This pumpkin snack cake with cream cheese frosting is the perfect easy dessert or afternoon snack – an easy to make, sweet treat for the fall! You’ll love it.
I don’t actually make a lot of cake around here. Birthdays, of course, but that’s really about it.
I’m not sure why, because we do enjoy our dessert, but I guess I lean towards brownies or cookies when I decide we need a sweet treat for after dinner or for a mid-afternoon pick me up!
But….just because I’m not a huge cake or cupcake fan, does not mean the rest of the family agrees. They all really love having cake for dessert every now and then.
Especially when it involves cream cheese frosting.
If I’m totally honest though, this cake started with oatmeal in it and chocolate chips, with no frosting. Basically it was a muffin masquerading as cake.
My family didn’t fall for that though – they knew it wasn’t really cake, so it was made again.
I tried oat flour instead of rolled oats the second time because clearly they wouldn’t notice that.
Um…..they did. Still not totally happy with this "cake" that I was giving them.
So, I made it a third time. This time it was met with approval – maybe because I stopped trying to make it a little bit healthier and just made a pumpkin snack cake? Possibly.
And everyone was happy.
This pumpkin snack cake is super fast and easy to make – two bowls and a spoon is all you’ll need to mix this up and it will be in the oven in ten minutes.
Pumpkin snack cake with cream cheese frosting – a super easy dessert that actually IS a dessert. Not breakfast pretending to be dessert.
Clearly I need to make cake more often – it probably wouldn’t take quite so many tries to get it right then!
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Pumpkin Snack Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1/2 cup Canola Oil
- 1 cup Brown Sugar lightly packed
- 1 large Egg
- 1 cup Pumpkin Puree
- 3 ounces Cream Cheese softened, 85 grams
- 6 tablespoons Butter softened
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 3/4 cups Powdered Sugar plus 2 tablespoons
- 1/2 cup Pecans chopped, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray an 8×8 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice until combined.
- In another bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, egg and pumpkin puree until smooth and well combined.
- Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool completely in the pan.
- In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, whip the cream cheese and the butter until smooth and creamy.
- Add the vanilla and mix until combined.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar in three additions, whipping the frosting after each addition.
- After all the powdered sugar is added, whip until the frosting is light and fluffy, another 1-2 minutes.
- Spread onto the cooled cake and sprinkle with pecans, if desired.
Notes
- I usually store this cake in the fridge, due to the cream cheese frosting, but prefer it at room temperature or even warmed up a bit – so I usually take it out of the fridge a couple of hours before serving.
- The amount of cream cheese frosting listed in the recipe is slightly more than the amount shown in the photos (my husband informed me there wasn’t enough!). If you are like me though, and don’t like as much frosting, use 2 oz cream cheese, 4 tbsp butter, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar.