
When I was a kid I was sure I hated pumpkin as a food and flavor. I mean I had been forced to endure my fair share of pumpkin pie and I hated it. The thing was though that pumpkin pie was the only way I was ever exposed to pumpkin. It was not until I was in my mid thirties that I tried pumpkin as anything other than pie and when I did I was shocked. I liked pumpkin! I mean I really, really liked pumpkin. I tried other pumpkin things and I liked them too. It was only pumpkin pie that I had an aversion to and still do for some reason. I think my aversion to pumpkin pie though stems from the fact that my birthday often falls on Thanksgiving and what little girl wants pumpkin pie instead of a pretty cake? Now if someone had given me this Gooey Butter Pumpkin Cake for a birthday I might have overlooked the fact that it was not pretty but it sure does taste amazing!
I know half the U.S. population hates pumpkin like I used to and the other half are pumpkin addicts who can’t wait for summer to end and fall to start just to get their hands on all that is pumpkin. I like to help those people out and so every year now I try to come up with a new take on pumpkin to share with family and friends during the fall. This year is no exception but, I wanted something that could easily be thrown together when there is a ton of other stuff in life keeping me busy and starting with a box cake mix fit the bill for that. This recipe comes together in minutes and then you just bake, cool and serve. How much easier can you get in life and on top of that it is so unbelievably good that it will definitely impress your friends and family.


- 1 15.25 oz. box of yellow cake mix
- ½ c. butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 3.4 oz. box of pumpkin spice instant pudding
- ½ tsp. vanilla
- 8 oz. pumpkin spice cream cheese
- 2 eggs
- ½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 2 c. powdered sugar
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 x 13 pan with baking spray. Mix cake mix, melted butter, pumpkin spice instant pudding mix, vanilla, and 2 eggs on low speed until combined. Press into the prepared pan.
- Mix pumpkin spice cream cheese, eggs, and pumpkin pie spice with an electric mixer. Slowly beat in confectioner's sugar mixing until combined. Pour and spread evenly over the cake layer.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan and then cut and serve.
So tell me, are you pro or con pumpkin everything?
My favorite baking pan for this recipe:

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This looks so yummy but I have never heard of pumpkin spice instant pudding or pumpkin spice cream cheese. Can you tell me are they products you buy or do you mix it yourself? Thanks
The pudding is a special holiday flavor that Jell-O releases and the cream cheese is a special fall flavor that Philadelphia Cream Cheese releases. If it’s not already at your local stores it should be out in the next week or two.
[…] Gooey butter pumpkin cake from My Sweet Sanity. Get her recipe > […]
I am a sucker for anything pumpkin. Gooey makes it to the top of my list. Thanks for sharing at The Yuck Stops Here. I hope we’ll see you again this week!
Chrystal @ YUM eating recently posted…How to Carve the Perfect Pumpkin
Thanks!
pumpkin spice cream cheese and where can you buy it
You should be able to find the Philadelphia Cream Cheese brand in pumpkin spice right now. It will be in one of the tubs in the grocery store. If you aren’t able to locate it in the store you can buy plain cream cheese and mix in 1/2 – 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice.
Are you sure it’s 4 cups of powdered sugar? That’s the 2 pound bag, right? The first time a made this with the 1 pound bag (2 cups), and it was perfect. Last night I made it with the 2 lb bag, and it had a hard layer of sugar on top and runny under that.
Also, when I went to Walmart this past weekend there was had Great Value brand pumpkin spice cream cheese!
Thank you for catching my typo! I have corrected it because you are right it should be 2 cups.
I didn’t know Great Value had pumpkin spice cream cheese too! That’s great to hear. Some people have a hard time finding the Philadelphia version so maybe this will make it easier.
Shouldn’t it be a one pound box? That is almost 4 cups. My aunt makes the regular ooey gooey cake and it’s a one pound box.
Can’t wait to make this for Thanksgiving! Also I was at all the last week and picked up the pumpkin spice cream cheese there, they have their own brand for folks who have an Aldi store nearby 🙂
Thanks for sharing another place to get the cream cheese! I hope you have a great Thanksgiving!
I have bought pumpkin cream cheese spread from walmart where you would buy cream cheese spreads for bagels. Believe it or not, i would recommend the Great Value brand over the Philadelphia because it has way more pumpkin flavor!
All of you are telling me about the Walmart brand and now that you said it has more pumpkin flavor I am going to need to go get some and try it! 🙂
How many eggs are meant for the top layer? Another two?
Yes there are two in the top layer and two in the bottom layer.
I love baking this time of year and this pumpkin cake looks super yummy! Thanks for sharing! 😉
[…] For directions, visit My Sweet Sanity. […]
Your recipe inspired me to write an article about the Top 5 Pumpkin Recipes to try this fall! Great recipe!! https://www.theodysseyonline.com/pumpkin-recipes-fall
Wow! What a great list of pumpkin recipes! Thanks for sharing!