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Berry Crisp Dump Cake is only 5 ingredients and made in just one pan! Frozen mixed berries topped with an easy cake mix, oatmeal, walnuts, and melted butter crisp. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream for a delicious and easy dessert recipe.
Dump cakes are the easiest dessert ever! For more be sure and try Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake, Blueberry Dump Cake, and Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake.
Easy Berry Crisp Dump Cake Recipe
This berry crisp dump cake is the best of both worlds. An easy dump cake recipe that you literally “dump” all the ingredients into a pan and bake it! It’s crazy delicious and you won’t believe how easy it is to make – and you can’t forget the vanilla bean ice cream for serving. It’s a must!
Frozen berries create a sweet berry sauce and they’re topped with a vanilla cake mix with oatmeal and walnuts mixed in. You get the soft & warm fruit with a crispy and sweet oatmeal crumble topping.
What Is A Dump Cake?
A dump cake is an easy dessert recipe that usually consists of frozen fruit, canned pie filling, or canned fruit along with a cake mix that get’s “dumped” over top + melted butter to form a crisp-like cobbler topping.
Dump cakes are one pan desserts that are known for very few ingredients, very little prep time needed, and an easy beginner recipe for anyone to make.
For another fruit dump try my Easy Peach Dump Cake or to cure that chocolate craving make my Chocolate Caramel Dump Cake.
One of the things that I don’t like about traditional dump cakes is that when you sprinkle the cake mix on top, and then drizzle the melted butter over the cake mix, you’ll still end up with dry pockets of cake mix after it’s baked. I knew there had to be a better way.
This recipe is a little different because you mix the dry cake mix with the melted butter, that way, it’s more evenly dispersed and instead of dry pockets of cake mix, you have a buttery crumble cake mix topping.
Only 5 Ingredients Needed
With the easy ingredient list, this berry dump cake can be made anytime, because all the ingredients are shelf-stable or easily frozen for months.
- Frozen Mixed Berries : These are frozen mixed berries that come with frozen blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries. No need to thaw them! Simply dump the frozen berries straight into the baking pan.
- French Vanilla Cake Mix : I have found that the French vanilla, or vanilla cake mix, tastes the best. I always use French vanilla when I make it.
- Old-Fashioned Oats : The whole old-fashioned oats provide more texture but quick oats can also be used with great results. In this recipe, the oats are perfectly interchangeable.
- Chopped Walnuts : Omit the walnuts if there is an allergy, or use something else such as pecans or almonds.
- Butter : I prefer using salted butter but unsalted butter can also be used if that’s your preference for baking.
How To Make Berry Crisp Dump Cake
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.
Dump the frozen berries (do not thaw them) into the bottom of the pan and spread them out evenly.
In a mixing bowl, combine the dry cake mix, oats, walnuts, and melted butter until well combined and thick crumbles form. Sprinkle it evenly over the frozen berries in the pan.
Cook for 50-55 minutes. The topping should be golden brown and the berries will be bubbling and “saucy”.
Serve the berry crisp dump cake warm with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.
How To Store Leftovers
This recipe is best served right away but if you have leftovers, store them covered with a lid or plastic wrap, in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can transfer the leftover dump cake into an airtight container or leave it inside the pan and cover the pan.
I recommend heating up individual servings of the leftovers in the microwave when eating them from the fridge.
Dump Cake Recipe FAQ’s
Should I Use Salted Butter or Unsalted Butter?
I recommend using salted butter for the best results. It adds more flavor and helps to balance out the sweetness from the cake mix. However, if you prefer using unsalted butter, or want to reduce the salt amount, then using unsalted butter works just as well.
What Cake Mix Is Best To Use?
After making this recipe for years, I can safely say that the French vanilla cake mix tastes the best. But you could also use vanilla cake mix, white cake mix, golden yellow cake mix, butter yellow cake mix, or a regular yellow cake mix wanted.
Can I Use A Different Nut?
Yes! Feel free to use any nut you like such as pecans, almonds, macadamia nuts, etc. Alternatively, if you have any nut allergies then certainly just omit the nut entirely from the crumble cake mix topping.
More Fruit Crisp & Fruit Crumble Recipes You’ll Love
Berry Crisp Dump Cake
Ingredients
- 2 bags (12-15 oz each) frozen mixed berries
- 1 box (15.25 oz) french vanilla cake mix
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter melted
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350℉. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.
- Dump the frozen berries (do not thaw them) into the bottom of the pan and spread them out evenly.2 bags (12-15 oz each) frozen mixed berries
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the dry cake mix, oats, walnuts, and melted butter until well combined and thick crumbles form. Sprinkle it evenly over the frozen berries in the pan.1 box (15.25 oz) french vanilla cake mix, 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
- Cook for 50-55 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the berries are bubbling and "saucy" on the sides of the pan.
- Serve the berry crisp dump cake warm with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
I’d love to see it! You can share it with me on @togetherasfamilyblog and follow on Pinterest @together-as-family-blog-recipes or Facebook @togetherasfamilyblog for more!
These look wonderful. Love those juicy berries.
Yes. Those juicy berries are my favorite part!
Beautifully done!
Thanks so much Jennifer 🙂
Do I make the cake as directed on the box help please
Nope. Just use the dry cake mix directly from the box. I’ll double check the recipe and make sure I clarify that in the directions. Enjoy! 🙂
So do u make the cake as directed on the box or no
No, do not prepare the cake mix. Just use the cake mix powder directly from the box.
after you bake the dump cake and enjoy. How do you keep it crunchy on the top for the next day?
If I cover it with anything it gets mushy. Thank you
You can’t really…. so sorry! It’s one of those desserts that I try to serve all of it after it’s made. I wish there was a way but I don’t know of one yet. I have microwaved some leftovers and did not mind the less crunchy crisp topping, especially once you pair it with ice cream.
My husband said to come on here and thank you! The addition of oats and walnuts mixed in with no dry patches made this the best thing we’ve had in a while. I had to promise to make it for his birthday!
Aww, thank you! Yes the oats and walnuts make all the difference in this dump cake recipe. So glad to hear you both enjoyed this.
Can fresh berries be used?
I am sure that would work just fine. When the frozen berries cook they release a bit of water, so you may need to combine the fresh berries in the bowl and cover with 1/4 cup sugar (more or less depending on sweetness of your berries) and let it sit for about 15 minutes. The sugar will release some of the berry juice so that way you have some liquid. I’ve never made it this way but I am guessing it would work just fine. You will probably need roughly 6 cups of berries for the 9×13 pan.
Can I used canned cherries or blueberries as a substitute?
Are you talking about the canned pie filling? If you are, then yes that would work just fine. You would need 2 cans for the recipe. Canned pie filling is sweeter than the frozen berries so the dish will be a bit sweeter than the recipe.
Do you have to use a cake mix? Can you use just flour?
I know there are recipes out there that use a homemade cake mix on top. Just using flour would not work. The reason for the cake mix in the recipe is for the “quick dessert” aspect of it. Frozen fruit + cake mix makes it a simple and easy dessert. Try this recipe if you want a homemade cake mix https://www.melskitchencafe.com/blueberry-dump-cake/ I hope that helps 🙂
What would you do with leftovers? Will it last through several days or would it get too soggy. We are just two of us and we would not be able to eat it all on the first day
I put the leftovers in the fridge and then warm them up when someone wants to eat it. If it’s just the two of you, you could try halving the recipe, and just kind of guessing on the cake mix what half is. The leftovers I’m guessing will only be good for about two days before it starts getting too soft.
This recipe looks delicious, and I’m all about easy! In the case of a nut allergy can I just use 1 cup of oats vs. adding walnuts, or will that change the taste/texture?
I would just leave out the walnuts. The dessert will be sweeter because you won’t have that salty bite from the walnuts. But it will be yummy and serving it with some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream will help balance it. I hope that helps. Enjoy!
Can I use instant oatmeal if I don’t have regular oats?
Yes, of course. That will be just fine 🙂
FINALLY! someone who understands about Dump Cakes where the cake mix doesn’t truly get mixed with butter and then you get a spoonful of dust. I’ve never been able to get a Dump Cake right. I think this recipe will make my next effort successful 🙂
That’s my favorite thing about this berry crisp dump cake, none of that powder cake mix on top. I hope you enjoy this!
Yes!! Have always had that problem with my cherry/pineapple dump cake. But decided to try this method and actually made this berry dump cake to take to a family reunion (I doubled the recipe)……it was the first desert to go! Thank you!! 🙂
Made this today with some small deviations. It was great! My dad said it was in the top cobbler/crumble desserts he’s ever had!
I used all dewberries with a lemon cake mix. I used 1/4 cup oatmeal and 1/4 cup Grapenuts Cereal. This gave the topping a tasty crunch.
Thank you for sharing! This is a keeper!
Yum, I love your changes! I agree, this is one of my favorite versions of a crisp! I love how this recipe can be mixed up with the different fruit and cake mix combos. Thanks for coming back to let me know 🙂
That does sound yummy. Thanks for sharing
Any suggestions on freezing this to bake later? or would it be better to bake it and then just warm it later? I want to give to a friend who recently had a baby. Thanks!
I have never froze this so I wouldn’t even know what to tell you. I think it would be best to make it, bake it, and then let them warm it up or eat it at room temperature. This dump cake is good straight out of the oven, warmed up, or at room temperature so you really can’t go wrong 🙂
Hello Jessica!
Am looking forward to making this delicious sounding recipe. I have “brown sugar”
oatmeal on hand and I’m not sure how that would taste vs the reg oatmeal. Sure it would be sweeter, but brown sugar? Help!
Are you talking about the packets of oatmeal? You should be using the regular oats (that come in the canister NOT the packet). If you do use the packets of oatmeal then you will have to experiment because I have never used those. Let me know if you have any more questions. Enjoy!
I am going to try this recipe of the berry dump cake. However, I LOVE YOUR WHITE PLATES WITH THE LITTLE LACEY RIM…. please let me know where u got them.
Hi Dee 🙂 I got the plates at Pier 1 Imports.
How many does this serve? It looks delish and I want to make it for a big family dinner night.
It makes a 9×13 baking dish so I would say it would easily serve 8-10. Depending on the amount of people there and if this dessert is the only dessert or not, I would just make two pans (so 2 recipes).
When I double the recipe I need 2 pans or can it be combined in 1 9×13 pan
I think you would be fine to use a 9×13 pan.
Made this over the weekend. It was PURE GENIUS. I served it room temp and it was still delicious. Everyone just raved. Thank you.
Is it necessary to use salted butter.?
No, but it is a fairly sweet dessert thanks to the cake mix, so I love using the salted butter. You can use unsalted and I am sure it would be just fine.
This was sooo good, and easy! I made this as a desert for Sunday dinner and I fell in love. Im not a huge berry eater , because of the seeds getting in my teeth so I made a small change. I only used one bag of berries in a slightly smaller pan and it was perfect. I really want to try this same recipe but with sweet potatoes instead of berries. Thanks!
Can I use the ‘super moist’ Betty crocker yellow cake mix or does it have to be normal yellow cake mix? Thx for the awesome recipe!
I honestly don’t know if it really makes a difference and I have not paid attention to it much in this recipe. I am sure it would work just fine and that’s probably what I have ended up using before too. Enjoy!
I was out of walnuts so I substituted coconut ? and it was very good!
You can use any type of cake mix that you wish to use! 🙂 I have also changed my rating because in the beginning I meant to give 3 stars and I guess I have a wide finger that went over into 4. I just wanted to make that clear for everybody. Dump cake so great fun to play with and I have come up with recipes that are out of this world one of them too rich to eat more than a couple of spoonfuls. All of them wonderful except for one failure that came out like a spice cake brick! LOL I love coconut! It could certainly be added in however most dump cakes containing fruit call for pecans
I made this using a SUGAR FREE cake mix for my diabetic family members. It was AMAZING!!!!!!
Since you obsess about these things, let me give you a bit of Education. I am from the rooftop of New England which would be Maine and was part of Massachusetts Bay Colony so the way we cook they cook and vice versa. This is not a crisp the topping on a crisp contains only flour sugar and butter. if oats are present in the topping that is a crumble even if there are 10 other ingredients it’s a crumble intro British tradition. The nuts really don’t change the name from a crisp but because they are sprinkled on top. I was also the first one to put out there that folks should melt their butter and add it to the cake mix making sure every granule is covered in butter and that makes a perfect dump cake.
I have made this for our small card group…it was a huge hit. I always have frozen berries on hand, so was easy to come up with a quick and delicious dessert to make. Thank you for this scrumptious recipe!
Made this with devil foods cake and just strawberries. Substituted delivered almonds instead of walnuts. Chocolate covered strawberries! Yummy!
This was absolutely delicious! I made this for Easter and it was such a hit! Don’t forget the scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of the warm cake – mouthwatering!
Yes! The ice cream on top is the best part. So happy to hear it was a hit.
I use this recipe every year when fresh berries show up at the Farmers market. I use oats and chopped pecans .
Everyone loves this dessert in my family!
Thank you for the great review! And I’m so happy you all enjoy this.
Fantastic idea to add walnuts ans oats.
Easy and so delicious. Used regular yellow cake mix. In addition to the berry mix, I had some frozen bananas and strawberries that I also threw in. Oh and a little cinnamon just because. We could not stop eating this. Every time I passed by the dish I had to shove another spoonful in my mouth. Yes, it was worth breaking my diet for. Thanks!
Was a hit!! What is nutritional info. I’m calorie counting.
I made this, minus the walnuts because I didn’t have any, and it is DELICIOUS!!! Also, so easy!! Will definitely make again.
I have a question: in most dump cakes you just add sliced pieces of butter on top of the cake mix and bake. Can I still do that or does this recipe require that I melt it because of the oatmeal? I never had a problem doing it the other way so I’m confused why it has to be melted in this recipe. Thanks again!
I like doing it this way with the melted butter because you don’t end up with the dry cake patches (like you do when you slice the butter and layer on top). Plus, this recipe is more for a crisp topping which is also why I melted the butter. To give it more of a crisp. Hope that helps.
I’ve made this several time. It is SO EASY and SO YUMMY!!! I like to add cinnamon.
How do I adapt this recipe to use pancake mix instead of cake mix?
Good question. I honestly have no idea. I’ve only ever used the cake mix. Not sure if pancake mix is even the same so you may have to add some sugar, baking powder (?) That’s just a guess.
This is hands down the best dump-berry-cobbler I have ever made! No dry spots! YAY! I was surprised on how delicious it was! It was fine days later when heated up, too. I have made it a handful of times afterwards & frozen always worked best. Fresh always left it too watery. Could this be “baked” in a crock pot for work luncheons?
Good question. I have never tried it in a slow cooker. I’d imagine it would work fine but I just don’t know for sure. Thanks for you comment and rating! I appreciate it and I am glad it was a success.
This was very easy and delicious! The walnuts give it a little something extra. I’m currently making it for the 2nd time in a month for a group gathering. It was okay to make a few hours ahead and give it a quick blast in the microwave when ready to eat. Thanks!
For those asking about leftovers or smaller portions you can always halve the recipe and serve in individual ramekins.
For a 4” ramekin, you need about 3 tablespoons cake mix, 1 tablespoon oats and 1 tablespoon butter.
Best tasting cobbler & so easy! Always a hit whenever I serve it.
Every time I make this there are no leftovers . It’s a big hit !!