pumpkins, costumes, carnival rides and truck-or-treating.
🚚 See more about THE TRUCKS THAT SAVED HALLOWEEN
And if you need more Halloween read-aloud ideas:
📚 15 Halloween Books for Kids Who Love Trucks, Cars & Things That Go
Mozart Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Liqueur - Boozy Milkshake Recipe
For the Adults: A Throwback Pumpkin Spice Milkshake
There's one piece of the original 2019 post I'm keeping as a little throwback.
I originally created this boozy Pumpkin Spice Milkshake as part of a past sponsored partnership with Mozart Chocolate Liqueur.
And surprisingly, the Mozart Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Liqueur is still an active product, made with chocolate, caramel, pumpkin, cinnamon, clove and vanilla.
My original recipe used:
1 graham cracker
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 shots Kahlúa
2 shots Mozart Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Liqueur
3–4 scoops ice cream
This portion of the original post was created as part of a past brand partnership with Mozart Chocolate Liqueur.
I wouldn't make a special trip for this section anymore, but if you still have a bottle—or happen to spot one—it is a fun adults-only way to turn fall ice cream into a cocktail.
What I'd Bring to Thanksgiving: Ice Cream Edition
Ice cream doesn't have to disappear once Halloween is over.
In fact, I think Thanksgiving might be one of the best excuses to turn ice cream into something ridiculous.
Everyone laughed at my Turkey Ice Cream Pie - but it was delicious and I didn’t have to bake it!
Easy 3-Ingredient Turkey Ice Cream Pie
Years ago, I made this little turkey ice cream pie, and it might be one of the easiest Thanksgiving desserts I've ever made.
You only need three things:
One prepared graham cracker pie crust
About 1 quart of your favorite ice cream
M&M's
Let the ice cream soften just enough that you can spread it, then spoon it into the pie crust and smooth out the top.
Next comes the important part: the turkey.
Arrange brown M&M's in the center for the turkey's body, then fan colorful M&M's out around it to make the tail feathers. Add two candies for eyes and a few more for the legs and feet.
Once your turkey is finished, put the pie back into the freezer until the ice cream is completely firm. I would give it at least a few hours, or just make it the night before Thanksgiving.
When you're ready to serve it, let the pie sit out for about 5–10 minutes so it's easier to slice.
I used a light-colored ice cream when I made mine, but this would be really fun with pumpkin, caramel, maple or even apple pie ice cream too.
And since it's basically decorating with M&M's, this would also be an easy Thanksgiving dessert to let kids help make.
The Baskin-Robbins Turkey Cake we brought to Thanksgiving.
Baskin-Robbins Turkey Cake
Or, if arranging M&M's into a turkey sounds like too much work, there's the considerably more dramatic option.
The famous Baskin-Robbins Turkey Cake looks like a roasted Thanksgiving turkey but is actually an ice cream cake with sugar-cone drumsticks, caramel praline glaze and a customizable ice cream center. Baskin-Robbins brought it back again for Thanksgiving 2025.
As of this September 2026 update, the 2026 Thanksgiving version hasn't been announced yet, so I'll update this section when the November menu comes out.
I've had one before, and honestly, putting something on the Thanksgiving table that looks like a roasted turkey but turns out to be ice cream is very hard to beat.
My pick: If I'm hosting? The ridiculous turkey. Obviously.
What About Fall Sorbet and Gelato Flavors?
Ice cream isn't the only frozen dessert that works for fall.
Some of the best fall gelato flavors use pumpkin, hazelnut, caramel, apple and maple.
Fall sorbet can be harder to find because we tend to associate sorbet with summer fruit, but Salt & Straw's apple cider sorbet is a perfect example of how apple can turn sorbet into an autumn dessert.
And Talenti makes it easy to find fall gelato in the grocery-store freezer.
When Do Fall Ice Cream Flavors Come Out?
Most fall ice cream flavors start appearing sometime between late August and September.
September is usually heavy on pumpkin, apple, apple cider, maple, caramel and cinnamon.
October brings more Halloween-themed desserts, while November shifts into Thanksgiving flavors, pies and seasonal ice cream cakes.
The only downside?
If there's one you really want to try, don't wait too long. Some of these disappear almost as quickly as they arrive.
What Is the Best Fall Ice Cream Flavor?
Going into our taste test, I probably would have said pumpkin.
Now?
Apple.
Apple Pie à la Mode and Apple Cider were the clear winners among our pints, and even the Caramel Apple Ice Cream Sandwich surprised us with that graham-cracker-like cookie.
I still really liked Pumpkin Cheesecake, and I'll never say no to pumpkin when September rolls around.
But in 2026, apple officially gave pumpkin a run for its money in our house.
And I'll keep updating this guide as more fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving ice cream flavors are announced throughout the season.
Have you found a fall ice cream flavor I need to try? Let me know—especially if it's something weird!
Seasonal flavors and availability change frequently and can vary by location. This guide was updated in September 2026, so check directly with individual stores or ice cream shops before making a special trip for one particular flavor.
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More Ice Cream Adventures:
From pumpkin cheesecake and apple cider to maple ice cream sandwiches and Thanksgiving turkey cakes, here are the best fall ice cream flavors to try in 2026—from scoop shops and grocery stores to a few favorite Los Angeles finds.