Chocolatey Halloween Dump Cake With Candy Bars

I’m so excited to share this recipe with you! I totally invented it and I think it’s pretty special. You need to make this Halloween Dump Cake this year.

It uses fun-sized candy bars and chocolate cake mix and I don’t want to be too bold here, but it’s dessert magic.

Or, you can wait until after trick-or-treating and make this with leftover candy bars! Dump cake recipes are so easy and always a crowd pleaser! 

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This Halloween Dump Cake is DELICIOUS!

Yes, the term dump cake sounds absolutely terrible. But it somehow works perfectly for Halloween.

I’ve been making a Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake for years, and I just fell in love with this Crock Pot Apple Cherry Dump Cake.

But I’d never made a dump cake with chocolate cake mix before. 

I had this idea for using candy bars so I did a little recipe testing with my best friend. One of the recipes I put together was just ok.

And then I hit the jackpot with this one. If you have a sweet tooth, you’re going to love this dump cake with candy bars! 

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This is a small batch dump cake recipe. A standard dump cake is usually made in a 9 x 13 dish.

But with the candy bars and caramel sauce making this extra decadent, I felt like a smaller version made a lot of sense. 

And if you wanted to make this with leftover Halloween candy, I wasn’t sure if your kid would end up with enough fun-sized candy bars to cover the bottom of a full-sized baking pan. 

But it’s easy to make a full batch if you have enough candy, just double what you see below! 

How to make a Candy Bar Dump Cake

Scroll to the printable recipe card for full measurements and detailed instructions.

Dump Cake Ingredients

• Fun-sized candy bars (I used Twix, 3 Muskateers and Kit Kat and they were SO GOOD!)
• Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake Mix
• butter
• pretzels
• caramel sauce
• Candy Eyes (these are not optional. This really pushes it over that Halloween edge)

I don’t want to force you to follow this recipe exactly. I usually prefer for people to use my easy recipe as a starting point and put their own flair on it. 

But I’m going to implore you to use Twix, 3 Muskateers and Kit Kats. Other candy bars may work. But something magical happens when you bake these candy bars.

I’m sure it’s science and I can’t begin to break it down. But it just works. 

I will say, that other candy might not melt down the same way. It might just get all hard and unchewable. 

Also, dump cakes are pretty forgiving. So when I say to use half a box of chocolate cake mix, do your best. I literally sat the bag on the counter and guestimated what half would be. 

My dump cakes are always heavy on the butter, so I used a whole stick (instead of my usual 2 for a full batch). More butter is never wrong. 

You can feel free to make your own caramel sauce but store-bought is just SO easy. 

A note on the candy eyes: If you put all of them on before it goes in the oven, they will most likely melt.

I put on a few before and more after. The eyes make it perfectly festive. 

Instructions

Spray an 8′ x 8″ baking dish with baking spray. Break up the fun-sized candy bars as you add them to the bottom of the pan.

Yes, you will have to unwrap them all first. Yes, it’s very tedious. This would be a great thing to have your kids help you with.

I counted out that I used 25 pieces of candy. You can use more or less.

I just wanted to make sure that I created at least a full layer to cover the whole dish. 

For ease of use, you can use a disposable baking dish. Chocolate and caramel can get really hard and crusty in spots and I’m lazy. Throwing out the pan is my jam.

You are using the candy bars in place of fruit filling in this case so you don’t want to be stingy. 

Drizzle with about half of the caramel sauce. It’s totally fine to eyeball it.

Again, too much caramel isn’t wrong. Sprinkle the cake mix over the top of the candy.

Can you even think of better ingredients for a Candy Bar Dump Cake?? 

Evenly, pour melted butter over the top.

And, yes, you are correct. This candy bar cake looks terrible. But it tastes AMAZING when it’s done!

Drizzle with more caramel. Add broken up pretzel pieces. SO decadent! 

Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 1 hour.

Remove from oven and add candy eye pieces. Eat hot or at room temperature. 

My best friend was skeptical when this came out of the oven. It doesn’t look great. But then we tasted it. 

I was nervous that the candy bars would solidify instead of melt. But they didn’t. Part of one type of candy bars turned into a toffee-like substance.

The way the butter mixed with the chocolate cake mix made it gritty and crumbly and the perfect texture to mix with the caramel sauce. 

We ate it hot and then I tried it again at room temperature and proceeded to eat this whole pan by myself over the next few days. 

The crunch and salt from the pretzels keep this from being too sweet. You need to make this!  

This is definitely going to be one of my favorite Halloween desserts to make every year.

If this seems too extra for you, you could always start off with a basic Chocolate Dump Cake or a little less basic Chocolate Caramel Dump Cake.

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More fun Halloween Dessert Ideas

• Cherry Pie Baked Inside a Cake Looks Horrific but tastes delicious! 
• Cookie Faces make a great after school party idea!
• Candy Popcorn would be a great treat to gift special trick-or-treaters! 
• This Oreo Pumpkin Ice Box Cake from 4 Hats and Frugal sounds like something my kids would love.
• Celebrations at Home has a tutorial for how to make a Coffin Cake! Scary!

Printable Recipe

Pin this Chocolate Candy Bar Dump Cake for Later

If you’re looking for a fun festive treat to make, this Halloween Dump Cake is it. The candy bars and pretzel make it decadent and delicious!