Name: Pumpkin Dump Cake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cans pumpkin puree; 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice; 1 can cream cheese frosting; 1 cup walnuts, chopped; 1 box carrot cake mix; 1 ½ sticks butter, sliced thin

Print the Recipe

Making dump cakes is easy and fun. This pumpkin dump cake is no exception. Make this delicious treat for your Thanksgiving celebration or anytime you need a little fall delight!

When it comes to making desserts you can’t beat dump cakes for their ease of preparation and serving. There’s nothing fancy happening here. You can whip up this delicious dessert and serve it with a spoon.

All the fall flavors of pumpkin pie in a dump cake that is easy to prepare and travels well. If you need a dessert to share at your holiday celebrations this one is worth a try!

Easy pumpkin dump cake recipe pin showing the finished images ready to enjoy

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What is a dump cake?

Dump cake might seem like a counterintuitive name for a dessert recipe but it mostly refers to the method of preparation. It’s a description more than anything.

For a dump cake, you do very little mixing or preparing ingredients; we mostly “dump” and follow these kinds of recipes.

You dump the ingredients in layers, and then they get baked, and the magic happens in the oven. If you’ve never tried a dump cake recipe, this pumpkin pie dump cake or Caramel Apple Dump Cake are both great recipes to get you started.

A look at the finished dump cake on a plate ready to serve.

Do you have any other dump cake recipes?

Over the years I’ve shared a lot of dump cake recipes and they’re always very popular with readers. If you want to add some other varieties to your recipe collection after you make pumpkin dump cake, give these other options a go!

a close up of the finished pumpkin dump cake ready to eat.

How many servings does this pumpkin recipe provide?

This recipe makes about 12 servings. Of course you can increase or decrease that based on how you like to serve your dump cakes.

If you are serving this up with some ice cream you could decrease the serving size and make more servings, etc. Do what works for you, we calculate the approximate nutritional information based on about 12 servings per pan.

a top down look at the finished pumpkin pie dump cake recipe.

What kind of cake mix do I use for this recipe?

I’ll give you a full run down on the ingredients you will need below but we start this recipe out with a carrot cake mix. Starting with a boxed cake mix makes life so much easier.

Cake mixes and other boxed mixes for baked goods are great for making easy treats that everyone can enjoy. You get to spend less time doing the measuring and baking and more time enjoying company and the actual eating!

You can use whatever brand of cake mix you like or prefer. If you have dietary restrictions you can always substitute mixes that take care of those needs for you as well!

a side view of the finished dump cake with pumpkin on a plate ready to serve.

Ingredients needed to make a pumpkin pie dump cake recipe:

For this super simple pumpkin dump cake we will use pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, cream cheese frosting, walnuts, and carrot cake mix. We will also need some butter.

If you want to make your own pumpkin puree you can check out this post about preparing pumpkins for pie and puree!

Pumpkin puree and homemade pumpkin puree freeze really well so you can always make some in advance and use it whenever you want to make recipes that call for pumpkin puree.

ingredients needed to make a pumpkin dump cake.

Kitchen essentials for tasty dump cakes:

When you head into the kitchen to make some of these great recipes you’ll want to have the best tools on hand.

I like half sheet baking pans that are quality (no noisy pops or sloshed dough from twisting), I line my cookie sheets with silicone baking mats. These are great for all kinds of baking and not just cookies! My husband loves them for making biscuits, pizzas, and more!

Of course mixing bowls, a mixer, spatula, and some whisks should be on your list if you don’t have ones that you love. I also like to have a set of cooling racks so that my recipes can properly cool before they’re scarfed down by my family!

a view of the finished dump cake ready to serve.

How to make dump cake with pumpkin:

The best part about this dump cake recipe with pumpkin (and all dump cakes really) is that it is super easy to prepare. There’s nothing tricky happening. You can prepare this recipe in just a few minutes and then it pops into the oven.

While baking the butter will melt and the wet ingredients on the bottom with bubble up and the dry cake mix becomes incorporated without you having to do any mixing to begin with! It’s so fun to see it happen the first time and always a nice change from having to do a lot of complicated steps for a dessert recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 13×9 pan with nonstick spray

Spread pumpkin in pan

Sprinkle on pumpkin pie spice

frosting added to the pumpkin in the baking dish.

Microwave frosting for about 30 seconds and pour over pumpkin

nuts added to the frosting in the baking dish.

Sprinkle on walnuts then evenly add the cake mix

cake mix added on top of wet ingredients and nuts.

Place butter slices on top

butter slices added to the top of the baking mix.

Bake for 40-45 minutes

baked dump cake ready to cool and serve.

Cool completely and serve

a scoop of the pumpkin dessert ready to serve.

Looking for more pumpkin recipes to try?

If you love pumpkin recipes you have arrived in the best place possible. Here are some of our other favorite fall recipes that use pumpkin! These delicious desserts are equally easy to make and share. Great for all of your holiday party needs.

a pile of the finished dump cake ready to serve.

Printable Recipe for Pumpkin Dump Cake:

Yield: 12 Servings