I was so excited to create and share my healthier Thanksgiving recipes, but there simply wasn’t time to do everything I had in mind. This is the last thing that I’ll able to share before the big day. So happy Thanksgiving! Happy Thursday to everyone else. :)
This cake is in no way healthy. But have you ever had Paula Deen’s pumpkin gooey butter cake? It’s worth all the butter and sugar.
This version doesn’t use a cake mix, it’s whole grain and it uses a little less sugar, so I guess it’s an improvement at least.
Here you can see the gooeyness. This is way better than pumpkin pie. No pesky crust to get in the way.
I used canned pumpkin but homemade should work, too! Here’s how to peel, seed and cut a fresh pumpkin.
100% Whole Grain Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 16 servings
Ingredients
- 2 cups (260 grams) whole spelt, whole wheat pastry, or whole wheat flour
- 1 cup (200 grams) unrefined sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1/2 cup butter (113 grams / 1 stick), melted
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 8 ounces cream cheese (225 grams), softened – can be 1/3 fat
- 1 15-ounce can (425 grams) of pumpkin puree
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup (113 grams / 1 stick) butter, melted
- 10 ounces powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
Cake layer:
Cream cheese layer:
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F / 175°C and lightly grease a 9x13 pan and set aside.
- Stir together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
- Add the egg, melted butter and milk and mix on low. It will be very thick.
- Spread it out evenly over the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Mix the cream cheese and pumpkin together on medium for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Then add the eggs, vanilla and melted butter and mix on medium until the batter is well combined.
- Add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and mix until completely combined and smooth.
- Pour this batter on the top of the bottom layer.
- Bake for 45 – 50 minutes. Be careful not to overbake! It’ll look like it’s not done, but it really is.
Adapted from Gingerbread Bagel's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Cake
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16 comments on “100% Whole Grain Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake” — Add one!
Do you think there is a way to make it gluten free?
I haven’t tried it but a 1 to 1 GF baking flour might work!
I am going to try it with a gluten-free cake mix. I will let you know how it turns out. I hope I do not waste several sticks of butter in the process
That’s unfortunately always a risk when you don’t follow a recipe exactly. I’ve had good experiences with Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour but that doesn’t mean it’ll work here. I wish you lots of luck. :)
LOVED IT !! I just did cut the amount of sugar as well almost by half and it still tastes amazing !! Thank you !! love your recipes <3
Wow! It worked well with half the amount of sugar?! That’s surprising. Was it still gooey? I’m happy you liked it. :) Thanks for your comment!
I’m not a fan of pie crust either! I’m all about the filling so I loved this. I made it for dessert when my parents were over and everyone enjoyed it.
I’m happy to hear that everyone liked it! Thanks as always for the feedback. Much appreciated! And whoa… this post needs new pictures. Urgently. Thanks for making it despite the pictures. ;)
Hannah – Thanks! And really? I hate pie crust. Just give me the filling and I'm happy. I feel like eating crust is a like a chore. Thanks for stopping by. :)
The crust on pumpkin pie is soo good! But these do look fantastic.
xox
I don't know where you live so I went to your page and read the about page. I also did the CVS / Walgreen's get-everything-for-free thing! I was obsessed with Slickdeals. I miss couponing.
There are some kosher salt suggestions on Toytown here: Kosher salt, more kosher salt
I got mine from Metro. It looks like kosher salt but it's just less coarse sea salt. And as of this week they have vanilla extract! It's 3.95 per 100ml bottle. It's expensive but okay if you don't bake all the time. But if you're here for a long time it's way cheaper just to make your own. You didn't even ask about vanilla but I thought I'd throw that in there.
If you haven't asked for molasses in the reform houses, ask! They always have it in some random place. Good luck. :)
Just found your blog when looking up substitutions for molasses. I am also an American living in Germany and love experimenting in the kitchen with my favorite recipes from home. This one looks amazing! I noticed though that you have kosher salt as an ingredient. WHERE did you find kosher salt? Do tell!
Sorry for the slow reply. Thanksgiving was crazy!
warmvanillasugar – Sure it does. You get it! Yay! :)
Becca – You really won't regret making this. I didn't even care about all the butter and sugar when I ate 4 pieces of the stuff just now. I ate it so quickly I actually chocked a little but I still didn't regret it.
Miryam – Do it! The pumpkin is obvious so you won't like it, but it's reaaaaally amazing. He would be very happy. :)
Wow, my husband would totally love these bars. I will show him the recipe and maybe this will be his second attempt at baking :-) He loves pumpkin.
Mmm. I've seen pictures of Gooey Butter Cakes and they look so amazing, and then you go and add pumpkin. Thanks, now maybe I'm not going to be able to fit into my jeans after the two upcoming holiday seasons
Butter cake?! I'm in! And with the whole grain it totally makes it healthy right? Yeahhhh I think it does :P