My family can’t get enough of this easy pumpkin cake. Moist, warmly spiced, and topped with tangy cream cheese frosting, it’s a delicious fall dessert!

This pumpkin cake recipe is my family’s new favorite fall dessert. I made it for my mom and my sister’s family when we all got together a few weeks ago, and it disappeared within minutes of me setting it on the table. The adults kept raving about the moist texture and rich, spiced pumpkin flavor, and the kids couldn’t get enough of the tangy cream cheese frosting on top. I’ve already posted a few pumpkin baked goods this fall, but this one was such a hit that I had to share it too.

This pumpkin cake recipe is easy to make, so it’s a great everyday treat. But with the cream cheese frosting, it’s also special enough for other fall occasions. It would be perfect for Halloween or even as an alternative to pie at Thanksgiving.

As written, it makes a thick, fluffy square cake, but I’ve included instructions in the recipe notes for turning it into a sheet cake for a crowd. Whichever version you try, I hope you love it as much as we do!

Pumpkin Cake Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this pumpkin spice cake:

• Pumpkin, of course! I tested this recipe with a few different amounts of pumpkin puree. I wanted to maximize moisture without weighing the cake down. I found that 1 1/4 cups yielded the best moist, yet fluffy, cake. Stir any leftover pumpkin into overnight oats, or use it to make pumpkin pancakes!
• All-purpose flour – Spoon and level it to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup.
• Baking powder, baking soda, and eggs – They help the cake puff up as it bakes.
• Brown sugar and cane sugar – For sweetness.
• Vegetable oil – For moisture and richness.
• Milk – Any kind you like! Regular milk, almond milk, and oat milk would all work well here.
• Pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract – For warm, spiced depth of flavor. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice on hand, you can substitute a mix of warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
• And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Pumpkin Cake

You can find the complete recipe with measurements below, but for now, here’s a quick overview of how it goes:

Start by making the batter. Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. The batter will be thick.

Transfer the batter to a greased 9×9-inch baking dish. I also like to line the pan with parchment paper for easy removal!

Bake at 350°F until the top springs back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.

Let the cake cool completely in the baking pan before slicing or frosting.

Frosting Options for Pumpkin Cake

To be honest, this pumpkin cake doesn’t actually need frosting. My son Ollie loves it plain, which is pretty unusual for a frosting-obsessed kiddo.

That said, it’s totally delicious with cream cheese frosting on top. For a square cake, you’ll just need 1/2 of my cream cheese frosting recipe. Make the full recipe if you’re making the pumpkin sheet cake option in the recipe notes below.

For a simpler topping, drizzle the cake with the vanilla glaze from my pumpkin baked oatmeal.

More Pumpkin Recipes to Try

If you love this pumpkin spice cake, try one of these delicious pumpkin recipes next:

Salted Chocolate Caramel Apple Bark. You don’t need to be a professional baker to make this deliciously easy fall treat. Layers of rich dark chocolate, salted mini pretzels, sweet apples, and the most delicious salty caramel sauce come together in this fun homemade candy. You can use store-bought caramel in a pinch, but my apple cider caramel (made with butter, brown sugar, and cider) makes this extra special. Each chocolate-covered caramel apple wedge is sweet, salty, crunchy, chewy — and so perfect for both Halloween and Thanksgiving entertaining!

I never thought I could love a caramel apple recipe this much. Especially because, as a kid, I didn’t even like caramel apples! My mom used to buy those sheets of caramel wrappers from the grocery store — do you remember those? They only showed up in the fall, complete with little sticks for making caramel apples at home.

I always thought the caramel was too hard to eat — it stuck to my teeth and was just too much, especially once I got braces in middle school. But without fail, my mom would make them every year. And in true chocoholic fashion, she always took things a step further by slicing the apples and dipping those caramel-covered wedges into melted chocolate. It was her signature touch!

It’s only fairly recently that I’ve come to love caramel apples again. First, with this magical caramel apple cake I made a few years ago. And now with my go-to homemade cider caramel dip that’s soft, chewy, and never too sticky.

But this bark? This bark takes things to another level. It’s so fun and easy to make. Layers of melty chocolate, buttery apple cider caramel, salty pretzels, and crisp honeycrisp apples. A final sprinkle of flaky sea salt brings everything together.

It’s the most perfect homemade fall candy — sweet, salty, crunchy, chewy, and totally irresistible!

These are the details

Ingredients 

• dark chocolate chips – you can use semi-sweet too
• mini salted pretzel twist
• honeycrisp apple – though a granny smith is just fine too
• caramel sauce – store-bought is OK if you have to, but homemade is best!

For the Cider Caramel Sauce

• salted butter
• brown sugar
• apple cider
• flaky sea salt

Kitchen Tools

You’ll need a cookie sheet, parchment paper, and I use a small pot to melt the chocolate on the stove. Then, that same pot is used to make the caramel sauce.

Steps

Step 1: Melt the chocolate

Melt the dark chocolate chips, then spread the melted chocolate out on a sheet of parchment paper. I like to form it into a small rectangle — about the size of a 9×13-inch baking dish — as the base layer for the bark.

Step 2: Make the apple cider caramel

This is my no-fail, no-fuss caramel. Simply boil apple cider with brown sugar and butter for about 8 to 10 minutes, until the sauce bubbles and thickens. The longer you boil, the firmer the caramel will be. Ideally, you want a pourable sauce, so stick to that 8–10 minute window.

Once thickened, stir in a pinch of sea salt, then drizzle the warm caramel over the chocolate layer.

Step 3: Add the toppings

With the caramel in place, scatter on the pretzels and apple slices. Drizzle over a bit more caramel, then finish with an extra layer of melted chocolate — about 1 cup — to help hold everything together. Sprinkle with flaked sea salt for that perfect salty-sweet finish.

Step 4: Chill and serve

Chill the bark in the fridge until hardened, then break it into pieces. It will keep well in the fridge for a day, but I recommend freezing it after that to keep the apples from getting soggy.

When you’re ready to serve, let the bark sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes — the caramel is softest and chewiest then, which is how we love it most.

Sweet, salty, chocolatey, and just the right amount of chewy — this bark has it all. It’s the easiest treat to make and always disappears fast. Pack it up for Halloween parties, bring it to Thanksgiving, take it as a hostess gift, or keep a stash in the freezer for cozy fall and winter nights!

Looking for other fall sweets? Here are my favorites: 

Black Widow Peanut Butter Bars

Hocus Pocus Spellbook Brownies

Spooky Halloween Pretzels

BOO! Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Milk Chocolate Stuffed Jack-O’-Lantern Cookies

Black Cat Pumpkin Cupcakes

Roly Poly Pumpkin Cookies

Lastly, if you make this Salted Chocolate Caramel Apple Bark, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!