This pumpkin gooey butter cake is a chewy vanilla crust with a layer of creamy pumpkin baked on top. Add some whipped cream and you’ve got a unique fall dessert that always gets rave reviews.
In my opinion, you can never have too many Thanksgiving recipes, especially when they’re dessert recipes. When the fall holidays roll around, I offer up treats such as pumpkin meringue pie, pumpkin cake, apple crisp, cake truffles, roasted figs with ice cream and this fabulous pumpkin gooey butter cake.
I’m a huge fan of fall recipes, especially when they involve pumpkin. This pumpkin gooey butter cake is full of great flavor. It starts with a cake mix, which also means that it’s easy to make!
Table of Contents
Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need a box of yellow cake mix, eggs, butter, cream cheese, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and powdered sugar. You can also add whipped cream on top for an extra special finishing touch.
How Do You Make Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake?
Mix together the cake mix, melted butter and egg, and press the cake batter mixture into a baking pan to form your crust. Beat the pumpkin and cream cheese until smooth, then add in eggs, butter and pumpkin pie spice. Next, mix the powdered sugar into the pumpkin mixture. Pour the pumpkin layer mixture over the cake layer crust in the baking dish, and bake until the center is set. Cool the cake, then cut into squares. Top with whipped cream if desired, then serve and enjoy.
Tips For The Perfect Cake
- Make sure you use pure pumpkin puree and NOT pumpkin pie filling for this recipe. Canned pumpkin pie filling contains sugar and other ingredients and will not work properly.
- This cake can be made up to 2 days before you plan to serve it. Store it covered in the refrigerator.
- Make sure that your cream cheese is very soft before you mix it with the pumpkin so that you don’t end up with lumps in your batter.
- This is a very rich cake, so I like to serve it in smaller pieces!
- No pumpkin pie spice on hand? Make your own by combining 1 teaspoon of cinnamon with 1/4 teaspoon each of nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cloves.
Quick Tip
Use clean hands or an offset spatula to make pressing the crust into the pan go a little easier.
Recipe FAQs
While you can store gooey butter cake at room temperature, I prefer to store it in the refrigerator. I refrigerate the cake because it contains a lot of dairy, and therefore may have a tendency to spoil at room temperature. You can chill your cake, then take it out of the fridge 20-30 minutes before you plan to serve it to bring it back to room temp.
Gooey butter cake will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to one week. Store the cake in an airtight container or cover the pan tightly with foil or plastic wrap.
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Flavor Variations
This cake is delicious as-is, but you can change up the ingredients a bit to customize the flavors to your tastes
- Crust: Instead of yellow cake mix, try using vanilla cake, spice cake or ginger cake mix.
- Filling: You can swap out the pumpkin for sweet potato puree for a different flavor.
- Toppings: Feel free to add more toppings to your cake before you serve it. Some great options include chopped pecans, a drizzle of caramel or even some toffee chips.
Just a fair warning, this is a rich dessert. But in the best possible way! It’s got all kinds of amazing flavors and textures and this treat will surely fulfill your cravings for pumpkin desserts.
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Pumpkin Spice Cake
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Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake Video
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1 egg
- 8 tablespoons butter melted
- cooking spray
For the filling:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
- 3 eggs
- 8 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 12 ounces powdered sugar (equates to approximately 3 cups)
- Optional garnishes: whipped cream, pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9″x13″ baking pan with cooking spray.
- For the crust: Place the cake mix, egg and butter in a medium bowl. Using a mixer, beat the mixture until well combined.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and press the dough to cover the bottom of the pan.
- For the filling: Place the cream cheese and pumpkin into a large bowl and beat with a mixer until smooth, approximately 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs, butter and pumpkin pie spice. Beat until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar to the pumpkin mixture and beat until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the pumpkin mixture on top of the crust and spread into an even layer.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until center is just set. Cool completely, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days before you plan to serve it.
- Cut into squares and serve, topped with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spice if desired.
Notes
- Adapted from Paula Deen.
- Make sure you use pure pumpkin puree and NOT pumpkin pie filling for this recipe. Canned pumpkin pie filling contains sugar and other ingredients and will not work properly.
- This cake can be made up to 2 days before you plan to serve it. Store it covered in the refrigerator.
This looks delicious!” 😋😋😋
This creamy pumpkin goodness and that rich, buttery crust created a dessert that’s pure comfort in every bite! All the family asked for more!
I loved the crust and the goey pumpkin flavor on top. My family demolished it after dinner!
Made this instead of my usual pumpkin pie recipe and it was 10x better — husband absolutely loved it, ate it all in two nights and is asking for more.
Yum! How delicious is this?!
It’s been a long time since I’ve made a gooey butter cake. Your pumpkin version is now my new favorite. Thanks for the recipe!
I need three batches. How much powdered sugar do I need?
9 cups, or 36 ounces!
My cake have been cooking for 45 minutes and the center is still wet?
You want it to be a little gooey just not liquid!
Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
Unsalted!
Could I make this as cupcakes? If so approx how many would the recipe make? How long would you suggest baking?
Thanks
This recipe has not been tested as cupcakes, so I’m hesitant to provide recommendations as I think you’d run a high risk of over baking smaller cupcakes and they’d lose their “gooey” texture.