Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake (Gluten-Free, Easy From Scratch)

A soft, buttery cake layer on the bottom, a creamy pumpkin layer on top that stays just a little gooey in the middle, and a snowfall of powdered sugar over everything. That’s this pumpkin gooey butter cake, and it’s gluten-free from top to bottom!

Most pumpkin gooey butter cake recipes start with a box of yellow cake mix. Mine doesn’t. The bottom layer is made from scratch with toasted oat flour, which gives it a warm, nutty flavor that’s really good with pumpkin. And the filling uses a cup of my homemade pumpkin butter instead of plain canned pumpkin, so it tastes deeper and more spiced.

I first made this cake to use up a jar of my pumpkin butter, and it came out so good that it’s now my go-to fall dessert. It shows up whenever family and friends get together this time of year, and it has a permanent spot on our Thanksgiving dessert table.

What is pumpkin gooey butter cake?

Gooey butter cake comes from St. Louis, where it’s been a bakery classic since the 1930s. The story goes that a baker mixed up the amounts in a cake recipe, and the result was so good they kept selling it. It’s a flat cake with two layers: a dense, buttery base and a sweet, soft top made with cream cheese, eggs and powdered sugar.

The pumpkin version adds pumpkin and fall spices to that top layer. It ends up somewhere between a cake bar and pumpkin cheesecake. Some people call it pumpkin ooey gooey butter cake, and you’ll see it cut into small squares as pumpkin gooey butter cake bars, too. Same thing!

The “gooey” part matters. The center is supposed to stay soft and custardy, not firm like a regular cake. More on how to get that right below.

Why pumpkin butter instead of pumpkin puree?

Pumpkin butter is pumpkin puree that’s already been cooked down with brown sugar, maple syrup and spices. That gives the cake a few advantages.

The flavor is stronger. Cooking off the water concentrates the pumpkin, so 1 cup of pumpkin butter tastes like a lot more than 1 cup of puree. The brown sugar also adds a little caramel note you don’t get from the can.

The filling is less watery. Plain puree carries a lot of moisture, which is one reason pumpkin gooey butter cake can stay soupy in the middle. Pumpkin butter is thick, so the filling sets more evenly.

And you need less sugar. Many recipes use up to 3 cups of powdered sugar in the filling. Because the pumpkin butter is already sweet and spiced, this one uses 2 cups and only a little extra cinnamon.

No pumpkin butter on hand? You can still make it with canned puree. The swap is in the variations section.

Recipe ingredients

For the cake layer:

• Rolled oats: Old-fashioned rolled oats, labeled certified gluten-free. Regular oats are often grown and processed next to wheat, so they pick up gluten along the way. You’ll toast and blend them into flour (next section).
• Sugar, baking powder and salt: Plain granulated sugar. The baking powder gives the base a little lift so it’s cakey, not like a cookie.
• Butter: Melted, for the base.
• Egg: One large egg holds the oat flour together. Oat flour has no gluten to do that job, so don’t skip it.
• Vanilla.

For the pumpkin filling:

• Cream cheese: Full-fat, from the brick, not the tub. Tub cream cheese is softer and has more water, and the filling won’t set the same way.
• Butter: Softened. It should dent easily when you press it.
• Pumpkin butter: 1 cup of homemade pumpkin butter, cooked to the thicker side. Store-bought works too, but taste it first. Some jars are much sweeter than homemade.
• Eggs: Three, at room temperature. Cold eggs make the cream cheese seize into little lumps.
• Powdered sugar: This is what makes the top soft and gooey instead of fluffy.
• Cinnamon: Just 1/2 teaspoon, since the pumpkin butter already brings the spice.

How to make toasted oat flour

This step only adds about 15 minutes, and it’s what gives the base its flavor.

1. Spread 2 1/2 cups (225 g) of rolled oats on a sheet pan and toast them at 350°F for 5 minutes. They should smell nutty and look just barely golden at the edges.
2. Let them cool completely, about 10 minutes. Warm oats tend to clump and turn pasty in the blender.
3. Blend for 30 to 60 seconds, until it’s a fine, soft powder. Stop as soon as it gets there, because blending too long makes it clump.
4. Weigh out 200 g. If you don’t have a scale, spoon it into the cup and level it off (about 2 cups). Don’t scoop with the cup, since that packs it down and you’ll end up with too much.

Why toast at all? Raw oat flour can taste a little grassy. Five minutes in the oven turns it warm and toasty, almost like graham crackers, and that goes really well with pumpkin.

You can also use store-bought oat flour. Just make sure it’s certified gluten-free and use the same 200 g.

One honest note for celiac readers: the Celiac Disease Foundation says most people with celiac disease can eat certified gluten-free oats in moderate amounts, but a small number still react to them. If you haven’t eaten oats since your diagnosis, check with your doctor first. Or use the 1-to-1 flour swap in the variations section.

How to make pumpkin gooey butter cake

This is an easy pumpkin gooey butter cake to make, and the full steps are in the recipe card. Here are the parts that matter most.

Make the base. Whisk the oat flour with the sugar, baking powder and salt, then stir in the melted butter, egg and vanilla. It’ll look like thick, soft cookie dough. Press it into a greased, parchment-lined 9×13-inch pan in an even layer, pushing it about 1/4 inch up the sides. That little rim keeps the filling from running underneath. Damp fingers or the bottom of a measuring cup make this easier.

Beat the cream cheese and butter first. Beat them alone for about 2 minutes, until completely smooth, and scrape the bowl twice. This is the step that decides whether your filling is silky or lumpy. Once the eggs go in, any lumps of cream cheese are there to stay.

Then add everything else on low speed. Pumpkin butter, then the eggs one at a time, then vanilla, cinnamon and powdered sugar. Mix just until smooth. Beating on high whips in air, and the top puffs up in the oven and sinks hard as it cools.

Pour and bake. Spread the filling over the base and bake at 350°F for 40 to 50 minutes. Start checking at 35.

How do you know your pumpkin gooey butter cake is done? The edges are golden and pulling away a little from the pan. The top looks set and lightly browned in spots. And when you gently shake the pan, the middle 3 to 4 inches still jiggles, like set Jell-O, not like liquid. That jiggle is the gooey center! It firms up as it cools and chills.

Let it cool on a rack for 1 hour, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cutting. I know, it’s hard to wait. But warm gooey butter cake doesn’t cut into clean squares. It just slumps.

Tips and troubleshooting

The middle is still runny after chilling. It came out of the oven a few minutes early. Next time, bake until only the center jiggles and the rest of the top looks set. This batch is still delicious, though. Serve it in bowls with a spoon and call it pumpkin pudding cake!

The filling has little white lumps. That’s cream cheese that was too cold, or eggs that went in before it was smooth. Leave the cream cheese and butter on the counter for about an hour first. You can also soften the cream cheese in the microwave in 10-second bursts.

The edges are getting too dark. Dark metal and glass pans both brown the edges faster. Lay a piece of foil loosely over the pan for the last 10 minutes, or use a light-colored metal pan next time.

The center sank. A little dip is normal for gooey butter cake, and powdered sugar hides it. A deep crater usually means the filling was beaten on high speed, so mix on low next time.

The top cracked. Also normal! It’s part of the look. Another dusting of powdered sugar and nobody will notice.

The base is dry or crumbly. Usually too much oat flour from scooping with the cup. Weighing the flour (200 g) fixes this.

For clean squares of pumpkin gooey butter cake, lift the whole cake out by the parchment and cut it cold. Wipe the knife between cuts, or dip it in hot water and dry it.

Pumpkin gooey butter cake without cake mix

If you’ve made Paula Deen’s pumpkin gooey butter cake, you know the classic way: a box of yellow cake mix, an egg and melted butter pressed into the pan for the bottom layer. It’s easy, and it’s what a lot of people grew up with. But boxed cake mix is made with wheat flour, so it’s off the table for anyone gluten-free.

Making the base from scratch takes about 5 extra minutes of mixing (plus the oat toasting). In return, you get a few things. It’s gluten-free, it’s not as sweet as a mix, and the toasted oats give the bottom layer real flavor instead of just sugar and vanilla.

Compared to Paula Deen’s pumpkin gooey butter cake, the filling here is very similar, just with pumpkin butter and less powdered sugar. So if you love the original, this will taste familiar, only a little deeper and more spiced.

Variations and toppings

With canned pumpkin puree: This pumpkin gooey butter cake recipe works with plain canned pumpkin too. Use 1 can (15 ounces) of pumpkin puree instead of the pumpkin butter. Since puree isn’t sweetened or spiced, raise the powdered sugar to 3 cups (360 g) and swap the cinnamon for 1 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. The filling is wetter, so it may need up to 55 minutes.

With 1-to-1 gluten-free flour: Use 200 g (about 1 1/2 cups) of a 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend that contains xanthan gum in place of the oat flour. Everything else stays the same. The base will be a little lighter in color and flavor.

With a gluten-free cake mix: For the shortcut version, mix one box of gluten-free yellow cake mix with 1 egg and 1/2 cup melted butter, and press it into the pan. Gluten-free boxes come in different sizes, so the base may be thinner or thicker than mine.

Pumpkin spice base: Add 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice to the oat flour mixture.

Pecan topping: Scatter 1/2 cup of chopped pecans over the filling right before it goes in the oven.

Maple whipped cream: Whip 1 cup of cold heavy cream with 2 tablespoons of maple syrup until it holds soft peaks. Add a spoonful to each square instead of (or along with) the powdered sugar.

How to store pumpkin gooey butter cake

In the fridge: Covered tightly, it keeps for up to 5 days. It does need to be refrigerated, because the filling is made with cream cheese and eggs. Don’t leave it out at room temperature for more than 2 hours, which is the USDA’s 2-hour rule for perishable food.

Make ahead: Pumpkin gooey butter cake is a great make-ahead dessert for Thanksgiving. Bake it the day before and chill it overnight. It’s even better that way, since the filling has time to fully set and the flavors settle in. Dust with powdered sugar right before serving. If you do it earlier, the sugar soaks into the moist top and disappears.

In the freezer: Cut the chilled cake into squares, wrap each one in plastic wrap, and freeze in a container for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then dust with fresh powdered sugar.

Serve it cold or let it sit out for 20 minutes first. You can also warm a square in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds. Warm pumpkin ooey gooey butter cake gets extra soft and messy, but some people love it that way.

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake FAQ

More fall baking

If you still need the pumpkin butter, start with my homemade pumpkin butter recipe. Looking for more Thanksgiving desserts? Try my gluten-free cheesecake, a gluten-free pie crust for pumpkin pie, or browse all my gluten-free cake recipes.

If you bake this pumpkin gooey butter cake, I’d love to hear how it went. Leave a rating in the recipe card, and tell me in the comments which topping you picked.

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

A from-scratch gluten-free gooey butter cake with a toasted oat flour base and a soft, creamy pumpkin butter filling.