This Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake is easy to make and absolutely perfect for fall! These moist cake bars are a great Thanksgiving dessert recipe!
Moist Pumpkin Butter Cake Recipe
Like I have said a million times before I am not a huge pumpkin fan.
I love pumpkin spice…but pumpkin itself…well…it’s not the love of my life.
BUT finding new and over the top ways to use pumpkin in dessert is like the most basic fall pastime ever. And since I am the most basic of all, sign me up.
And really can you believe that October is like halfway over? So we are on the downside of the pumpkin mountain…only a little bit of time left to stuff our sweet faces with orange goopiness. Aren’t you sad?
This Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake recipe is SUPER easy…and it starts with a Spice Cake Mix to make things interesting.
How to Make Pumpkin Butter Cake Bars
All you do is mix the cake mix with an egg and a stick of melted butter and press it into a pan to create the crust…
Then grab you some pumpkin…and also some cream cheese, eggs and more butter. Yeah, this ain’t health food, friends.
And have your son pour it into the crust slowly so you can take a good pour shot. Please ignore his pajama bottoms.
When it’s baked it will look like this…you want the edges to be set, but the center not quite, but almost set. It’s supposed to be gooey, after all.
Then dust it with powdered sugar.
And let them cool and cut them into squares!
A little goes a long way with this dessert, I promise. So easy and you’re friends and family will love it!
Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 cake bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake is easy to make and absolutely perfect for fall! These moist cake bars are a great Thanksgiving dessert recipe!
Ingredients
Base
- 1 box Spice Cake Mix (16.5 oz box)
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 egg
Filling
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
Base
- Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray, set aside.
- In bowl combine dry cake mix, melted butter and egg. Mixture will be stiff. Press into prepared pan. Set aside.
Filling
- In bowl of stand mixer, beat cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Mix in vanilla, eggs, cinnamon and butter.
- Finally sift powdered sugar into mix. Don’t skip the sifting, as you will have powdered sugar lumps if you don’t.
- Pour mixture into the prepared base. Bake for 45 minutes until edges are set and middle is still slightly gooey.
- Sprinkle with a little more powdered sugar if desired.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
recipe lightly adapted from Paula Deen
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 405
- Sugar: 42.2 g
- Sodium: 111 mg
- Fat: 23.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 45.9 g
- Protein: 3.8 g
- Cholesterol: 121.8 mg
Hey, it’s not over yet…Pumpkin works equally well for November and Thanksgiving!!!
so, yummy and so easy!!! I make this every single year….I had to do it in 3 batches last week! I actually reserve some of the crust mixture and sprinkle it over the top and then pour some sweetened condensed milk on top of it and bake! omgosh!!! it gets a little crunchy and it really does make a difference. (I have to use a smaller pan though, but then the bars are a bit thicker) No complaints so far!!! I am also not a huge pumpkin lover, but I love to make my peeps happy, so it is full on pumpkin season….for a bit longer, then the ginger, molasses and peppermint!!!
Pretty!!! Did you get your hubby to dust powdered sugar?! I love that picture by the way!
How fun is this?!? Looks awesome!
I loooove gooey butter cake – this one looks SO good!
I made my first gooey butter cake last spring and it was amazing, I can’t wait to try a pumpkin version!
Looks very good! Both layers sound fantastic!
I have not made enough gooey butter cakes in my life. Loving the spice cake mix for the crust!
Oooh, I love this! I’m already dreading making pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving because I SUCK at pie crust – I may just do this instead. So much easier and it looks just as delicious!
I am so sad pumpkin is going away soon. *crying* We wait and wait to post it…then it’s over. I love how you used the spice cake mix for the crust. #genius