This copycat Trader Joe’s pumpkin spice mini sheet cake recipe features a moist pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. The cake is an easy one-bowl recipe and can be baked in under 30 minutes!
After conducting the pumpkin muffin bake off, I had plans to develop a recipe for my ideal pumpkin muffin (similar to developing my dream pumpkin bread recipe).
But instead, I couldn’t stop thinking about the Trader Joe’s pumpkin spice mini sheet cake that I had recently tried for an assignment. The little tray of cake was so simple yet PERFECT. With a tight yet tender crumb, the cake is topped with a satisfyingly thick swoop of tangy cream cheese frosting that perfectly offsets the not-too-sweet, lightly spiced cake.
I felt confident I could adapt one of the nine pumpkin muffins recipes to be a close copycat recipe. And after a few tests, I think we nailed it!
How I tweaked the original recipe
For the starting baseline, I was torn between two of my favorite pumpkin muffin recipes in the bake off. Lovely Little Kitchen is an easy oil-based recipe that I thought would be quite similar to the Trader Joe’s cake. However, Joy the Baker (with a mix of brown butter and oil) had a slightly tighter crumb that I thought might be a bit closer to the Trader Joe’s cake texture.
Ultimately, the Trader Joe’s cake ingredient list shows just canola oil, so I went with Lovely Little Kitchen to be truer to the original recipe (and also for the ease–no browning butter required!). From there, I just made a few small tweaks:
- 8×8 pan: The most important change was to swap the muffin tin for an 8×8 pan to mimic the sheet cake shape. I also tried this in an eighth sheet pan which will also work, but the cake will be much thinner than the original. A half batch of the original muffin recipe works perfectly in an 8×8 pan.
- Vegetable oil: The original recipe calls for coconut oil. For simplicity, I call for vegetable oil (which I use interchangeably with canola oil or any other neutral oil like grapeseed, avocado, etc.)
- Light brown sugar: Julie uses a mix of granulated and dark brown sugar. I used light brown sugar to more closely mimic the bright orange hue of the Trader Joe’s mini sheet cake.
- More leavener: Borrowing from Joy the Baker’s recipe, I added 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder to help with a taller lift.
- Updated the spices: Per the ingredient list for the Trader Joe’s sheet cake, their recipe includes cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. So I increased the amount of nutmeg slightly and added ginger.
- Cream cheese frosting: My typical cream cheese frosting uses a 1:1 ratio of cream cheese to butter. However, the Trader Joe’s frosting is extremely tangy, so I used a slightly higher ratio of cream cheese in this frosting. And there is plenty of powdered sugar, which leads to a frosting that crusts over slightly (you can probably reduce it by 1/4-1/2 cup if you want it less sweet–taste and adjust!).
Recipe ingredients
- Granulated sugar and light brown sugar: I used a mix of these to give a lighter color to better mimic the very orange hue of the Trader Joe’s cake. Dark brown sugar can also work–it’ll just make your cake slightly darker.
- Vegetable oil: Any neutral oil will work–canola, avocado, grapeseed, or even olive oil if you don’t mind a hint of olive oil in the cake. If you’re trying to avoid seed oils, you can try replacing this with melted butter but your cake may be a little more dry.
- Pumpkin puree: Libby’s pumpkin puree is my brand of choice, though I also use Trader Joe’s pumpkin puree in a pinch. Make sure to use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie mix. Double this recipe to use the entire can of pumpkin!
- Cream cheese: I always prefer using full-fat cream cheese, preferably Philadelphia. For the frosting, I usually soften the butter for 10-15 minutes at room temperature, but use cream cheese straight from the fridge. I find using cold cream cheese helps prevent overbeating the cream cheese and causing it to split.
How to make this pumpkin spice mini sheet cake
This pumpkin sheet cake is easy to make in just one bowl. Once I have all the ingredients out, it usually takes me 10 minutes or less to mix everything. Bake for 20-25 minutes and while the cake is cooling, you can get started on the cream cheese frosting.
Make sure the cake is cooled completely before frosting!
Step 1: Whisk together the sugars, oil, pumpkin puree, egg and vanilla.
Step 2: Whisk in the leaveners and spices.
Step 3: Fold in the flour.
Step 4: Spread evenly in a greased 8×8 pan and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
Step 5: Cream together the slightly softened butter and cold cream cheese. Add the powdered sugar, cream, vanilla and salt and beat for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Step 6: Frost the cake and use an offset spatula to trace lines across the top to mimic the original sheet cake. Enjoy!
Storage
This cake can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Looking for more fall baking inspiration?
Pumpkin Spice Sheet Cake (Trader Joe’s copycat)
This copycat Trader Joe’s pumpkin spice mini sheet cake is a lightly spiced, perfectly sweet pumpkin cake topped with cream cheese frosting for the perfect fall treat.
Servings 1 8×8 cake
Ingredients
For the pumpkin cake
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 100g
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar 53g
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil 60g
- 7.5 oz pumpkin puree (1/2 a 15oz can) 213g
- 1 large egg 50g
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- pinch cloves
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour 105g
Cream cheese frosting
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened slightly 57g
- 6 tbsp full-fat cream cheese (can be cold from the fridge) 85g (3 oz)
- 2 cups powdered sugar 227g
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp heavy cream or milk, optional
Instructions
For the pumpkin cake
-
Preheat the oven to 350 and grease an 8×8 pan with cooking spray.
-
In a large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 7.5 oz pumpkin puree, 1 large egg and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract until smooth.
-
Sprinkle 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp ground ginger over the pumpkin mixture and whisk to combine thoroughly. Finally, fold in 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour until fully combined (don’t overmix to prevent overdeveloping the gluten–a few lumps are normal and okay!).
-
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Place on the middle rack and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the top springs back under your finger and an inserted tester comes out clean. Let cool in the pan completely before frosting.
For the cream cheese frosting
Notes
You can sub 1.5 teaspoons of pumpkin spice in place of the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.
Did you try this recipe?
Leave a star rating ⭐️ below to help others discover this recipe!
