With a crisp topping and a dollop of whipped cream, this Pumpkin Crunch Dessert – made with a cake mix – is perfect for a crowd. Sometimes people call this Pumpkin Crunch Cake or Pumpkin Crunch Bars. We think it should be called the Best Ever Pumpkin Crunch Dessert of all time.
Pumpkin Crunch Dessert
Easy Pumpkin Crunch Dessert with yellow cake mix is a simple pumpkin dessert to make. The ingredients include canned pumpkin, eggs, evaporated milk, sugar, cinnamon, cake mix and butter. This really is a pumpkin dump cake as opposed to a traditional cake recipe.
Instead of making the same old boring pumpkin pie, try this Pumpkin Crunch with yellow cake mix instead. You won’t be disappointed.
Barbara loves this dessert, and she claims it as one of her favorites. She lost the recipe a couple years ago, but recently found it again.
A co-worker shared this recipe with her years and years ago. Even though Barbara hasn’t seen her for almost 10 years, she thinks of her each time this Pumpkin Crunch goes into the oven.
Pumpkin Crunch Cake Ingredient List
Canned Pumpkin (not canned pumpkin pie filling)
Evaporated Milk
Eggs
Ground Cinnamon
Sugar
Yellow Cake Mix (dry mix, unprepared)
Butter
A Pumpkin Crunch Cake with Cake Mix
Cake mix is the secret ingredient in the “crunch” part of this easy fall dessert.
The bottom layer is essentially the pumpkin pie.
Then, a dry cake mix is sprinkled right on top of the pumpkin pie layer.
Melted butter is poured right over top the dry cake mix to form the beautiful, delicious crunch.
For even drizzling of the butter, use a liquid cup measure or something that allows the melted butter to pour evenly. If you’ve got dry clumps of cake mix, spread out the butter or add more drizzled butter to get the entire top.
I sometime even give the top of the cake a spray with nonstick cooking spray to make sure it’s all wet on top for an even crunch.
How To Make Crunchy Pumpkin Bars Recipe
For the full recipe steps and ingredient amounts for pumpkin crunch bars with yellow cake mix, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Instructions:
- Mix together pumpkin, eggs, sugar, evaporated milk, and cinnamon.
- Pour into a prepared 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
- Sprinkle cake mix over pumpkin pie mixture, and pour melted butter over top, being sure there’s no dry spots.
- Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Does pumpkin crunch cake need to be refrigerated?
We would recommend to serve immediately, or let cool and refrigerate. If you are going to eat later, we would recommend not letting it sit for more than four hours at room temperature before covering and putting it into the refrigerator.
Notes About Pumpkin Crunch Dump Cake
- Use evaporated milk, not sweetened condensed milk.
- This pumpkin crunch cake uses regular canned pumpkin, not to be confused with pumpkin pie filling.
- The topping of this dessert reminds us a bit of the crunchy topping of our Peach Batter Cake. We know it sounds odd to just sprinkle the dry cake mix over the top of the wet ingredients, but we promise it works! Just be sure to evenly distribute the melted butter and use a bit more butter if you have large dry spots of cake mix.
- Use a liquid measuring cup to drizzle the butter more evenly.
- You know what would make this even better? Toasted nuts, praline almonds, or these cinnamon glazed pecans sprinkled on top of the dollop of whipped cream!
- This pumpkin crunch with yellow cake mix is versatile. You could swap out different types of boxed cake mix if you prefer. A spiced cake mix would be delicious!
- We are huge fans of using boxed cake mixes in desserts other than cakes. Some of our favorites are Cake Mix Cinnamon Rolls, Easy Cake Mix Caramel Bars, and Yellow Cake Mix Gooey Bars.
Old Fashioned Pumpkin Recipes
Love pumpkin? Try our favorites old fashioned pumpkin desserts.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Pudding
Pumpkin Crunch Dessert with Yellow Cake Mix
Ingredients
- 15 oz. pure pumpkin
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 12 oz. evaporated milk
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 16.5 oz. boxed yellow cake mix
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin, eggs, sugar, evaporated milk and cinnamon; pour into pan.
- Sprinkle the yellow cake mix evenly over the pumpkin mixture.
- Pour the melted butter evenly over top (if there are any big dry spots, use a little extra melted butter).
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.
Notes
- It's called Pumpkin Crunch because the butter forms a nice crunchy top over the cake mix.
- Use evaporated milk, not sweetened condensed milk.
- This pumpkin crunch cake uses regular canned pumpkin, not to be confused with pumpkin pie filling.
- The topping of this dessert reminds us a bit of the crunchy topping of our Peach Batter Cake. We know it sounds odd to just sprinkle the dry cake mix over the top of the wet ingredients, but we promise it works! Just be sure to evenly distribute the melted butter and use a bit more butter if you have large dry spots of cake mix.
- Use a liquid measuring cup to drizzle the butter more evenly.
- You know what would make this even better? Toasted nuts, praline almonds, or these cinnamon glazed pecans sprinkled on top of the dollop of whipped cream!
- This pumpkin crunch with yellow cake mix is versatile. You could swap out different types of boxed cake mix if you prefer. A spiced cake mix would be delicious!
- We are huge fans of using boxed cake mixes in desserts other than cakes. Some of our favorites are Cake Mix Cinnamon Rolls, Easy Cake Mix Caramel Bars, and Yellow Cake Mix Gooey Bars.
Nutrition
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What kind of milk can I use in stead of evaporated milk? Thanks!
You can use a combination of whole milk and half-and-half. Use the ratio of 1/4 half and half and 3/4 whole milk.
do I use 1 (one) 1/2 cup or 1.5 cups sugar
One and one half cups (1.5) of sugar
Will this taste the same if making in advance?
We’ve made it ahead and put it in the refrigerator and served the next day to no complaints!
Can you use honey instead of sugar
Debbie – We have never substituted honey for the sugar in this so we can’t say for sure how it will work. If you try, here are a couple of things to think about…for every 1 cup of sugar, think about using 1/2 to 2/3 cups of honey (some honey is really sweet) and it’s already a really wet mixture so you might think about reducing other liquids if you go with honey. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
This looks delicious and just in time for fall. I am thinking that a spice cake mix instead of the white would be really good also. And maybe some crunchy pecans on top? These type of desserts are called dump cakes. You can make many different kinds and they’re all very rich, sweet and delicious. Very easy to make
Dump cakes are so easy! Your additions sound great. Enjoy!