Mini Caramel Apple Dump Cakes Recipe

Fall is in the air, and you know what that means? Baking, and apples and pumpkin spice (oh my!)

We stayed close to home this past weekend, so I decided to take some time and bake something simple with the kids for dessert on Saturday. We married some of our favorite flavors of the season in these super simple {and super delicious} Mini Caramel Apple Dump Cakes.

Have you ever made a dump cake? It's so simple, my 9 year old could throw one together - and the results are always crowed pleasing. The crisp buttery rich tops of these Mini Caramel Apple Dump cakes, give-way to the delicious gooey caramel apple filling - just YUM!

I divided our Caramel Apple Dump Cake ingredients into 4 adorable 5" copper tart baking dishes, to make personal size Mini Caramel Apple Dump Cakes. However, if you don't have small baking dishes, you can easily combine all of the ingredients listed below, and make one large Caramel Apple Dump Cake. I served them up warm with a few scoops of vanilla ice cream - drizzled with some of the remaining caramel sauce. Everyone absolutely LOVED them.

Grab the recipe along with quick and simple instructions for making your own Mini Caramel Apple Dump Cakes, below

Recipe yields: Four 5" personal sized (or mini) Caramel Apple Dump Cakes or one 11 x 9

Prep Time: 10 minutes Bake Time: 45 Minutes at 375 F.

What you'll need:

four small 5"-6" baking dishes or one 9" x 13" baking dish
1 box of yellow cake mix (note: you can substitute with gluten free cake mix in this recipe - I used gluten free mix for my daughter in one of our mini caramel apple dump cakes - it turned out exactly the same / it was just as delicious!)
2 sticks of butter or Margarine (if you use margarine choose a brand that contains 80% or less vegetable oil - I used Land O' Lakes Margarine for the pictured dump cakes)
2 cans of apple pie filling
about 1/2 Cup Caramel Sauce (we used Caramel Sundae Syrup for the pictured dump cakes)
(optional) vanilla ice cream for serving

How to:

Start by preheating your oven to 375 F.
Next, grease the bottom of the baking dishes; or baking dish if you're making one large dump cake.
Divide the pie filling into your four baking dishes (or one baking dish).
Spoon about 3 tablespoons of caramel sauces over the apple pie mixture in each of the baking dishes (or spoon the entire 1/2 cup evenly over your mixture if you're making one large dump cake).
Next, divide the dry yellow cake mix equally into four parts and pour each part evenly over the top of your apple pie filling mixture in each of the baking dishes (or pour the entire box evenly over top of the pie filling in one baking dish if you're making one large dump cake).
Now, melt the two sticks of butter in a microwave safe container (for about 1 minute on high).
Once melted, pour about 1/2 stick of melted butter over each of your baking dishes (make sure to pour it evenly over top of the dry yellow cake mixture).
Place the baking dishes (or dish) in your preheated oven (375 F.) and bake for 45 minutes.
Remove the baking dishes (or dish) from the oven and allow 20 minutes to cool.

Serve warm & enjoy!

These Mini Caramel Apple Dump Cakes pair well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, drizzled with caramel sauce.