slow cooker pumpkin crumble cake

Let’s be real. This is a dump cake.

But what moron invented this term for such an awesome creation?!

It was Sandra Lee, I bet. Damn you, Sandra Lee.

I saw this idea on The Kitchen when I binge watched like 18 episodes on a Saturday, and I knew I had to try it. Token pumpkin recipe of 2015! Don’t worry, I still love these and these and these.

I think this is a smashing (<–get it?) idea for a Thanksgiving dessert. Why? Because everyone on Thanksgiving is thinking “There’s no time!” “There’s no oven space!” “I only have 4 burners on the stove!” “The pretzel jello isn’t setting up!”

That last one is just me, I think.

So what a fabulous solution- a dessert in the slow cooker that takes literally 5 minutes to assemble and requires no maintenance. You can plug it in anywhere! No counter space in the kitchen? Haul it upstairs and plug it in on the floor of the guest room! You’re providing a warm bed to a family member, along with the fresh aromas of pumpkin dump cake. Yankee Candle hasn’t patented that one, yet.

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Crumble Cake

adapted from The Kitchen

2 15 oz cans of pumpkin

1 boxed cake mix*

1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter

This is idiot-proof. Pour the pumpkin in the bottom, and spread so that it’s relatively smooth.

Pour in the cake mix. I used an additional shortcut here by doing spice cake, because it’s basically white cake mix with pumpkin pie spice added. If you want to use white or yellow cake, I recommend adding a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg, or pumpkin pie spice.

Toss oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Spread over top of the cake mix.

Cut a cold stick of butter into 10-12 pieces. Spread over the top. I thought about doing just 6 tablespoons instead of a whole stick, but really who’s counting calories on Thanksgiving?