Sweet Sunday Magic: Just 4 ingredients. The absolute best way to let the cooker do all the heavy lifting while you relax!

This 4-ingredient slow cooker golden molten bake is the kind of Sweet Sunday magic I wish I’d had when my kids were little and the house was full and noisy. It’s a simple, self-saucing butterscotch-style dessert that gives you a glistening golden-brown, cratered crust on top and an amber, spoonable molten layer underneath. The idea comes straight out of old Midwestern church suppers and potlucks, where the slow cooker sat on a folding table and quietly did the heavy lifting while everyone visited. You stir a few pantry staples together, pour in hot water, and walk away—by the time you’re ready for dessert, the cooker has transformed it into a cozy, bubbling bake that looks like a little golden lake with craters on top.

Serve this warm right out of the slow cooker, spooning down through the golden crust to scoop up plenty of the molten amber sauce from underneath. It’s lovely in small bowls with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, or just a splash of cold milk over the top the way my grandmother used to do. A cup of coffee or hot tea balances the sweetness, and if you’re serving a Sunday supper, this pairs beautifully after a simple roast chicken, meatloaf, or a pot of beans and cornbread. Leftovers, if you’re lucky enough to have any, rewarm nicely and make a fine little treat with your morning coffee.

Servings: 6

1 cup light brown sugar, packed, divided

Lightly grease the inside of a medium slow cooker (about 4 to 5 quarts) with butter or nonstick spray. This keeps the edges from sticking and helps the crust brown nicely.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1/2 cup of the packed light brown sugar and the baking mix until there are no big lumps of sugar. This simple blend will form the tender base that bakes up under the crust.

Pour in the whole milk and stir just until the batter is smooth and no dry pockets remain. It will be a thick, pourable batter—don’t overmix. Spread this batter evenly in the bottom of the prepared slow cooker.

Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of packed light brown sugar evenly over the surface of the batter. Don’t stir it in; this sugar layer is what will melt and help create that amber molten underlayer as it cooks.

Carefully pour the very hot water over the top, moving slowly and evenly so you don’t wash big holes into the batter. It will look odd and soupy at this point, with liquid sitting on top—that’s exactly what you want for a self-saucing bake.

Cover the slow cooker with the lid. Cook on High for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or on Low for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until the top is set, puffed, and a rich golden-brown with little craters, and the edges are darker and pulling slightly away from the sides. You should see a bubbling, molten layer underneath if you gently nudge the crust with a spoon near the edge.

Once cooked, turn off the slow cooker and let the dessert sit, covered, for about 10 minutes. This short rest lets the crust settle into those pretty craters while the amber sauce thickens just a bit underneath.

To serve, spoon down through the golden, cratered crust and scoop up plenty of the molten sauce from the bottom. Serve warm in bowls, and if you like, top with ice cream, whipped cream, or a drizzle of cream or milk.

For a deeper butterscotch flavor, use dark brown sugar in place of light brown sugar, or swap half the brown sugar for white sugar to lighten it a bit. If you want a hint of warm spice without adding extra ingredients to the main recipe, you can use a cinnamon or spice-flavored baking mix instead of plain. To make this more like a chocolate lava-style dessert while still keeping things simple, use a chocolate baking mix and dark brown sugar; the crust will still bake up cratered with a fudgy molten layer underneath. For a slightly firmer crust, cook on High toward the shorter end of the time range; for extra sauce, lean toward the longer Low setting. Every slow cooker runs a little differently—if yours tends to run hot, start checking 15 minutes early so the top doesn’t overbrown. Leftovers can be refrigerated and gently reheated in the slow cooker on Warm or in the microwave; add a spoonful of milk or cream when reheating to loosen the sauce if it has thickened too much.