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This Easy Pumpkin Snack Cake is a great cake made with cake mix. I’m showing you how to make a sugar-free pumpkin cake or a regular sweetened one. Either way, this easy snack cake is moist and full of pumpkin flavor.
Table of Contents
One thing I enjoy doing is coming up with sugar-free desserts for family who can’t have sugar, and I often get notes from readers asking for sugar-free desserts. So today, we have this sugar-free pumpkin cake!
It’s a snack cake that’s perfect with an afternoon cup of coffee or tea, but it can totally double as dessert. It’s all about fall, too, with the pumpkin and pumpkin spices!
EASY Pumpkin Snack Cake Recipe
- This is a pumpkin cake with cake mix which means it’s very easy to make!
- What makes it so good is the cinnamon butter swirled into the top of the batter before the cake goes in the oven.
- It’s also super moist and tender – the perfect snack cake!
- I don’t add a topping for this cake, but I’m sharing some ideas if you want to dress it up.
- You can also make this a regular cake and use a regular cake mix.
Ingredients
Cake Mix: Use Sugar-Free Cake Mix for sugar free cake or regular cake mix for regular cake. Pillsbury has a sugar free cake mix that I love.
Pumpkin Puree: Be sure to use canned pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie mix
Oil: Vegetable oil works best, or you can substitute melted butter.
Eggs: Be sure to buy large eggs.
Pumpkin Pie Spice: Make my homemade pumpkin spice if you don’t have it.
Melted Butter: This is for the topping.
Cinnamon: Adds so much flavor to the top of the cake.
How to Make Sugar-Free Pumpkin Snack Cake
- Oven Prep: Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 9×13” pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.
- Mix Cake Batter: In a large bowl, combine the sugar-free cake mix, pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, and pumpkin pie spice. Mix it with a hand mixer for about 2 minutes.
- Reserve some batter: Scoop out a ½ cup of the batter and set it aside. Pour the rest of the batter into the prepared 9×13” pan.
- Make the Swirl: Place the ½ cup of batter back in the bowl, and stir in the melted butter and cinnamon. Drop dollops of the cinnamon batter mixture over the batter in the pan. Use a spoon to swirl the topping into the batter.
- Bake: Bake the cake for 23 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the cake completely before slicing and serving.
Can I Use Regular Cake Mix?
Yes, you can use regular cake mix to make this cake. All of the instructions are the same!
How to Serve It
You can serve this cake plain – it’s delicious! But, if you want to dress it up with a topping, here are few ideas:
- For a sugar-free cake: Dust the cooled cake with sugar-free powdered sugar or top it with sugar-free Cool Whip or unsweetened whipped cream.
- For a regular cake: It’s excellent with powdered sugar, or try a whipped topping or whipped cream frosting that you like.
Tips
- For the sugar-free cake, I’ve only tested this recipe with a Pillsbury sugar-free mix. It has a great flavor.
- You can freeze this cake once it’s thoroughly cooled. Freeze it whole to slice later, or slice and freeze the individual pieces.
- The cooled cake will keep in an airtight container for two to three days at room temperature. Or, store it in the refrigerator for up to a week. Whether you make this pumpkin cake with sugar-free cake mix or regular cake mix, I know you’re going to love it. Both versions are so good – soft and moist and full of fall spices. It’s the best snack cake for fall!
More Snack Cakes You’ll Enjoy
Have you made this recipe?
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Sugar-Free Pumpkin Snack Cake
Ingredients
- 1 sugar-free cake mix (I recommend Pillsbury)
- 1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
- ⅓ cup (79ml) vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter , melted
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 9×13” pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.
- Mix cake mix, pumpkin, oil, eggs, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl with a hand mixer until well incorporated, about 2 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of batter and place the rest into the prepared pan.
- Place reserved batter back into your bowl, and and add the melted butter and cinnamon. Stir to combine.
- Place dollops of the cinnamon batter mixture over the cake and swirl with the back of a wooden spoon.
- Bake for 23-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.
Recipe Nutrition
This Easy Pumpkin Cake is a great snack cake made with cake mix. It’s a snack cake that’s perfect with an afternoon cup of coffee or tea, but it can totally double as dessert.
I get you on the whole dessert blogger thing of ‘I can make that, stop pestering”. But then there are those days of doom where I go food shopping whilst hungry. That’s a BIG no no. I come home with all sorts of sweets and treats. Mahoosive bags of candy, candy bar yoghurts, cakes, cheesecakes, trifles.. you name it!
Sugar free or not, this cake does look incredibly moist. And I have pumpkin puree *mexican wave everyone!*, not to mention a box of cake mix too. Hurrah! This is going on my “to bake n’ bake” bookmark list for the very near future! And mine’s going to laced with sugar too! 😉
Oh, gosh. Food shopping while hungry is one of the cardinal sins. I do that way too often!
I’ve never tried a sugar -free dessert – the thought scares me a bit
but you make this look really good
and I’ve got some nectresse in the pantry that I have been wanting to try
and a BUNCH of pumpkins ready to be cooked:)
I know, they scare me too! I never know if they’re going to have an after taste or not. That sugar-free cake mix is really good!
This definitely means I can have an extra piece…ok, ok 2 extra pieces;-) I need to start making some more sugar free desserts because my jeans are definitely sugar loaded:-)
Oh, so are mine. Sigh. 🙂
This was wonderful cake. I helped Daddy eat it. :}
Love, Mom
Newest follower here! I found you through the Wednesday link up! Cute blog, I can’t wait to read more!
-meandmr.com
Thank you! 🙂
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