When autumn comes and your cravings turn all things sugar-and-pumpkin-spice, you’ll appreciate how simple it is to make satisfying desserts without putting in a lot of time and effort. Here are some of our easiest pumpkin-packed desserts suitable for all occasions—from a family-size bowl of trifle to an easy spiced cake. Some use convenient shortcut ingredients, while others are made completely from scratch. All earn rave reviews from Allrecipes home cooks. Give them a try and find a new fall favorite.
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Pumpkin Dump Cake
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
“This is a “fall” favorite for me! I’m always ready to start baking something really good when the weather starts cooling off. Really easy too. You can also use pumpkin pie filling and not have to add sugar and spices. A large dollop of Cool Whip or a scoop of French vanilla ice cream really tastes good on top, too. Thanks for the recipe!” –Cindy T
Pumpkin Fluff Dip
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
This fluffy, creamy, pumpkin-spicy dip takes only four ingredients and five minutes to make. JCONN says, “This recipe is simple, delicious, and unique. Looked nice with a dusting of fresh, ground nutmeg and a scattering of ginger snaps and vanilla wafers as dippers.”
Two-Ingredient Pumpkin Cake
DOTDASH MEREDITH FOOD STUDIOS
I wasn’t kidding when I said these were the easiest pumpkin desserts you’ll make. Case in point: This cake takes only two ingredients and 30 minutes to make. Several reviewers opted to add a couple of eggs to the batter to lighten it up (it’s a dense cake) and a few shakes of pumpkin pie spice to amp up the flavor. Top it with an easy cream cheese frosting, if you’d like. (It’s quick enough to make while the cake bakes.)
Simple Pumpkin Pie
Victoria Jempty/Allrecipes
This no-frills, five-star pumpkin pie takes just 10 minutes to prep. “My youngest son and I made this pie together,” reviewer Sarah Jo says. “Because I’m low on time and energy, I used a refrigerated pie crust. We mixed the pie filling in my KitchenAid mixer; it was less than five minutes to make it. We followed the recipe exactly. This pie was done baking five minutes before the 40 minutes were up.”
Great Pumpkin Dessert
DOTDASH MEREDITH FOOD STUDIOS
Yellow cake mix comes to the rescue once again. “Wow! This is delicious! As other reviewers suggested, I used 1 cup of melted butter instead of the 3/4 cup and added 1 tsp. cinnamon. I think that this made a difference in the yumminess of the dessert,” reviewer BANSREEPARIKH says.
Pumpkin Spice Cookie
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Here’s another easy dessert that calls for just two ingredients — or three if you borrow a tip from our reviewers and add chocolate chips or walnuts.
Pumpkin Pie Smoothie for Two
lutzflcat
You know how sometimes you end up with a little extra pumpkin purée after you make a pumpkin pie recipe? Well, here’s a great way to use that up. Just pop it into a blender with a banana, some yogurt, and a dash of spice. When lutzflcat made it, she used a frozen banana, and says, “That made it VERY thick. I had to thin the consistency with a fair amount of milk. Used plain Greek yogurt, added some vanilla, tasted, and added a bit more cinnamon, as well.”
Pumpkin Squares
Buckwheat Queen
All the ingredients for this moist, dense, pumpkin-y treat get mixed up in just one bowl, so clean up is a snap. They’re great without any extra embellishments, but you can dust them with a little confectioner’s sugar or spread with frosting after baking and cooling. Stephanie added walnuts and chocolate chips to the mix and topped the squares with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting.
Easy Pumpkin Cream Trifle
Holiday Baker
Layers of crumbled cake, pecans, toffee, and cheesecake pudding get together in a big bowl to make an impressive (but crazy easy) deep-dish trifle, perfect for a family get-together. Your shortcut? Boxed spice cake mix! Home cook Stephanie Schneidewind says, “Made this for a bake-off and won first place.”
Easy Pumpkin Spice Muffins
magicallydelicious
Another smart use of boxed cake mix (it contains most of your dry ingredients, so less measuring for you!). All you’ll add is pumpkin purée, cinnamon chips, and nuts. This easy recipe won over home cook magicallydelicious, who says, “These are surprisingly delicious. I was skeptical about muffins with no eggs, no oil, no added liquids except the pumpkin…but wow.”
Easy Pumpkin Turnovers
Ready-made puff pastry is stuffed with sweetened, spiced pumpkin purée and baked into a treat you can serve for breakfast as well as dessert. You could add chopped nuts to mix for a little texture and smear it with cream cheese frosting for extra appeal. Home cook IDAMICHELLE says, “These were awesome! Not too much spice and they tasted great! My picky family loved them!”
Quick and Easy Pumpkin Mousse
Mackenzie Schieck
You’ll never guess the surprise ingredient in this recipe, so I’ll tell you: marshmallows. Allrecipes home cook cheryl dambacher says it, “very light, extremely easy.” Several reviewers were unsure what size marshmallows to use, but Yubbers123 assures them they should use regular size, not mini or jumbo.
Easy Pumpkin Cake
Kim
“I’ve been making this annually since 2019 and it always comes out perfectly moist and dense with great flavor. I bake mine as a sheet cake because I like to cut it into cute shapes for tea parties and because it allows for a lower frosting to cake ratio; I top it with cream cheese frosting, white chocolate chips, and sprinkles. I made this most recently on a Saturday and by Friday, co-workers were still asking for the recipe because of how moist the cake was a full 7 days out.” –Jessica Fite
Skinny Pumpkin Pie Pudding
Rider
“A creamy pumpkin pudding that is low in calories. Top with fat-free whip cream and a sprinkle of graham crackers or pumpkin seeds.” — Yoly
Upside Down Pumpkin Cake
tamzie
You can whip up this cake in 10 minutes with ingredients you probably have on hand. “This has become my family’s favorite dessert at Thanksgiving, taking the place of pumpkin pie! Walnuts can be substituted for pecans,” says recipe creator JCAIN2U.
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