Butterscotch Chip Pumpkin Cake is a perfect one bowl cake with buttery caramel notes from the butterscotch chips, baked in 40 minutes!
The buttery scotchy chips and the lil sugar crunchies on top of the cake ARE PERFECTION. I like to drizzle a little Instant Pot Pot Dulce De Leche on my slice(s) with an extra large glass of milk.
We've made this cake for years, the mancub has eaten up to but not limited to half the cake in a day. We're a butterscotch family (his other favorite butterscotch treat is Butterscotch Chip Cookies). If you like butterscotch and pumpkin, this cake is for you bestie.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Taste: Warm cinnamon pumpkin cake with butterscotch buttery caramel notes. My personal favorite is the little crunch from the sugar topping.
- Ease: No mixer required! One bowl recipe. Mix dry ingredients, then wet ingredients, then into a pan to bake!
- Time: About 10 minutes to mix up, and 40 minutes to bake.
🛒 Key Ingredients
- Pumpkin puree - make sure it's NOT the canned pumpkin pie mix, just the 100% puree. It's easy to make that mistake! Ask me how I know.
- Sugar - brown sugar for the cake batter, white sugar for the crunchy topping! Brown sugar on top won't bake to be crunchy because of the moisture in it, so make sure you use white for the top of the cake.
- Cinnamon - I only use cinnamon for this cake. Here's why: it doesn't need pumpkin pie spice! I prefer to keep it simple so it doesn't overpower the butterscotch taste.
- Baking soda - this is my chosen leavener for the cake, combined with the greek yogurt or sour cream to act as an acid that will help create lift.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
✏️ Substitutions & Variations
- Sour cream - easily replaced with unflavored plain homemade greek yogurt, I make this substution all the time.
- Butter - you can definitely use a mild flavored oil like olive oil for the cake. I love the salted butter because of the flavor! When cooled the cake can seem stiffer because of the butter but I like to serve the cake warm so it's never been an issue.
- Finishing touches: toasted pecans/walnuts, flaky sea salt, candied ginger, or whipped cream dollops
🧑🍳 Instructions
- Step 1. In large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin puree, eggs, greek yogurt, brown sugar, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in melted butter last.
- Step 2. On top of wet ingredients, add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Mix until combined and no flour pockets are left. Be careful not to overmix, or your cake will be tough and chewy.
- Step 3. Fold in 1 cup of butterscotch chips last.
- Step 4. Spread into a 9x13 inch pan, sprinkle white sugar on top, and remaining butterscotch chips. Bake for 30-35 min, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Glass or ceramic pans may take a 5-10 minutes longer to bake than dark pans.
TIP: For cleaner slices, chill 30-60 minutes before slicing.
📌 Troubleshooting
- Dry cake: causes (overbake, too much flour, insufficient fat) + fixes (simple syrup soak, reduce next bake time).
- Soggy center: underbaked edges, too much liquid from butterscotch - bake longer, tent with foil.
- Chips sinking or clumping: fold gently and flour toss.
❄️ Make Ahead, Store, and Freezing Tips
How to make ahead: bake the day ahead and cover until ready to slice and serve.
Freezing tips: Wait until cake is completely cooled to freeze, you can flash freeze individual slices for easy and convenient small serving desserts.
Shelf life : up to 3 days at room temperature.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, but homemade is typically more runny. Make sure and adjust to use ¼ cup more of flour if you use homemade puree.
Keep pumpkin to about 20-25% of total batter volume, more puree than that can weaken the structure of the cake and have too much moisture in it. For this cake we don't want it too moist, it needs to be a thicker batter to support the sugar on top and prevent the butterscotch chips from sinking.
Serving Ideas
- With a maple caramel glaze like in my Caramel Apple Cinnamon Maple Glazed Scones
- With a cream cheese frosting like on my Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls.
- With white chocolate or mini semi sweet chocolate chips!
🎃 More Easy Pumpkin Recipes
Did You Try This Recipe? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Make sure to leave a star rating and a comment below the recipe card. I love hearing from you, and it is so helpful to other readers! Better yet, share it with family and friends. Thank you!!
📝 Printable Recipe
Butterscotch Pumpkin Cake
Ingredients
- 1 (15 oz.) can pure pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup plain greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅓ cup salted butter, melted
Dry Ingredients
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1-½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 cup butterscotch chips
Topping:
- ⅓ cup white granulated sugar
- 1 cup butterscotch chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare 9X13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- In large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin puree, eggs, greek yogurt, brown sugar, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in melted butter last.
- On top of wet ingredients, add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and butterscotch chips. Mix until combined and no flour pockets are left. Be careful not to overmix, or your cake will be tough and chewy.
- Bake at 350 F for 30-33 min, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Light or glass pans may take a few minutes longer to bake than dark pans.
Nutrition
Hi, I'm Sara!
Registered Nurse by day, food blogger by weekend. Perfect dip tester & snack quester. I love short walks on the beach and long naps. Sharing my love for food, one bite at a time.
Ronak Mehta says
Thank you for sharing this delightfully easy, mouthwateringly delicious recipe. Have baked this cake several times since I first tried it a few weeks back and it’s been a huge success each time!