When autumn comes and your cravings turn all pumpkin-shaped, you'll appreciate how simple it is to make satisfying pumpkin desserts without putting in a lot of time and effort. Here are some of our easiest pumpkin-packed desserts suitable for all occasions ? from a family-size bowl of trifle to a single-serving of microwave pumpkin mug cake. Some use convenient shortcut ingredients and some are made completely from scratch. But all earn rave reviews from Allrecipes home cooks. Give them a try and find a new fall favorite.
Easy Pumpkin Cream Trifle
Photo by Holiday Baker
Layers of crumbled cake, pecans, toffee, and cheesecake pudding get together in a big bowl to make an impressive (but crazy easy) deep-dish trifle, perfect for a family get-together. Your shortcut? Boxed spice cake mix! Home cook Stephanie Schneidewind says, "Made this for a bake-off and won first place."
Easy Pumpkin Spice Muffins
Photo by magicallydelicious
Another smart use of boxed cake mix (it contains most of your dry ingredients, so less measuring for you!). All you'll add is pumpkin pur?e, cinnamon chips, and nuts. This easy recipe won over home cook magicallydelicious, who says, "These are surprisingly delicious. I was skeptical about muffins with no eggs, no oil, no added liquids except the pumpkin…but wow."
Pumpkin Fluff Dip
Photo by Miracle 1997
This fluffy, creamy, pumpkin-spicy dip takes only four ingredients and five minutes to make. JCONN says, "This recipe is simple, delicious, and unique. Looked nice with a dusting of fresh, ground nutmeg and a scattering of ginger snaps and vanilla wafers as dippers."
Two-Ingredient Pumpkin Cake
Photo by dubosefamily
I wasn’t kidding when I said these were the easiest pumpkin desserts you’ll make. Case in point: This cake takes only two ingredients and 30 minutes to make. Several reviewers opted to add a couple of eggs to the batter to lighten it up (it’s a dense cake) and a few shakes of pumpkin pie spice to amp up the flavor. Top it with an easy cream cheese frosting, if you’d like. (It’s quick enough to make while the cake bakes.)
Pumpkin Pie Smoothie for Two
Photo by lutzflcat
You know how sometimes you end up with a little extra pumpkin pur?e after you make a pumpkin pie recipe? Well, here's a great way to use that up. Just pop it into a blender with a banana, some yogurt, and a dash of spice. When lutzflcat made it, she used a frozen banana, and says, "That made it VERY thick. I had to thin the consistency with a fair amount of milk. Used plain Greek yogurt, added some vanilla, tasted, and added a bit more cinnamon, as well."
Easy Pumpkin Turnovers
Photo by Ossie
Ready-made puff pastry is stuffed with sweetened, spiced pumpkin pur?e and baked into a treat you can serve for breakfast as well as dessert. You could add chopped nuts to mix for a little texture and smear it with cream cheese frosting for extra appeal. Home cook IDAMICHELLE says, “These were awesome! Not too much spice and they tasted great! My picky family loved them!”
Pumpkin Squares
Photo by Buckwheat Queen
All the ingredients for this moist, dense, pumpkin-y treat get mixed up in just one bowl, so clean up is a snap. They're great without any extra embellishments, but you can dust them with a little confectioner's sugar or spread with frosting after baking and cooling. Stephanie added walnuts and chocolate chips to the mix and topped the squares with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting.
Quick and Easy Pumpkin Mousse
Photo by Mackenzie Schieck
You’ll never guess the surprise ingredient in this recipe, so I’ll tell you: marshmallows. Allrecipes home cook cheryl dambacher says it, “very light, extremely easy.” Several reviewers were unsure what size marshmallows to use, but Yubbers123 assures them they should use regular size, not mini or jumbo.
Extra Easy Pumpkin Cookies
Photo by grammycooks
Add these super easy cookies to the list of good things you can make with the help of a spice cake mix. They do turn out to be a more cake-like cookie (Jackson12560 calls them "pumpkin pillows") but home cook Sweet Apron has this tip if you want a firmer cookie: "Substitute a stick of softened butter for the applesauce." And that swirl of frosting over the top? Completely optional, of course.
Skinny Pumpkin Pie Pudding
Photo by Rider
"A creamy pumpkin pudding that is low in calories. Top with fat-free whip cream and a sprinkle of graham crackers or pumpkin seeds." — Yoly
Pumpkin Pie Mug Cake
Photo by Deb C
When you need a quick treat that's yours and yours alone, this one's for you. Use that little bit of leftover pumpkin pur?e for this easy microwave mug cake. Pam says, "Yummy! Because of food allergies, I subbed maple syrup for the brown sugar (and didn't add the white sugar), used only an egg yolk, and used only cinnamon for the spice."
Great Pumpkin Dessert
Photo by Treats N Sweets
Yellow cake mix comes to the rescue once again. "Wow! This is delicious! As other reviewers suggested, I used 1 cup of melted butter instead of the 3/4 cup and added 1 tsp. cinnamon. I think that this made a difference in the yumminess of the dessert," reviewer BANSREEPARIKH says.
Simple Pumpkin Pie
Photo by neia
This no-frills, five-star pumpkin pie takes just 10 minutes to prep. "My youngest son and I made this pie together," reviewer Sarah Jo says. "Because I'm low on time and energy, I used a refrigerated pie crust. We mixed the pie filling in my KitchenAid mixer; it was less than five minutes to make it. We followed the recipe exactly. This pie was done baking five minutes before the 40 minutes were up."
Pumpkin Spice Cookie
Photo by CookinBug
Here's another easy dessert that calls for just two ingredients — or three if you borrow a tip from our reviewers and add chocolate chips or walnuts.
Upside Down Pumpkin Cake
Photo by tamzie
You can whip up this cake in 10 minutes with ingredients you probably have on hand. "This has become my family's favorite dessert at Thanksgiving, taking the place of pumpkin pie! Walnuts can be substituted for pecans," says recipe creator JCAIN2U.
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