Pumpkin cobbler is a delicious and decadent fall dessert. Cake-like on top and sprinkled with crunchy pecans, it hides a sweet caramel sauce at the bottom!

This sweetly spiced, saucy pumpkin cobbler will quickly become your favorite fall dessert!

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Now that it’s fall, I want ALL of the pumpkin spice treats.  It may still be 80 degrees here in Tennessee, but I won’t let that stop me.

I actually went through a period of time when fall treats weren’t super appetizing for me.  For two of my three pregnancies, my first trimester fell during autumn, and I was sick as a dog for the majority of the season.  So even after those babies had been born, sometimes the ordinarily pleasant scents of pumpkin and chili and all the fall goodies would bring back memories of lots of not-so-pleasant times of my morning all-day sickness.

But now that I’ve had a few no-nausea fall seasons under my belt since then, I’m back on the pumpkin train.  Full force!

This pumpkin cobbler is an absolutely delicious way to celebrate falling leaves and cooler weather.  It’s an unusual kind of dessert, similar to a lava cake.  The top part of the cobbler is cake-like and topped with crunchy pecans.

But underneath all of that?  That’s where the goodness is hiding.  There’s a sweet caramel-like sauce at the bottom, which is perfectly delightful spooned over the cake.

And the flavor?  SO GOOD.  It’s full of warm spices that are balanced out by the sweetness of the caramel sauce, and it begs to be topped with vanilla ice cream.

Best of all, this pumpkin cobbler recipe is not something that takes a lot of skill or time to make! It’s similar to my delightful lemon cobbler recipe, only this is a fall version!

How to Make Amazing Pumpkin Cobbler:

It’s actually very simple to make this pumpkin cobbler, but there are some critical points that you won’t want to miss.  As you can see, my kids helped me make this.  So it’s definitely not hard to do!

First, you’ll combine some dry ingredients in a mixing bowl–the usual suspects of flour, baking powder, salt, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

Next, you’ll combine a handful of wet ingredients in another bowl–pumpkin puree, milk, melted butter, and vanilla.

Add the wet to the dry and you’ll get a fairly stiff batter.  Press that into a baking dish.

Next, prepare a topping of both white and brown sugars and pecans.  You’ll sprinkle that all over the top of the batter.

Here’s the important part: you’ll pour some very hot water over the top of everything, and just leave it like that.  DO NOT STIR!  I know it seems crazy, but it works.  The pecans will float to the top, but that’s totally fine!

Pop that bad boy into the oven to bake for about 40 minutes, and it will transform into a decadent dessert that will warm the hearts of all who eat it. 🙂

Notes and Tips for Making Pumpkin Cobbler:

• I used a ceramic deep dish pie pan to make my cobbler.  I would not recommend using a standard pie pan, because that wouldn’t allow enough room for the cake to rise.  While I haven’t tested it personally, I think the contents should fit into an 8×8″ baking dish if you don’t have a deep dish pie pan.  A casserole dish (maybe about 2-quart size?) would probably work as well.
• The spices are pretty prominent in this cobbler.  If you prefer yours to be more lightly spiced, you can tone it down by cutting the amount of cloves in half and decreasing the cinnamon a tad.  Feel free to adjust it to your preferences.
• Need this to be nut-free?  Skip the pecans!  I like the crunch they provide, but they certainly aren’t necessary.
• Serve this warm.  While it will keep for a few days, the amount of sauce on the bottom decreases over time as it absorbs into the cake.  So I recommend serving it shortly after it has baked.
• You can do some of the prep work ahead of time if needed, simply by combining your dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another and the topping in another, and assemble everything when you’re ready to bake it.