Classic Amish Pumpkin Crunch

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Man, this Classic Amish Pumpkin Crunch is a good recipe. Gloria included it in her column once, but I decided it sounded too good to use without making it and posting photos. Pumpkin desserts are all the rage this time of year, so this is a nice twist on the usual.

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• 🙋 FAQ
• 🎃 Classic Amish Pumpkin Crunch
• 📋 Instructions
• 🥮 More Amish Recipes With Cake Mix
• 🖨️ Full Recipe

Pumpkin is a prized end-of-garden delight on most Amish farmsteads. The sprawling vines and orange orbs of goodness signal that the end of garden season is approaching and what better way to showcase that than with fun, festive pumpkins?

🙋 FAQ

Pumpkin can be home-canned, used in crunches, spreads, breads, pies, and, in this case, crunches. Delicious, delicious crunches! Bunches of crunches!

I love driving by Amish farms this time of year and watching the pumpkin harvest. It's a whole-family affair with the adults and teenagers heaving the heavy pumpkins from the field onto a wagon, usually. And the younger kids will help pack them into boxes as the horse pulls everything along. I've seen it many times and it never gets old.

For the rest of us, here is how the Illinois Agricultural Extension agency recommends harvesting pumpkins:

Pumpkins can be harvested whenever they are a deep, solid color (orange for most varieties) and the rind is hard. If vines remain healthy, harvest in late September or early October, before heavy frosts. If vines die prematurely from disease or other causes, harvest the mature fruit and store them in a moderately warm, dry place until Halloween. Cut pumpkins from the vines carefully, using pruning shears or a sharp knife and leave 3 to 4 inches of stem attached. Snapping the stems from the vines results in many broken or missing "handles." Pumpkins without stems usually do not keep well. Wear gloves when harvesting fruit because many varieties have sharp prickles on their stems.

Okay, now to this amazing recipe for Amish pumpkin crunch! Some people even call it Amish Pumpkin Crunch cake, because it does have qualities like a cake. This is one f my favorite pumpkin recipes!

Boxed cake mixes are found in Amish kitchens, but many Amish bakers just whip up their own. Classic Amish Pumpkin Crunch is a nice twist on traditional pumpkin pie if you are looking for something different to serve for Thanksgiving dessert. The ingredients are pretty basic.

Ah, this was two years ago, wow, how Beatrice has grown.

This is very much a pumpkin dump cake recipe, with just amazing flavor and, yeah, the top of the pumpkin mixture is my favorite because that is where you get that nutty crunch.  You could use pumpkin pie filling in this recipe. Pecans are the nut of choice, but there's no reason you couldn't use walnuts instead. You also could add one or two teaspoons pumpkin pie spice to this just to add a bit more flavor for the season. Some people also like to add perhaps half cup cream cheese to this just to make it firmer and prettier. I think it tastes fine as is but if you want a prettier dessert you can share on Pinterest, Instagram,or Facebook, add the cream cheese.

Gloria does not use, by the way, boxed cake mix, she just mixes up her own. It is a favorite in the Yoder household year-round using canned pumpkin!  Some people who make this recipe use a box of spice cake mix instead of yellow cake mix and that adds an amazing flavor of cloves, nutmeg, and more to the dessert.  So you if you like your flavors, you might want to consider that.  A little brown sugar on top would also be a nice addition.

This is definitely a dish to share, if you want to take it to an autumn potluck or gathering! Somehow I'd think a caramel sauce would be amazing on this too. Although if you are aiming for a low calorie count, forget that.

You can store leftovers in an airtight container or just cover the baking dish with plastic wrap tightly. But this is so delicious I doubt you'll have leftovers!

🎃 Classic Amish Pumpkin Crunch

• 2 cups pumpkin
• 1 ½ milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 ½ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 yellow cake mix
• ½ cup chopped pecans, opt
• ¾ cup butter, melted

📋 Instructions

1. Combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.
2. Pour into a greased 9 by 13 inch cake pan.
3. Sprinkle dry cake mix on pumpkin mixture.
4. Top with pecans then drizzle butter over all.
5. Bake at 350 until golden brown, around 50-60 minutes in the oven. You can cover with foil if it starts to get too done.
6. Eat warm with ice cream or cool and serve chilled with whipped topping,

🥮 More Amish Recipes With Cake Mix

Strawberry White Jello Cake

Homemade Twinkies

Cake Mix Cookies

Cherry Dump Cake

🖨️ Full Recipe