3-Ingredient Apple Dump Cake

While nothing says fall better than a slice of warm apple pie, three-ingredient apple dump cake dishes up the same warm fall flavors with a fraction of the work. Layer — or, rather, dump — canned apple pie filling, box cake mix, and thinly sliced butter in a baking dish and bake. Then, dig into the crisp, golden crust and warm cinnamon-spiced apple filling. This simple dessert will be your fall go-to. 

Dump cakes and crumbles are both baked desserts with a bottom layer of fruit and a pastry topping. The topping is where these desserts diverge. 

• Crumbles are made with fresh fruit and a streusel topping of flour, sugar, butter, and sometimes baking powder. 
• Dump cakes are made by layering canned fruit pie filling, dry box cake mix, and butter.  

You can make this super-simple dessert with just three ingredients.

• Apple pie filling: Apple pie filling is one of the smartest shortcuts in the grocery store, with sliced apples, sweetener, spices, and a thickener in every can. Make sure to pick up two cans of apple pie filling for this dump cake. 
• Yellow or spice cake mix: Ignore the back of the box instructions. In this recipe, you sprinkle the dry cake mix over the apple filling.
• Unsalted butter: Cut unsalted butter into thin slices, rather than melting it, to completely cover the cake mix and avoid any dry pockets of cake mix. The pats of butter melt into the cake mix and give the topping a sweet, buttery crunch.

This recipe makes enough to serve six to eight people. Scoop servings of warm, cinnamony apple dump cake into bowls and top with vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream.

Cover the dump cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to three days (the top of the cake may soften upon storage).