Easy Cherry Cobbler Using Box Cake Mix Recipe (Dump Cake) (2024)

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by Amy @ Mom Spark on May 9, 2019//This post may contain affiliate links.

This is the easiest (only 3 ingredients) and yummiest cherry cobbler you will ever make! The cherries can be swapped out for any other fruit.

This is the easiest (only 3 ingredients) and yummiest cherry cobbler you will ever make!

I make this cherry cobbler when I’m asked to bring a dish to a party or event and the guests have no idea how little time it took me to make it. Shhhhhh…. it will be our little secret. 🙂

The cherries can be swapped out for any other fruit – peaches, blueberries, apples – and you can use a yellow or white cake mix, both will work. All you need is the ingredients below and a 9×13 baking dish!

The recipe below, enjoy! We’ve also put together a fun video of all the steps, too. Check it out below as well!

Easy Cherry Cobbler

Contents show

Yield: 1 9x13 dish

This is the easiest (only 3 ingredients) and yummiest cherry cobbler you will ever make! The cherries can be swapped out for any other fruit.

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5 from 1 vote

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Ingredients

2 cans 21 oz cherry pie filling-undrained
1 pkg. white or yellow cake mix
1 stick butter melted
1 c. nuts optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour cherries in bottom of 9x13 inch pan.
Sprinkle dry cake mix (usually around 3/4 of bag is enough) over cherries and do not stir.
Pour melted butter over cake mix; sprinkle nuts on top.(optional) Do not mix.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until set.

Video

Amy @ Mom Spark

Founder of Mom Spark – a lifestyle blog for moms.

posted in: Christmas, Food, Pies + Cobblers, Popular, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day

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88 Comments on “Easy Cherry Cobbler Using Box Cake Mix Recipe (Dump Cake)”

Tara Hobbs — August 4, 2008 @ 2:50 am Reply

Where did you find this recipe? My great-grandmother claimed this as her own. I have never seen it before, anywhere! We ABSOLUTELY love it!! We sprinkle cinnamon on top – yum yum!! I wish I had some now.
Amy — August 4, 2008 @ 2:54 am Reply

How funny! First I heard it from Nettie, then I did “the google” and found it everywhere. Isn’t it the best? Cinnamon, good idea!
Gena — August 5, 2008 @ 2:06 am Reply

You are quite the chef, Amy. That looks great.
Amy — August 5, 2008 @ 2:39 am Reply

Ha! A monkey could do this one! But thanks.=)
Nettie — August 5, 2008 @ 3:15 am Reply

It really is good – I wonder if it’s good with blueberries. You should try it and let me know. 🙂
Amy — August 5, 2008 @ 3:27 am Reply

I think it would be, peaches too!
Tara Hobbs — August 5, 2008 @ 1:39 pm Reply

I like to make it more with peaches. I am not big of cherries, but the peaches are extra juicy so it can be a little more runny. So make sure all the juice is gone or use fresh peaches.
kel — November 19, 2008 @ 1:13 pm Reply

I’m drooling… can I have mine with ice cream?
Amy {Mom Spark} — November 19, 2008 @ 5:53 pm Reply

You sure can and remember you could make this with any fruit you like. I really want to try blueberry.
Candy — September 15, 2010 @ 8:20 am Reply

My mama used to make this growing up too. We LOVED it! She made it with all sorts of fruit, including fruit she had canned herself, but my favorite has always been cherry.
YUM!
- Mom Spark — September 15, 2010 @ 8:43 am Reply
  
  @Candy, Awesome! There are so many other fruits you could try with this recipe!
- Rhonda — May 12, 2021 @ 10:55 am Reply
  
  My Mom made this with 1 can pie filling and 1 can drained (well) pineapple. It was delicious!!! My version is no pineapple but I sprinkle some mini chocolate chips over it along with the pecans.
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AutumH — September 15, 2010 @ 10:00 am Reply

You have just made my day. There is nothing that I love more than cherries and I have been trying to find a decent cobbler recipe forever, so thank you for sharing this one. I’m definitely going to break out my cooking hat and set too.
- Mom Spark — September 15, 2010 @ 10:07 am Reply
  
  @AutumH, You will be so surprised how easy it is, yet so tasty it is!
Pingback: Cherry Cobbler + Breyers Ice Cream = The Ultimate Sundae | Mom Spark™ - A Blog for Moms
Newmexicosam — March 6, 2011 @ 1:02 pm Reply

I really wanted an easy recipe. Thank you so much! I have all the ingredients, so I am going to prepare the recipe tonight.
- Mom Spark — March 6, 2011 @ 1:04 pm Reply
  
  @Newmexicosam, My pleasure! It’s super easy and sooooo yummy.
  - Newmexicosam — March 6, 2011 @ 1:27 pm Reply
    
    @Mom Spark, One question: How many ounces of cherries should I use?
    - Amy Bellgardt — March 7, 2011 @ 11:17 am
      
      @Newmexicosam, Did you add the melted butter?
Newmexicosam — March 7, 2011 @ 11:07 am Reply

I did something wrong. All we could taste was dry cake mix. I used two cans of cherries (21 oz ea.). What happened?
- Newmexicosam — March 7, 2011 @ 11:44 am Reply
  
  I added 1 stick of melted butter on the top of the cake mix.
  - Mom Spark — March 7, 2011 @ 11:46 am Reply
    
    @Newmexicosam, Weird! I have no idea what went wrong!
  - Mom Spark — January 21, 2012 @ 11:40 pm Reply
    
    Yes, same here!
Pingback: Easy cherry cobblers recipes
Megan — January 15, 2012 @ 7:13 pm Reply

I had no White cake mix but I did have Devils Food Cake Mix….so I made Chocolate Cherry Cobbler! With fresh whipped cream. SO GOOD!
- Mom Spark — January 16, 2012 @ 10:37 am Reply
  
  @Megan, Oh my, what a GREAT idea! Now I need to try that.
Curt — January 17, 2012 @ 10:20 am Reply

I really need to make this. I haven’t had a good cobbler since I left Texas. It’s just not very popular here in the midwest.
- Mom Spark — January 17, 2012 @ 10:22 am Reply
  
  @Curt, It is SO easy and yummy!
Angela — January 21, 2012 @ 1:24 am Reply

We make this type of cake all the time. We call it “Dump Cake” LOL! Pretty much just dump all the ingredients into the pan and bake until golden brown and bubbly. Our favorite way to make it is cherry pie filling and chunk pineapples with a pineapple cake mix, butter on top. Once fully cooked, top with whipped cream. YUM!!! I’ve also made a chocolate one with cherries. I’ve also made one with peaches frozen raspberries and strawberries with just a regular butter cake. There’s not been one that my family hasn’t loved! LOL. Gotta watch the chocolate ones though, they are harder to tell when they’re done. I actually burnt the edges on the first couple I made. 😛
- Mom Spark — January 21, 2012 @ 11:41 pm Reply
  
  I love that there is so many different ways to make this! Very inexpensive dessert as well. 🙂
Erika — January 21, 2012 @ 7:26 pm Reply

tried this tonight – big hit!!! we used chocolate cake and cherry filling… SOOO GOOD. thanks for the recipe!!
- Mom Spark — January 21, 2012 @ 11:41 pm Reply
  
  I keep hearing the chocolate cake is a great recipe as well, I need to try that! So glad you liked it. 🙂
Pam — January 25, 2012 @ 1:08 pm Reply

Best thing I have seen all day. Now I am hungry. And it looks pretty kid friendly as well.
Pam
- Mom Spark — January 27, 2012 @ 6:24 pm Reply
  
  @Pam, It is very kid friendly. Hope you like it!
Whitney at It's Gravy, Baby! — January 27, 2012 @ 6:17 pm Reply

I can’t believe it’s SO easy & it looks so good. I will have to try this, definitely! Thanks for sharing.
- Mom Spark — January 27, 2012 @ 6:24 pm Reply
  
  @Whitney at It’s Gravy, Baby!, Let me know if you do and how it turns out!
Wendy — May 11, 2013 @ 9:24 am Reply

Bought the ingredients last night. Added the can of cherry pie filling to a 9×13 pan and it didn’t cover the bottom! Scraped it all into an 11×7 and only added 1/2 the cake mix. Cooked and mix barely covered the cherries. It would be nice if you added container sizes to the ingredient list to help others.
- Amy — May 11, 2013 @ 12:25 pm Reply
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  That is strange! I always use a 9×13 pan, I wonder what size can of cherries you used, was it a small or standard size?
brandi — September 8, 2013 @ 5:10 pm Reply

My gran made this for us for at least 30 years and now that she’s gone I had no one to ask how it was done (which layer went where) so thanks a million for posting this. I’m off to whip up a peach batch now!!
- Mom Spark — September 10, 2013 @ 10:08 am Reply
  
  Fabulous! So happy to help!
Liz Gage — January 10, 2014 @ 11:05 am Reply

Hi Amy, was searching the internet for this recipe. So glad I found you.
I am doing a dinner for 500. Do you have a clue how many you serve
with just one recipe? About 10 maybe? Thanks
- Amy — January 10, 2014 @ 2:20 pm Reply
  
  I would say 10 is a very safe number for one recipe. Good luck with your event!
Sharon — July 4, 2014 @ 2:51 pm Reply

Well geeeee! Mine turned out lousy. The nuts were burning and I still had 10 minutes left. I think 400 might have been too hot. Also I can see that a lot of the cake mix is still powder. What size can of pie filling? I used 21 oz and was barely able to spread it out to a thin layer. Once it cools I will try to pick off all the bitter, black, burnt nuts. I hope nobody notices who brought this stuff to the party! I made this years ago, but couldn’t find the recipe, so checked a few websites. The butter ranged from 1 to 2 sticks. I think some people don’t know a stick from a cup!
Sherry Ehrhardt — July 8, 2014 @ 7:37 pm Reply

I have used this recipe for years only I used rhubarb. We love it!!!!
- Mom Spark — July 28, 2014 @ 12:30 pm Reply
  
  Oh yum, great idea to use rhubarb!
Sonya — July 25, 2014 @ 2:13 pm Reply

Was wondering if a round, deeper Corningware dish would work for this.
- Mom Spark — July 28, 2014 @ 12:30 pm Reply
  
  You can certainly try, though you may try less cake mix so that you don’t end up with a thick crust on top.
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Trish — June 12, 2015 @ 12:27 pm Reply

Are you using an entire box of cake mix, I have been working on making a pineapple cobbler like this, I just haven’t gotten the right amounts just yet, I always seem to not put enough cake mix and it turns to mush so I have to keep adding cake mix, it should have a nice crust on top and not mush, also do you melt your butter and just pour it around on top or do you put little slices of the butter around
- Mom Spark — June 14, 2015 @ 11:42 am Reply
  
  Enter box, yes. 🙂
- Mom Spark — June 14, 2015 @ 11:43 am Reply
  
  I pour the melted butter all along the top.
travel coffee mugs — September 27, 2015 @ 2:18 pm Reply

Good info. Lucky me I ran across your site by chance (stumbleupon). I have saved it for later!|
- Mom Spark — September 28, 2015 @ 6:21 pm Reply
  
  Yay!
Christina — October 15, 2015 @ 4:44 pm Reply

Hey Amy
Do you use the whole box of cake mix?
- Mom Spark — October 16, 2015 @ 3:46 pm Reply
  
  I used most of it, but had a bit left over once the cherries were covered.
Tatyana Gordon — December 24, 2015 @ 3:56 pm Reply

Going to make this now, but some of the comments really made me rethink your recipe. I’m using two sticks of butter, cut into slices. That is the only thing I’m changing. I’ll let you know how it turns out. The oven is still preheating.
Tatyana Gordon — December 24, 2015 @ 6:57 pm Reply

Okay, too much butter. Too much cherries. Not enough cake mix. I’m going to try again tomorrow. Tweaks are needed lol. How any oz was the cherries and the box mix?
Tatyana Gordon — December 24, 2015 @ 8:08 pm Reply

Spoke too soon. Perfect amount of butter, but I should not have added any sugar. And maybe spread the cake mix out a bit better. Breaking it up before putting it in the dish. Too sweet to eat. My family absolutely refuse to try it. I got the youngest to try it, she’s 7, and agrees it tastes great, but it’s too sweet. Never give up. 🙂
Kris — March 13, 2016 @ 7:24 am Reply

Followed the directions exactly. This was WAY too sweet. I think next time I will use cake batter on top instead of the dry mix.
Jennifer — March 28, 2016 @ 3:33 pm Reply

My supervisor loves anything cherry, so I wanted to try this out and make her one for her birthday. Would have been nice if in the directions it clarified to not actually use the WHOLE bag of cake mix. I read this in the comments AFTER i had already put this in the oven and I thought to myself “this doesn’t look right”. Well I took out scraped off some of the excess cake mix, but when that wasn’t going to work I just drizzled some water over the dry areas and spread it around. So I’m hoping this comes out okay, smh, clarified directions are appreciated when it comes to recipes.
- Mom Spark — March 28, 2016 @ 3:46 pm Reply
  
  Some readers have success with the entire bag of mix, but I will edit the recipe card to reflect that 3/4 of the bag may be enough. Thanks for your feedback! You can also add more melted butter to any dry areas, too.
Louise Smith — January 14, 2017 @ 2:53 pm Reply

I’ve been making this recipe for over 30 years. Use a 9×13 pan. Do not use cake mix with pudding. Drizzle all the butter. If you have some dry spots it will be OK. Do not add water. Do not mix. Bake until golden brown. I often add a 15 oz can of well drained crushed pineapple over cherries. I use chopped pecans on the top I usually get the cake mix from Dollar Tree. Trust the recipe
Granny LINDA — February 11, 2017 @ 1:31 am Reply

Could you use other canned filling( apple,blueberry,etc.) ?
- Mom Spark — February 12, 2017 @ 3:30 pm Reply
  
  Absolutely!
Granny LINDA — February 11, 2017 @ 1:31 am Reply

Could you use other canned filling( apple,blueberry,etc.) ?
Bobbie Jo — March 31, 2017 @ 1:38 pm Reply

I do this all the time. Quick and easy. I like to sprinkle instant oats on the top, as well. It gives it a nice texture.
- Mom Spark — March 31, 2017 @ 1:53 pm Reply
  
  Oats are such a great idea. Thanks for the suggestion!
Kate Newell — April 15, 2017 @ 2:46 pm Reply

Are used to make this dessert all the time probably like 25 years ago my kids lovedit. I don’t know why I stopped doing it cuz it’s absolutely delicious. I used to keep a box of cake mix and a can of pie filling in the cupboard to make this for unexpected guests
- Mom Spark — April 17, 2017 @ 9:04 am Reply
  
  It is such a great recipe to whip up quickly!
Stephanie Avalos — May 27, 2017 @ 7:36 pm Reply

Can i use strawberry cake mix?
- Mom Spark — May 27, 2017 @ 8:15 pm Reply
  
  That shouldn’t be a problem!
Kelly — June 11, 2017 @ 11:54 am Reply

I decided to change this recipe up a bit. I replaced Cherry pie fillings with apple, the cake mix with a spiced cake mix and added raisins and crushed pecans.
- Mom Spark — June 11, 2017 @ 12:32 pm Reply
  
  That is so smart! I’ll have to try that next. Thanks so much for sharing!
Sue — January 14, 2018 @ 4:12 pm Reply

I add a splash of almond extract to the cherry pie filling and mix before dumping in the dish. Yummy!!
Robbin — March 23, 2018 @ 1:44 pm Reply

Also really good with chocolate cake mix
- Mom Spark — March 26, 2018 @ 9:21 am Reply
  
  Great idea!
Terri — May 7, 2018 @ 12:11 am Reply

I made this and it was delicious! I used ingredients from Trader Joe’s: their yellow cake mix (all of it) & their Morello cherries in a jar (& of course butter). I pulled it about 20 minutes into the cooking time and stirred anything unhydrated. Thanks for a great recipe!
- Mom Spark — May 8, 2018 @ 7:03 am Reply
  
  I love that you used Trader Joe’s ingredients – I’ll have to try that next!
Luby — March 20, 2019 @ 9:25 pm Reply

Can you put instant choclate pudding in place of the cherrys
- Mom Spark — March 22, 2019 @ 7:01 pm Reply
  
  Hmmmm, I’m not sure that would work out for this recipe, but you could certainly try it!
Mary Privara — April 22, 2020 @ 8:42 pm Reply

I made this today and it was delicious. It was sweet but turned out pretty good. Have to say family loved it as its all gone but one piece. I’m gonna try Apple next I think!
- Mom Spark — April 27, 2020 @ 12:31 pm Reply
  
  Love hearing this!
Glenda Collins — March 19, 2021 @ 9:18 pm Reply

For those who are having a hard time with the cherries not covering the bottom, note that it calls for TWO 21 oz cans of pie filling, not one.
Jon — July 25, 2021 @ 12:20 am Reply

This is exactly what I was looking for.
Thank you
- Mom Spark — July 25, 2021 @ 1:59 pm Reply
  
  Awesome!
Betty welch — September 22, 2021 @ 6:25 pm Reply

I don’t think I made it right. It’s in oven. You should show pictures of the steps in making. I believe mine will be dumped in the trash. Horrible instructions. I’ve never made one before. Step by step pictures would of helped.
Sacha — January 23, 2022 @ 4:43 pm Reply

Turned out great! Used cherries, my fav
- Amy @ Mom Spark — February 6, 2022 @ 8:59 am Reply
  
  I’m so happy you liked it!