This 3-Ingredient Apple Pie Dessert Starts With Cake Mix & A Can

Apple cobbler is a warm, comforting dessert that just hits the spot on a cozy fall evening (or any season, really, but we're setting a scene). Even better, there's a quick and easy way to bake it at home using canned apples, cake mix, and butter. Regular apples work perfectly well, too, but canned apples are easy to use, already prepared, and the perfect base for upgrades.

The cake mix does the heavy lifting and replaces all the dry ingredients in the regular recipe. It has the added value of incorporating the flavor of the cake mix, which may be subtle, but will still enhance the overall dessert. The real stars of this recipe are the behind-the-scenes players. The type of syrup in your canned fruit and the taste profile of the box mix kick this traditional recipe up a few notches, such that all you need to pull the whole thing together is some melted butter. As for the method, melt your butter on the stove and incorporate the cake mix until you get a crumbly texture. Lay the canned apples on your baking tray and cover them in the crumble mixture. From here, bake as normal, and you'll get a piping hot dish that blends the convenience of boxed mixes with genuine home-cooked taste.

Cobbler is traditionally a dessert, but its beauty is in its versatility, hence the viral TikTok trend of chicken cobbler. Staying a little closer to home, you can make subtle changes to your apple cobbler and refine the recipe to your liking. If you want to make a homemade apple filling, consider which variety of the fruit will best suit your tastes, as some offer more sweetness, while others may be more muted in flavor but hold their texture better, giving the dish extra crunch. Spices like cinnamon and nutmeg are the go-tos, but allspice and ginger are top contenders, too. Vanilla and caramel will enrich the meal while imparting a manageable sweetness.

The kind of boxed cake mix chosen will also slightly alter the dessert. Not every choice is as good as the next, but there are some well-loved mixes that will impart a familiar cakey flavor. Two desserts in one! Not to mention, there's no legislation limiting you to only one type of filling. An array of stone fruits will make a colorful, flavorful, and filling dish, perfect for sharing (or not).