Pumpkin gooey butter cake is quick and easy to make from a box of spice cake mix and a rich pumpkin cream cheese filling. It’s a delicious fall potluck dessert, and a fun twist on pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving!
I’ll admit, I wasn’t naturally drawn to pumpkin desserts in my early baking days. Of course, times have changed. Now, I have a collection of favorite pumpkin recipes, from pumpkin crumb cake to pumpkin blondies. This pumpkin gooey butter cake, with its sweet, moist layers, is one of the original recipes that changed my opinion on pumpkin!
It helps that this recipe is ridiculously easy. It’s a fall take on my ooey gooey butter bars, made with only 7 ingredients. In this version, the crust is made from spice cake mix and butter, and the smooth custard filling tastes just like pumpkin pie.
The Best Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake Recipe
- A classic, made simple. This recipe and my original ooey gooey butter bars are quick, easy variations inspired by traditional German butter cake (butterkuchen), made without yeast.
- Cake mix convenience. Using a boxed spice cake keeps the prep quick and the ingredients to a minimum.
- Big fall flavor. This gooey butter cake is a fun pumpkin pie alternative for Thanksgiving dessert. It has all the rich pumpkin flavor, without the effort of preparing a traditional flaky pie crust.
- Made for sharing. The cake is cut into squares and served like bars, so it’s easy to transport and pass around at holiday parties.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are the ingredients needed to make this easy fall dessert recipe. See the recipe card below the post for the complete amounts.
- Spice Cake Mix – Technically, you can make this recipe with a vanilla or yellow cake mix, but I love the spice cake flavor with the pumpkin.
- Butter – It wouldn’t be a gooey butter cake without it! Melt the butter before you start.
- Eggs – Bring them to room temperature. You’ll need eggs for the cake layer and pumpkin filling.
- Cream Cheese – Also at room temperature. For a creamy filling, I recommend full-fat bricks of cream cheese (not low-fat or the kind that comes in tubs).
- Canned Pumpkin – Make sure to use canned pumpkin purée and NOT pumpkin pie filling. They aren’t the same product.
- Cinnamon and Vanilla – Add depth of flavor to the pumpkin layer. Use pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste for the best flavor. You can substitute cinnamon with pumpkin pie spice, if you’d like.
- Powdered Sugar – This recipe uses quite a bit of powdered sugar. It adds stability to the filling along with sweetness. To prevent lumps, sift the powdered sugar through a fine-mesh sieve.
How to Make Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake
Here’s an overview of the steps to make this pumpkin ooey gooey butter cake.
- Make the cake layer. First, combine the dry cake mix with melted butter and an egg. Stir to make a thick, crumbly mixture. Press this into the bottom of a greased 9×13-inch pan.
- Mix the pumpkin filling. Next, beat softened cream cheese with the canned pumpkin purée. Mix in the vanilla, eggs, cinnamon, and butter. Lastly, sift in the powdered sugar and mix until everything is smooth. Pour the filling over the cake base in the pan.
- Bake. Bake your pumpkin butter cake at 350ºF for 45 minutes, until set at the edges and still a bit gooey in the middle. It continues to firm up as it cools, and you don’t want to overbake.
- Serve. Allow the cake to cool a little, then dust with powdered sugar before slicing into squares. You can serve the bars warm or at room temperature.
Tips for a Successful Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake
- Sift the powdered sugar. If you don’t, you’ll end up with lumps in the pumpkin filling.
- Don’t overbake the cake. It is meant to be gooey, after all! Bake just until the cake edges are set, but the middle is slightly gooey. If the cake comes out already firm all over, it’ll still taste OK, but it’s overbaked.
- Substitute the cake mix. If you want to, you can substitute store-bought cake mix with homemade cake mix. Add pumpkin pie spice to taste for a spice cake.
- Add a caramel drizzle. Drizzle the cake with microwave caramel sauce or pumpkin spice caramel sauce.
Storage Instructions
- Store airtight. Store the completely cooled cake in an airtight container. This pumpkin gooey butter cake is fine for a couple of hours at room temperature, and lasts up to 3 days in the fridge. I recommend letting the cake come back to room temperature for serving.
- Freeze. You can freeze the cake before or after slicing it into bars. Wrap the cake tightly in two layers of plastic wrap and freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw the cake in the fridge and bring it to room temperature before serving.
More Pumpkin Dessert Recipes
Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake
- 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 pumpkin gooey butter cake is easy to make in under an hour and absolutely perfect for fall! Cut them into squares and dust with powdered sugar for a fun, make-ahead Thanksgiving dessert.
Ingredients
Scale
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
Base
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a bowl, combine the dry cake mix, melted butter, and egg. The mixture will be stiff. Press into prepared pan. Set aside.
Filling
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Mix in vanilla, eggs, cinnamon, and butter.
- Finally, sift powdered sugar into the 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 the edges are set and the 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