Easy Spiced Pumpkin Dump Cake With Pecans

This easy pumpkin dump cake recipe, with its layers of pumpkin pie filling, a tender vanilla middle, and crunchy buttery pecan topping, is sure to become a family favorite fall dessert! Say that three times fast, LOL.

Pumpkin Dump Cake

So I'm not sure if it just took you guys some time to warm up to the idea of a dump cake or what, but all of the sudden my cherry pineapple dump cake is a HOT commodity! Whatever the reason, I'm thrilled that y'all have finally seen the light on this simple dessert.

I mean, it's always been one of MY personal faves — you just can't go wrong with a 5-ingredient recipe that's totally delish whether it's hot, warm, or cold. But a little affirmation from the crowd never hurts. You know?

Anyhow, seeing as how tomorrow is National Pumpkin Day, I figured now would be a great time to throw this yummy pumpkin dump cake out there. While it's not 5-ingredient, dump-it-in and bake easy, it's still a tried and true favorite that I think you're going to adore. Let's just compare it to an upside down pumpkin pie — well, assuming you're okay with replacing the pie crust with a delicious buttery pecan streusel-like topping.

Yes? Me too! Because I don't know about you, but I'm all for eliminating the blood, sweat, and tears I expend trying to maneuver a pie crust into a pie plate...

Pumpkin Pie Dump Cake Ingredients

So let me introduce you to what has to be THE easiest fall dessert around! In fact, once you try it, you may even decide to skip the pumpkin pie this holiday season.

As I mentioned, this pumpkin pie dump cake requires just a few more ingredients than my cherry pineapple version. The top layer remains the same, using boxed yellow cake mix, salted butter, and chopped pecans.

But the bottom layer requires a bit of mixing before dumping. It's still as simple as whisking together canned pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, eggs, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.

Admittedly, you could probably just mix a can of pumpkin pie filling with evaporated milk and call it a day, but I like having control over the spices in my filling. Actually, I even go so far as to make my own homemade pumpkin pie spice mixture. But I'll save that recipe for another day. (Let me know if you'd like me to share it sooner rather than later!)

Also, note that I like to make my pumpkin dump cake with yellow cake mix, but there are other options. Using a spice cake mix is also delicious in this pumpkin pecan dump cake!

how do you make pumpkin dump cake?

Making this pumpkin spice dump cake is such a cinch. Start by preparing the pumpkin mixture, which as I mentioned, simply means whisking together the pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, eggs, both sugars, pumpkin pie spice, and salt together in a medium mixing bowl. Then dump the pumpkin mixture into a buttered 9x13 baking dish.

For the buttery pecan topping, sprinkle the yellow cake mix evenly over top of the pumpkin mixture. Then dot slices of butter all over the top. Finally, sprinkle on the chopped pecans and bake!

Of course, you can always skip the pecans if you don't like them, but they're seriously my favorite part of any dump cake. They get all roasty-toasty and buttery... So good! But walnuts or almonds are also excellent choices, or you can just sprinkle your choice of nuts on half or even leave them out altogether.

How to Serve Pumpkin Dump Cake

What I love most about this pumpkin dump cake is that you can tailor how it's served to the occasion. Is it a casual event? Or maybe you just don't want to wait for it to cool? Spoon it out hot or warm and garnish with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Or maybe some pumpkin pie gelato? You can never go wrong with a little pumpkin on pumpkin layering.

You can also cool it completely and cut it into neat little squares, a la my photo above. Although my square is not so neat, because I was just a tad impatient... It's all good! Top it off with a dollop of sweet homemade whipped cream and maybe a small sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice and no one will care.

Of course, in either case, if you really want to be EXTRA, you can drizzle a little caramel over the top. So many choices!

Printable Recipe ↓

I'm telling you, the scent of this dump cake baking is BETTER than any candle you can buy. This easy pumpkin dump cake recipe is what you want to toss in your oven whenever you have guests coming over... Your house will smell ah-mazing!!!

If you're looking for more delicious pumpkin recipes for fall, check other some of my other faves:

• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread — dark chocolate chunks and a shot of espresso take this tried and true pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipe to the next level... Grab a cup of coffee and savor a slice!
• Pumpkin French Toast Casserole — drizzled with a pumpkin spice coffee glaze, this fabulous pumpkin French toast casserole is perfect for a special brunch... No need to prep the evening before, just throw it together and bake!
• Pumpkin Brownies — a pumpkin cheesecake mixture swirled into a rich and fudgy brownies batter makes these amazing brownies extra decadent... You’ll definitely want a tall glass of milk with them!

I'd love to see how your pumpkin dump cake turns out... Tag me @Unsophisticook on Instagram or use the hashtag #Unsophisticook so I can check it out. Enjoy!