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piece of cake on a spatula over ooey gooey butter cake

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Butter cake is a decadent, moist cake that’s unlike any traditional cake.

It starts with boxed cake mix, and instead of adding oil and water, it calls for a stick of melted butter.

We’re off to a good start.

For this festive version of ooey gooey butter cake, use spice cake mix. It’s basically like yellow cake mix with all of the spices of pumpkin pie blended in.

After adding the butter to the cake mix, stir in an egg. The batter will be dense. Almost like cookie dough. Press it into the bottom of a greased 13 x 9 pan with a spatula or your hands.

13x9 pan with raw butter cake pressed in bottom

Pumpkin Pie Filling

Next comes the pumpkin pie layer. It’s literally all the ingredients you use to make pumpkin pie filling.

Start with a can of pumpkin, sugar and eggs, and blend in pumpkin pie spice.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice: Combine 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves and 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg.

Instead of evaporated milk, my mom taught me to use eggnog. It makes the pie so luxurious.

Spoon the pumpkin pie filling over the cake layer.

13x9 pan on grill filled with cake batter topped with pecans

Cream Cheese Layer

This cake gets a different kind of frosting – a frosting that’s baked right on top for extra ooey gooeyness.

Combine cream cheese, eggs and powdered sugar. It’s best to have the cream cheese at room temp to reduce lumps.

For a final touch, sprinkle with chopped pecans.

13x9 pan on grill filled with cake batter topped with pecans

At Girls Can Grill, I bake my desserts on the grill. It’s super easy to do on a pellet grill. Just set the temp like an oven to 350F degrees.

You can use a regular grill, too, if you cook it over an indirect heat zone.

Or you can always stay indoors and use the oven.

No matter how you bake it, you want the top to become golden brown. And when you wiggle the pan, the center shouldn’t jiggle.

Allow it to cool for 30 minutes or so before slicing, and then dig in.

It’s delicious hot or cold.

slice of ooey gooey butter cake near pan of cake and pumpkin

More Dessert Recipes

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4.45 from 9 votes

Pumpkin Pie Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

What happens when you combine pumpkin pie with ooey gooey butter cake? The best Thanksgiving ever! 
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours
Servings: 12

Ingredients 

Butter Cake Crust

  • 16.5 oz box spice cake mix
  • 1 stick butter, melted
  • 1 egg

Pumpkin Pie Layer

  • 15 oz can pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup eggnog

Cream Cheese Layer

  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 2 eggs
  • 16 oz box powdered sugar
  • 1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions 

  • Preheat the smoker, grill or oven to 350F degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 pan.
  • In a bowl, mix together the cake mix, melted butter and 1 egg. Press the batter into the greased pan.
  • In a bowl, mix together the pumpkin, sugars, spices and 2 eggs, until smooth. Stir in the eggnog. Spread over the cake layer.
  • In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese and 2 eggs, until smooth. Slowly stir in the powdered sugar. Pour over the pumpkin layer.
  • Sprinkle pecans over the top.
  • Bake in the smoker or grill over indirect heat for 1 1/2 hours. If baking in the oven, the time may vary. It’s done when the top becomes golden brown and the center sets.
  • Rest 30 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.

Notes

Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Nutrition

Calories: 621kcalCarbohydrates: 86gProtein: 7gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 121mgSodium: 426mgPotassium: 341mgFiber: 2gSugar: 72gVitamin A: 6150IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 120mgIron: 3.1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Did you try this recipe?Be sure to rate it, leave a comment and save it so you can make it again. Show off your awesome results on social by tagging @girlscangrill
christie vanover standing against wood wall.

Hey BBQ Family

I’m Christie, the head cook and award-winning competitive pitmaster for Team Girls Can Grill. I have won multiple grand championships and top 10 category finishes. I’m an expert grill reviewer for BBQ Guys, and I have appeared on the Food Network and Ninja Woodfire Grill infomercials. I established this website in 2015 to share my BBQ tips and recipes.

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8 Comments

  1. I tried this; while it didn’t turn out too bad, by the time the center stopped jiggling, the cake layer had overbaked and was slightly hard…particularly at the edges. The rest of it was good though. I want to try it again, hopefully I can figure out what I did wrong. Maybe I misunderstood what it means for the center to be “set”. Is there a certain diameter of jiggling that’s allowed? I’ve considered adding 1/2 cup of water to the cake mixture in hopes of compensating for the extra time it takes the other layers to gel.

    1. You will want the center to have a little jiggle. Sorry I wasn’t more clear. It should still be ooey and gooey in the center, but not raw. The edges will get a little crispier.

    1. Set your grill up with an indirect heat zone and place the pan over the area with no coals. Try to get the temp to around 350F degrees and rotate the pan occasionally.

  2. Can I prep and build the layers the night before and store it in the fridge so I can just throw it on the grill the day of?

    1. I’ve never tried it, but you should be able to build in advance. You may need a little more cook time, since the ingredients will be cold.