This ridiculously easy recipe for a caramel apple dump cake will be a fall favorite in your house! Five ingredients combined make a delicious warm cake that is best served warm a la mode! The topping bakes into a cookie-like crust while the apples inside simmer into a saucy, caramel-infused filling. It's comfort food with zero fuss.
A few years ago I fell in love with "dump cakes". These simple and easy dessert recipes are perfect for a backyard party or a simple Sunday night family dinner. The concept is taking some sort of fruit topped with a full cake mix then drizzled with butter. So there are multiple flavor combinations. The first one I made was my peach dump cake recipe. Most people use a can of fruit pie filling but I prefer not to use a pre-made mix.
I find you get even better results doing it a little more homemade, and it's still quick and easy! When I started thinking about how I wanted to make this caramel apple dump cake I remembered my caramel apple crisp, the bottom fruit layer is literally just caramel and apples mixed together. I knew this would be the perfect, simple but delicious way to go for this cake! For a quick caramel apple fix try my caramel apple dip.
It's seriously like a bite of warm fall flavor!
Apples, Caramel, and Cake Mix Magic
- Apple Filling & Caramel Sauce: Provide the sweet, saucy base. The caramel adds richness and depth beyond standard apple pie filling. I always have a batch of my homemade salted caramel sauce in the fridge so I use that but you can use a jar of store-bought caramel sauce too!
- Dry Cake Mix (Usually Spice or Yellow): Gives the topping structure while absorbing some juices-choose one that balances with caramel.
- Butter (Melted or Slices on Top): Helps moisten the dry mix and promotes a golden, crisp top.
- Optional Add-ins (e.g. Pecans, Oats): If your like, they add texture and extra flavor contrast.
Dump It, Bake It, Love It
Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream. Check out my pumpkin dump cake recipe!
★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!
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Gooey Caramel Apple Dump Cake in One Pan
This ridiculously easy recipe for a caramel apple dump cake will be a fall favorite in your house! Five ingredients combined make a delicious warm cake that is best served warm a la mode! The topping bakes into a cookie-like crust while the apples inside simmer into a saucy, caramel-infused filling. It's comfort food with zero fuss.
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 8 Servings 1x
Ingredients
- 7 medium Granny Smith or Cooking Apples*
- 6oz Caramel Sauce, cold homemade salted caramel sauce, or store-bought
- 9oz Salted Butter
- 2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1- 15.25oz Yellow Cake Mix
- ½ cup Nuts, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Lightly grease a 9"X13" baking dish.
- Peel the apples and slice them into medium-sized wedges. Add apples to the prepared dish and pour caramel over the apples and stir to combine.
- In a medium pot over medium heat brown the butter. Here is a post with step-by-step photos to brown butter. Once the butter is browned pour into a heat-proof bowl to stop the cooking then add the vanilla extract, mixing to combine.
- Sprinkle the cake mixture evenly on top of apples, add nuts now if using, making sure to cover every spot. Drizzle the butter/ vanilla mixture evenly over the cake mixture.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the cake, is fully cooked through, the top is golden brown and bubbling.
- Serve with ice cream. Store leftovers in the fridge.
Notes
*Cooking Apples: Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, Fuji, Gala, Braeburn, Cortland
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 40
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
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