This Peanut Butter Cake recipe is simply THE BEST EVER! But don’t take our word for it, check out all the rave reviews and then experience this cake for yourself! The ultimate cake for peanut butter lovers, both the cake and the frosting are positively LOADED with peanut butter flavor!
Craving more cake? Be sure to try our popular Old Fashioned Carrot Cake, French Almond Plum Cake, and Limoncello Cake!
Before we get to the peanut butter cake recipe, two things:  1)  I need more food props, and 2) to quote my husband, “Every time you use the white table cloth and that plant it looks like something out of a 1970’s cookbook.” It’s sadly true. But it doesn’t change the fact that the cake is downright amazing.
Combine points one and two: Â No more 70’s food pics. Â Need. Â More. Â Food. Â Props.
But on to the subject of this recipe post:Â Peanut butter lovers – this is definitely THE cake for you!
Is it good?  Oh, it’s good alright. So good that it comes with a warning label: This peanut butter cake is extremely rich.  Like if you eat the whole thing in one sitting you may experience cardiac arrest. And we really don’t want that to happen. So eat in moderation only.
I created this cake by way of request from Elizabeth via the Make a Request! link. Â She asked me if I would create a peanut butter cake that is “moist, peanuty and delicious,” like the kind she enjoyed from her childhood. Â I didn’t have any more information than that to go on. Â Sheet cake or layered? Â Frosting or glaze? Â Moist crumb or goopey? Â So many options. Â At first I was thinking along the lines of a peanut butter layered cake with a hot honey glaze drizzled over it and left to seep down into the cake, resulting in a super moist, slightly goopey texture. Â Then maybe even add a layer of peanut butter frosting on top. Â I may still get around to creating that. Â In the end I settled for the more traditional version: Â A peanut butter layer cake with a rich peanut butter frosting. Â I went for oil instead of butter because oil makes cake nice and moist whereas butter tends to dry it out. Â Buttermilk also does wonders for creating a soft and moist crumb. Â So we’ve got both in here!
Can I Make This As a Sheet Cake?
Yes! If you want to cut back on calories (and save yourself some work), bake the cake in a 9X13 cake pan as a sheet cake and make half the amount of frosting to go on top (the “death factor” in this cake lies primarily in the frosting).
Also, for an even more moist, “goopier” version, see notes in recipe box. Â I haven’t actually tried this, merely conceptualized it in my mind, but I think it will work wonderfully :)
Peanut Butter Cake Recipe
Let’s get started!
Combine the brown sugar, oil, and peanut butter in a large mixing bowl.
Beat until combined and add the eggs and vanilla extract. Â Continue to beat until combined.
In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Alternately add the flour and buttermilk, beating just until combined.  Do not over-beat or the cake will be dense and dry. It’s okay if there are a few small lumps of flour.
Grease a 9×3 inch round baking pan and pour the batter in. Â (I used 9×3 – a 9×2 inch pan should be fine, too). Â I use the hand-forged aluminum pan by Magic Line, made in the USA. Â Love it!
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out “moist” – not wet with batter, but moist. Be careful not to over-bake or the cake will be dry.
Let the cake sit in the pan for 5 minutes before inverting it onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Then cut the cake in half.
Now let’s make the frosting:
Place the peanut butter and butter in a large mixing bowl. Cream the two together until smooth.
Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Â Add the heavy cream a little at a time until the frosting becomes a spreadable consistency. Â Note: Â This is a fairly stiff frosting. Â Be sure to keep it at room temperature or will be stiffen even more.
Note: Â For a chocolate frosting, simply add a couple of tablespoons of good quality cocoa powder.
Spread the bottom half with frosting, frosting down the sides as well. Place the top layer on top. (Ignore the picture.  I accidentally put it on wrong and I didn’t want to try and pick it up again.  The top cake layer should have been put on upside down so that the top edges don’t slope down.) Spread the frosting on the top layer and down the sides.
This is where you can now become creative with your cake decorating skills.  Piping, crumbled up Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, you name it. At the time my 3 year old was eagerly waiting for me to take him and his baby sister to Petco to see the animals, so I kept it simple. Another variation:  Pour some chocolate ganache over it for some ultra decadence!
Oh, I forgot to mention.  I faced a serious challenge here.  You’ll remember from my Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies With Nutella Marshmallow Cream Cheese Frosting that I absolutely LOVE the combination of peanut butter and Nutella.  I probably stood at my kitchen table staring at this jar of Nutella for a good 10 minutes, debating whether or not to add some to the frosting or maybe swirl some into the batter.  Or a swirled peanut butter Nutella frosting… Oh, it was so hard deciding what to do!  In the end I decided to stick to the classic peanut butter cake. But I mention this because you may decide to add some Nutella – it’s a delicious option.
This is simply the best peanut butter cake ever! Check out all the rave reviews in the comments below and then give it a try to experience it for yourself!
Enjoy!
For more delicious cake recipes be sure to try our:
- Caramel Pear Walnut Cake
- Old Fashioned Carrot Cake
- French Almond Plum Cake
- German Cheesecake
- Dundee Cake
- Limoncello Cake
- Rhubarb Streusel Cake
- German Apple Cake
- Orange Buttermilk Cake
- Sticky Toffee Pudding
- German Plum Cake
- Cherry Marzipan Streusel Cake
- Chocolate Almond Quinoa Cake
BEST Peanut Butter Cake
Ingredients
- For the Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup coconut oil , at room temperature or oil of choice (I use coconut oil). Note: Oil yields a moister cake than butter
- 1/3 cup natural unsweetened peanut butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk (can substitute 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice stirred into it. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes then use as recipe directs)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- For the Frosting:
- 1 cup natural unsweetened peanut butter (if using regular peanut butter which has lots of sugar in it, cut back a little on the brown sugar)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 3 cups powdered (confectioner's) sugar (can use less if preferred)
- up to 1/2 cup heavy cream , at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.In a large mixing bowl, add the peanut butter, oil, and brown sugar. Beat until combined and creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat just until combined.Alternately add the flour and buttermilk to the wet mixture, beating just until combined. Be careful not to over-beat or the cake will be dense and dry. A few small lumps of flour is fine.
- Grease a 9X3 inch round baking pan (I use Magic Line pans). Pour the batter into the pan.Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out moist (not wet with batter but moist. If the toothpick is dry, the cake is over-baked and will be dry). Let the cake sit in the pan for 5 minutes, then invert the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To Make the Frosting: In the meantime place the peanut butter and butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, continuing to beat. Add the heavy cream until you reach a spreadable consistency. (Note: This is a fairly stiff frosting.)Cut the cooled cake in half horizontally. Frost the bottom half of the cake and down the sides. Place the top layer of the cake, upside down, on top of the bottom layer. Frost the top layer and down the sides.
Notes
*Variation: Add Nutella to the frosting
*Another variation: Pour some chocolate ganache over it for ultra decadence!
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet April 19, 2013
Christy says
I made this cake for my supervisor who is a peanut butter fanatic for his 50th birthday. I’m expecting a raise any day now! It is definitely peanut-buttery! And you are right, the icing is the killer. I could feel my arteries clogging with every scrumptious bite I took. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Haha, awesome, Christy, thanks so much for the feedback! And yes, your boss had BETTER give you that raise!! :)
Maureen says
I just made this cake today for tomorrow’s feast. Does it need to be refrigerated?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Maureen, if you’re eating it tomorrow I wouldn’t worry about refrigerating it. Doing so will make the frosting hard and then you’d have to let it sit at room temp for a while anyway to soften it. Enjoy!
Shaima says
Hello! I am so happy I found this website and can’t wait to make this cake tomorrow for my hubby’s birthday. He would probably win the gold for his obsession with all things peanut butter. So I will definitely let you know how he likes it. (Of course I’ll have to up the peanut butter content just a lil weeee bit in the batter and frosting because I’m dealing with a peanut butter crazy man here!). Anywhoo. I don’t have baking powder! Is it absolutely necessary to use it. I don’t have cream of tartar either (apparently you can make your own bp with baking soda and cream of tartar). Should I hit up the grocery store tomorrow? What do you suggest? Moistness is soooo important to me when it comes to a yummy cake. So I don’t want to mess with that factor.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Shaima, yes, definitely let us know what your hubby thinks of the cake! Baking powder…yes, you need it I’m afraid. It’s essential for making the cake rise. And yes, you can make your own with baking soda and cream of tartar. Either way it looks like you’re going to have to make a trip to the grocery store! Moistness: Very important is proper storage. You want to store it in a cake saver where it isn’t exposed to air or it will dry out. Also, it depends on how long you’re going to keep the cake – if it’s eaten the same day versus over the course of a couple of more days. Butter does dry out baked goods. Oil does not, it makes things stay moist longer. So if you’re planning on keeping this cake a couple of days or more, you can substitute oil. Butter just tastes a lot better and the cake will be moist enough if you eat it the same day – probably the next day as well as long as you store it properly. Happy baking! :)
Jenny Milam says
Can I use self-rising flour instead? I’m excited about making this for Sunday church luncheon!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Jenny, because of the flour to baking powder ratio in this recipe you theoretically should be able to substitute self-rising flour (and just omit the baking powder) but I have not tried it so I can’t vouch for it. It may not rise as much, I don’t know. This cake sounds like the perfect option for a Sunday church luncheon! :)
Anonymous says
I have two things to say about this recipe: This cake is ‘to die for’…and It is definitely a keeper! Thank you so much for this recipe! :) Everyone at my church luncheon LOVED it !
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
YES!! I’m so happy this was a hit and thanks so much for taking the time to leave feedback, I really appreciate it!
chhiwat says
Thanks for sharing the recipe, it looks moist and delicious!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks, chhiwat, happy baking!
Latoya says
Could I use this recipe with a pound cake pan and the height still turn out right? Thanks!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Latoya, I’m not entirely sure what the volume of this batter is and how full it would fill a pound cake pan. I’m thinking it should work perfectly fine though. Happy baking!
Lisa says
I am making this cake tonight for a friend’s b’day tomorrow. If I wanted to make the frosting tonight, keep it in the fridge overnight, then frost it at work – do I just need to let it sit out until it’s at room temp? Secondly, I haven’t decided on 13×19 or the layered, but would it be better to keep the cake portion in the fridge overnight or to leave it out?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Lisa! Yes, you definitely want the frosting at room temperature or it will be too stiff to work with. The cake I would just leave out and make sure it’s either thoroughly covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container so that it doesn’t dry out. Happy baking and let us know how it goes!
Anonymous says
I made this cake for my son’s 6th birthday. It was a HUGE hit with him and my family. My dad has requested it for his birthday too. The cake was inhaled by all – truly an awesome recipe, really REALLY loved and enjoyed by the crowd tonight! Thank you!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I am so thrilled to hear that!! And I really appreciate the feedback, thank you!
Ashley says
Thank you for this recipe!! I used it in my brother’s birthday cake and everyone loved it!! The consensus was that it tasted like a giant peanut butter cookie…so delicious.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Ashley, I’m so glad to hear it was such a big hit, yay!! Thanks so much for the feedback!
Suresh says
Hi.. I accidentally came across ur blog and instantly became a fan! Planning to surprise my wife for her b.day.. however, I have a Q: can I use regular white sugar instead of brown sugar (I dont have it readily at home, & if I buy it now, my wife my get suspicious:)? If yes, do I need 2 lessen the quantity?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Suresh and welcome, so glad you found my site! That’s wonderful that you’re going to surprise your wife with this. To answer your question, yes you can use white sugar and you would use the same quantity. Or, if you happen to have molasses on hand, to make your own brown sugar you would simply add 1 tablespoon of light molasses (or 2 teaspoons of dark molasses) to the white sugar and give it a good stir – that’s all that brown sugar is. Happy baking and I hope everything turns out a success!
Suresh says
Hi, sry missed 2 provide my feedback after trying the recipe.. The cake came out wonderfully well & was a huge success. Many thanks for sharing such awesome recipe!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Wonderful, thank you so much for the feedback, Suresh!
Sue says
I have been chasing a cake my nana made for me when I was 10. Like a crystal meth high, no other recipes came close. BUT THIS ONE IS IT! I love this cake so much I would marry it and have it’s little peanut butter babies if the government approved of our love . I put the batter into two pans to bake just to make it easier, and added another tablespoon of natural peanut butter to the icing to soften it a bit.
Fantastic.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Haha!! Thanks for the great laugh to get my morning started, Sue! :) So glad you enjoyed, thank you! Best, Kimberly
Anonymous says
should i flour the pan??
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I rarely do. I find that buttering the pan does a perfect job. But then it also depends on the quality of the pan itself. If you usually flour your cake pans, then do that. If you usually have good luck just buttering them, then no need to flour. Happy baking!
Rosangela C. Taylor says
Thank you for sharing this recipe! It’s FABULOUS! I made it this past weekend, and I just had one more slice now! It’s heavenly! I only had to add 1/2 more cup of lour, because for some reason my batter turned out too thin (it was way more liquid than yours, shown in the picture), Do you think it turned out so thin because I used dry buttermilk? (1 envelope dissolved in 1 cup water = 1 cup buttermilk). I don’t remember how thick is the regular refrigerated buttermilk – I never buy it because I rarely use this ingredient. So I prefer the dry version, it has a long shelf life and when I need some, there it is! So, perhaps it made a difference in the recipe. Next time I make it I will use the regular buttermilk and see the difference. I will use one more teaspoon of baking powder, too (so it will be 1 Tbsp total, instead of 2 tsp) – my usual amount for a cake. I think the cake was a little short – especially because I baked another one to fit to it (my final cake was made of two half-moons: one was the peanut butter cake, the other half-moon was a dark chocolate cake – so, it happened that the peanut butter was shorter than the chocolate, and I had to be creative to level it up! :) It was fun, though! The end result was fantastic. Well, the reason why I made two different cakes like that, without mixing the flavors, is that my father-in-law (the cake was for his birthday!) wanted chocolate, and I was crazy for trying this recipe of yours. So, I compromised and made two and assembled them in one! :)
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Rosangela, I’m so happy you enjoyed it! The combination of chocolate and peanut butter is perfect and your father-in-law is very fortunate that you surprised him with that! The batter is a pretty thin batter. It’s hard to tell from pictures, but if you look at the pictures again you’ll see it’s pretty thin as I’m pouring it into the cake pan. Adding the extra 1/2 cup of flour won’t have hurt it but it may not have been quite as moist as it otherwise would have been. In any case, it turned out fabulously and was a hit – and that’s really all that matters :) Again, so glad you liked it and thanks for your feedback. Best, Kimberly
Bnj Brown says
I have made this cake twice now. It is amazing. Best pub cake ever and so easy. Thank you so much. I love the way you show pictures step by step to see consistency and texture.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so happy to hear that, Bnj Brown, thank you very much!!
Francie says
Thank you for this recipe! I doubled the recipe and made 3 8″ layers. Between the layers I filled it with a chocolate-peanut butter frosting with chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. After frosting it with your peanut butter frosting, I poured chocolate ganache over it. It’s amazing, and my 12 year old loved his birthday cake!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Oh my goodness, Francie, I can only imagine how amazing it was with the chocolate ganache poured over the peanut butter frosting, yummy!! So happy it was a success and that your 12 year old loved it!