This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure for details.
Hi Bold Bakers!
My Crock-Pot Pumpkin Cobbler is such an incredible (and incredibly easy!) fall dessert. I love letting my slow cooker do its magic — it’s a super hands-off recipe and fills my home with the most beautiful scent!
After under two hours in the slow cooker, this recipe becomes a warm, spiced pumpkin cake, with an out-of-this-world layer of gooey pumpkin sauce at the bottom. It reminds me a lot of a traditional English steamed pudding! And since I’m from Ireland and a huge sucker for a good steamed pudding, you can probably tell how much I adore this recipe! You can try some of my other steamed puddings like Steamed Marmalade Pudding and Steamed Treacle Pudding, too.
This homemade pumpkin cobbler is also egg-free! You can even make it “gadget-free” by using your oven. Check out my tips below to learn how to make this without a slow cooker!
What Is Pumpkin Cobbler?
Pumpkin cobbler is a cake-like dessert made with pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice. Basically, it tastes like a perfect pumpkin pie, with a lot less work! If you’re obsessed with pumpkin-flavored everything, you must try this lovely cake.
What You Need To Make Pumpkin Cobbler
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Slow cooker or oven
How To Make Slow Cooker Pumpkin Cobbler
Making a slow cooker pumpkin cobbler is incredibly easy, but please follow one important step — do NOT stir the boiling water and sugar mixture into the batter! Here is how you make it (don’t forget to print the full recipe below):
- Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, pie spice, and salt in a medium bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients and pour them into the bowl of the slow cooker.
- To make the topping, mix together both sugars and the boiling water. Stir until the sugars are dissolved.
- Very carefully and slowly pour the boiling water over the batter, so it sits on top. DO NOT STIR IT IN! This will travel down on its own through the cake, making sure it stays super moist and flavorful and will become your gooey bottom.
- Place the bowl into your slow cooker and turn the heat to high. Cook for about 1 1/2 hours until the center is set. Every slow cooker is different, so be sure to check on your cobbler every 30 minutes.
- Allow cooling for 10-15 minutes before serving!
Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips For Making Pumpkin Cobbler
- Fight the temptation! Do NOT stir the boiling water and sugar mixture into the batter! As stated above, this will travel down into the cake, making it super moist, and become your sticky bottom.
- If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can make this pumpkin cobbler in the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Mix the batter, place it into an 8-inch (20cm) casserole dish, sprinkle with the sugars, and pour on the hot water. Bake for about 40 minutes until the middle is set.
- Serve warm with a good scoop of vanilla ice cream!
- Make you own pumpkin pie spice.
- Don’t have pumpkin puree? Make your own pumpkin puree!
How Do I Store Pumpkin Cobbler?
You can store any leftover pumpkin cobbler in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can rewarm it in the microwave (about a minute) or in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 15 minutes before serving!
Make More Cobbler:
And don’t forget to buy my Bigger Bolder Baking Cookbook!
Full (and printable) recipe below!
Crock-Pot Pumpkin Cobbler Recipe
Ingredients
Cobbler
- 1 ¼ cups (6 ¼oz/177g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (6oz/170g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (4oz/115g) pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup (2floz/57ml) milk
- 4 tablespoons (2oz/57g) butter melted
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Topping
- ½ cup (4oz/115g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (4½oz/128g) brown sugar
- 1 ½ cups (12floz/340ml) boiling water
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, pie spice and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients and pour them into the bowl of a slow cooker.
- For the topping: mix together both sugars and the boiling water. Stir until dissolved.
- Carefully, pour the boiling water over the batter so it sits on the top. DO NOT STIR IT IN!
- Cook on HIGH for roughly 1 ½ hour, until the center, is set. Every slow-cooker is different so check on your cobbler every 30 minutes.
- Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. This is best served warm with vanilla ice cream.
- Store and leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Rewarm in the microwave for a minute or in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 15 minutes before serving.
Amazing! I tweaked it a little, of course. I added pecans, shorted the brown sugar by 1/4 cup in the topping, also added a touch of maple syrup. After cooking, I sprinkled with Maldon salt flakes. Perfection!!! Made a batch last night and a 2nd for my son and his flatmates this morning.
Another delicious recipe!
I’ve made a few different pumpkin desserts from other various authors and they all were bland/no spice. This Pumpkin Cobbler is the exact opposite. The cobbler is everything fall: lots of warm spice, pumpkin, and cakey pudding goodness. The flavors warm my heart. Yum!
Gemma’s recipes never dissapoint!
A tip for anyone that is worried about pouring the water/sugar mixture in too hard. Get a large spoon and turn it upside down. Pour the boiling water into the pot over the spoon. It will make the water more gently and won’t mix in with the rest of the batter.
Gemma, I made this for Thanksgiving yesterday and it came out beautifully! My family loved it. Do you have recipes for any other crock pot cakes? I loved the ease that this went together and then plug it in and go on to other preparations for the meal.
I made this yesterday and it is so easy and delicious! My life hostage asked if I could make a chocolate version. I said, “Ummmm, it’s pumpkin ????”
Thank you for the great recipe, Gemma.
Amazing! I had a butternut squash on the counter so I roasted it and made my purée with that. I used about half the sugar because I’m not fond of super sweet desserts and it was plenty sweet. I was worried I wouldn’t get the same pudding effect using so little sugar but it was like caramel oozing at the bottom. Simply delicious! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Hi Gemma! This sounds delicious. Could honey be substituted for the sugar? If it can, would it be the same ratio?
Did you spray the slow cooker first?
Do you put a bowl in the bottom of the slow cooker to cook it? Step 3 sounds like it??
Can this be made with sweet potatoes purée instead?