Pumpkin Sheet Cake

Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is quick and easy holiday dessert to feed a crowd! Moist homemade pumpkin cake and frosting, made in an hour.

Skip the Pumpkin Pie this Thanksgiving and make this delicious, easy Cake Recipe made with pumpkin puree and topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting.

EASY PUMPKIN CAKE

Change things up this holiday season with this tasty, easy Pumpkin Cake. One bite of this light and fluffy pumpkin-y sheet cake and your guests won’t even miss pumpkin pie. It’s so moist and full of pumpkin flavor and warm spices they love, and you’ll love how little work it takes.

All you need for this crowd sized holiday dessert is a can of pumpkin puree, regular baking ingredients, mixing bowls, a spatula, and a sheet pan. No stand mixer or beaters needed, this Pumpkin Sheet Cake is made by hand. You can even carefully add all the dry ingredients to a sifter and whisk as you sift. Two steps in one and one less bowl, win-win!

This Pumpkin Cake recipe uses all the spices found in pumpkin pie like ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. Swap in 2 tablespoons Pumpkin Pie Spice blend if you already have it on hand. You can even use the pie spices in the frosting for more flavor.

If you have time, or made some already, you can use homemade Pumpkin Puree in this cake recipe instead of the canned. This is a go-to puree recipe because it’s easy, fast, and keeps up to a year in the freezer so you can enjoy Pumpkin Cake completely from scratch all year long.

Pumpkin Sheet Cake is an easy holiday dessert, perfect for large holiday gatherings! The Cream Cheese Frosting is simple and quick to make, plus we’ve included four different ways you can make even better! You could also skip the frosting and drizzle the cake with Chocolate Ganache or serve warm from the oven with Vanilla Ice Cream.

MORE DELICIOUS PUMPKIN RECIPES:

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Muffins

Ultimate Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Bread

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VARIATIONS ON PUMPKIN SHEET CAKE

• Cream Cheese: Cream together 8 ounces cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to make a cream cheese swirl. Spoon dollops of cream cheese mixture over cake batter and run a knife through to marble.
• Mix-ins: Fold in a 1/2 cup chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, candied ginger pieces, chopped nuts, or raisins to your pumpkin cake batter.
• Toppings: Sprinkle your frosted cake with chopped pecans or walnuts, crushed gingersnaps, or pumpkin seeds. Mellocreme pumpkins (candy corn pumpkins) would make a cute Halloween or Thanksgiving decoration.
• Cake Mix: Substitute flour, sugar, and baking soda with Spice Cake mix and leave out the spices, or use a Yellow Cake mix with the spices. 
• Healthy: For a Healthy Pumpkin Cake, replace sugar with 2/3 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup honey, half the oil with 1/2 cup greek yogurt, and half the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. Bake as usual.

Different Ways to Make Cream Cheese Frosting for Pumpkin Cake

• Pumpkin Spice: Mix in 1-2 tablespoons Pumpkin Pie Spice, or use the same amounts of the spices in the recipe to make Pumpkin Pie Cream Cheese Frosting.
• Cinnamon: Add 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon to make Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting. Such a simple way to completely elevate your dessert!
• Brown Butter: Brown half of the butter called for to make Brown Butter Frosting. Melt butter in a skillet until foaming, keep cooking until golden brown and gets a nutty aroma.
• Greek Yogurt: Make a lighter frosting by swapping low fat (not non-fat) cream cheese and 1/4 cup greek yogurt for the cream cheese.

MORE SHEET CAKE RECIPES:

Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake

Carrot Sheet Cake

S’mores Sheet Cake

Lemon Sheet Cake

HOW TO STORE PUMPKIN SHEET CAKE

• Serve: Unfrosted Pumpkin Cake can be at room temperature for up to 3 days but with cream cheese frosting, you want to refrigerate it after 2 hours.
• Store: Cover cake pan with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 1 week. Bring cake to room temperature, about 15-20 minutes, before serving for best taste!
• Freeze: Cool cake completely and cover Pumpkin Cake with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil, or transfer cake to sealed container. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw in the refrigerator before serving.

5 from 3 votes

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Pumpkin Sheet Cake

Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is quick and easy holiday dessert to feed a crowd! Moist homemade pumpkin cake and frosting, made in an hour.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Pumpkin Sheet Cake

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 24 servings

Calories 306 kcal

Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

• 15 ounces canned pumpkin puree
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups Cream Cheese Frosting

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10x15 baking pan with baking spray.

2. In a large bowl whisk together pumpkin, oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until smooth.
3. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, allspice and salt.
4. Whisk the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just combined.

5. Pour into baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

6. Wait for cake to cool before frosting.

Nutrition Facts

Pumpkin Sheet Cake

Amount Per Serving

Calories 306 Calories from Fat 81

% Daily Value*

Fat 9g14%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Cholesterol 27mg9%

Sodium 233mg10%

Potassium 73mg2%

Carbohydrates 55g18%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 44g49%

Protein 2g4%

Vitamin A 2797IU56%

Vitamin C 1mg1%

Calcium 15mg2%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.