This Caramel Apple Dump Cake is a quick and easy shortcut dessert that tastes good enough to serve for company. Just six simple ingredients including apple pie filling, cinnamon, nutmeg, cake mix, and butter are dumped in a pan, baked and the results are amazing!
Caramel Apple Dump Cake
This Caramel Apple Dump Cake reminds me of fall when apples are harvested, but we like to make it all year long. It’s perfect for a summer picnic, family meal, potluck, and more. With just six ingredients and 10 minutes of prep time, you can enjoy this simple apple dessert anytime you want. This Dump Cake is a favorite and the caramel takes it to a whole other level of amazing.
What is a Dump Cake?
A ‘dump cake’ is a cake using ingredients that are literally dumped in a baking dish together. There is no mixing required, and no extra dirty dishes or mixing bowls have to be cleaned. Usually, fruit or canned fruit is used as the base. Top with a boxed cake mix and a wet ingredient like melted butter. Don’t miss these other great dump cake recipes: Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake | Easy Peach Dump Cake | Instant Pot Pina Colada Dump Cake
Ingredients You Will Need:
(the exact measurements and full recipe instructions are below in the easy to print recipe card):
- Apple pie filling – any apple pie filling brand will work or make our delicious homemade apple pie filling.
- Ground cinnamon – the extra cinnamon really makes the apple pie filling taste good!
- Ground nutmeg – some nutmeg adds a little hint of spice to the apples.
- Kraft caramels – unwrap the caramels and cut each in half
- Yellow cake mix – do not prepare the cake mix; leave it dry.
- Butter – cut the butter into ¼ inch thick pats. It’s best to use salted butter. Do not use margarine.
How to Make Caramel Apple Dump Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 13×9 glass dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together apple pie filling, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Pour the apple mixture into the prepared pan and smooth out evenly.
- Arrange the caramels over top of the apple filling.
- Evenly sprinkle the dry cake mix over the caramels.
- Place the pats of butter evenly over the top of the whole dessert.
- Bake the dump cake at 350F for 45 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the edges are bubbling. Cool slightly before serving.
What to Serve with Caramel Apple Dump Cake
- Vanilla ice cream
- Warm caramel sauce
- Ground cinnamon or cinnamon sugar
- Whipped cream
How to Store the Leftovers
Keep the leftover cake covered tightly with plastic wrap or transfer it to an airtight food storage container. Keep the cake at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to five days.
Tips and Tricks
- Additional spices can be added to the apple pie filling layer. A sprinkling of cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, or allspice, are all wonderful spices to stir in to ramp up the the flavor.
- Yellowcake mix is what we use in this recipe, however, white cake mix and spice cake mix are also great flavor options!
More Apple Cake Recipes You Will Love
- Cinnamon Apple Cake
- Apple Butter Cake
- Apple Cider Donut Cake
- Upside Down Apple Cake
- Layered Apple Spice Cake
Caramel Apple Dump Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cans (20 ounce) apple pie filling
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups Kraft caramels unwrapped and each cut in half
- 1 box dry yellow cake mix
- 1 cup butter cut into ¼ inch thick pats
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 13×9 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together apple pie filling, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour the apple mixture into the prepared pan and smooth out evenly.
- Arrange the caramels over top of the apple filling. Evenly sprinkle the dry cake mix over the caramels.
- Place the pats of butter evenly over the top of the whole dessert.
- Bake the dump cake at 350F for 45 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the edges are bubbling.
- Cool slightly before serving.
Last Step:
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115 comments on “Caramel Apple Dump Cake”
Made this today and oh my is it ever good!!!
Hi. Excited to try this, sounds great.
Can I double this recipe? If so, should I still use 9 x 13 pan? How does that effect time to bake?
Thanks
Hi Lorri. Yes, you can double the recipe, but I would use two 9 x 13’s for the best results.
Is it 2 cans of apple pie filling 20oz each?
Hi Shaylene. Yes, each can is 20 oz.
This easy dump cake turns out great. I replaced the Kraft Caramel Chews with Caramel Baking Chips. The ladies in my game night group loved it!
So easy and taste great!
Looks yummy but can you cut this recipe in half? Maybe for 8 x 8 pan? Use a Jiffy mix maybe?
Hi Bobbie. Yes, you could halve this recipe in an 8×8. I would recommend just splitting the cake mix and use the remainder the next time. All other ingredients will be halved.
Made this today. Total yumminess!!!!
Just made this, its fantastic! Will definitely make again!!
After dieting since July today I was craving something sweet. Found this recipe, knew i had canned apples but unsure about the cake mix. Knew for sure I didn’t have caramels though. So my panty pull was Angel Food cake mix, the two cans of apples, and a little bit of apple cider. Followed the directions but skipped the caramels and drizzled cider over the dry cake mix. Turned out delicious!! Thanks for the recipe even though I modified it somewhat.
Can I make this with plain canned apples.
Yes you could certainly do that.
If you take the Kraft caramels and mix with 3 tablespoons of heavy cream, heat in microwave for 60 seconds, it makes a wonderful caramel sauce that will not get hard when cool
Second thisss!!!,,,they also make the easy squeeze tubes now of it thatd prob work just as well if not better more control of the texture,,, but just wanted to agree to this!♡ happy holidays!
I made this last year and decided to go ahead and make for tomorrow, I hope it is good tomorrow as it was last year. Last year I found something called caramel melts that worked fabulously this year I had to settle for kraft caramels. I hope it is as good. We might be reheating it tomorrow if it is too chewy cool.
I saw those caramel melts. You like them better then the squares?? This is my first time making this. I bought the caramel squares.
It’s very sweet. The store I went to didn’t have regular caramels, just caramel nuggets (for lack of a better word), so the measurement may have been overkill. Still, it was very good, you just had to make sure the portions are small.
I’m making it again with no sugar added pie filling and about half of the caramel nuggets.
REALLY GOOD AND FAST TO MAKE..
SPECIALLY IF YOUR IN A HURRY TO
MAKE SOMETHING SWEET……
My husband loved it. I used no sugar added pie filling.
Where did you find the pie filling?
This sounds good but I’d like to know if the caramels harden again when it cools off. I’m thinking of taking it to a potluck and can’t keep it warm.
I used werthers soft caramel chews, and they did get quite chewy. I am making the next cake with caramel sauce instead.
I’ve made it servile times with camerals didn’t get hard but it didn’t last long
Sonder if you could add oatmeal as a way to make it similar to an apple crisp?
no you would not want to add oatmeal on top of cake mix.its a dump cake nota crisp
Delicious does not do this justice!! My family couldn’t get enough!! It’s also good with some vanilla ice cream. Highly highly recommend!!
Made this for a neighborhood party. Big hit. It’s much easier with caramel bits if you can find them in the baking aisle. No unwrapping and no cutting!
I have lots of apples from our new apple tree.. Can I use fresh apples instead of pie filling?
Tracy, yes you sure can!