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
Lynn Bryant says
With all the rave reviews on this cake I thought why not? I have been trying out other pb cake recipes and they have been flavorful enough but the amount of pb you have to put in makes the cake heavy and dense.
I made this recipe and cannot even tell it’s flavor is supposed to be peanut butter. I will continue searching.
Marg says
My bf wanted peanut butter cake. I made one but ate it all before icing. So the second cake turned out great also. I haven’t eaten a bite yet because i might eat the whole thong agin. Love this recipe. It needed about 10 more minutes cooking or my center would have fallen. Watching the cake for the last few mins helped. This cake makes my baking reciepe list. Awesome awesome awesome.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Marg, thanks so much!
Jennifer says
Your recipe looks amazing. My daughter requested a peanut butter cake for her birthday tomorrow and I was wondering if you had a recommendation for substituting the buttermilk for something dairy free? I am not as worried about the heavy cream and butter. Thank you!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Jennifer, you can use whichever dairy-free milk you normally use (e.g., almond, rice, cashew) and just add a teaspoon of white vinegar to it. Happy baking and I hope your daughter enjoys the cake!
Etta Rodriguez says
This cake is AMAZING! I’ve made it several times and it always comes out amazing whether in 2 layers, as a sheet cake or cupcakes. In April of this year I changed to a vegan diet, but I was able to veganize it with soy/nut milk and vinegar for the buttermilk, flaxseed meal instead of eggs, and I used coconut oil in the frosting instead of the butter. It’s so delicious! Thank you so much for the incredible recipe 😀😀😀😀😀
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Terrific, Etta, thanks so much for sharing!
Beatrice says
This will be my first peanut butter cake I’m making for my son’s 6th birthday this week. I’m surprised to find there is such a thing as peanut butter cake because I asked what he wanted me to make and he asked for this. I want to just make a 2 layer cake without slicing it, should I just double the recipe? Normally I would just whip up 2 batches but I want to save some time on this part. Also I cant quite tolerate that much sugar for the icing so I’m gonna have to rack my brain to figure out the frosting. The cool part is that Peanuts are one of those fats that don’t actually add weight, I found this out the hard way while I was trying to gain weight I ended up losing weight. I now love Peanuts so I Snack on them all the time. I’d like to add that I do exercise a few times a week, weightlifting, so that’s why I wanted to gain weight, I don’t know how it effects non weightlifters :).
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Beatrice! Yes, in that case I would simply double it, but just know that it will be a very tall cake. I hope your son enjoys it and has a wonderful birthday!
Lind says
Hi I will be trying your cake here in the next day or two. Yours was the first I came across with natural peanut butter and oil choice. I tend to do all natural everything. No I am not a crazed healty person, it is just some medical conditions that requires it. I am so uthankful I stumbled on this.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Wonderful, Lind, please let us know what you think once you’ve tried it!
Annette Ritchie says
This is the best cake i have ever made. Perfect! Going to make it again for Thanksgiving!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Wahooo, Annette, thank you! And Happy Thanksgiving!
JJ says
Just made this cake for the 3rd or 4th time – always a hit.
In the past, I’ve always refrigerated it a day or 2 in advance of serving.
It’s now Saturday afternoon – plan on serving it Monday evening.
After reading the comments on refrigeration…..Can I leave it out of the refrigerator until then, or am I taking a chance in giving family and friends “indigestion”?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Awesome, JJ! If you’re going to keep it for 2 days before serving I would keep it in the fridge for at least part of the time (just to be on the safe side). Then you can take it out the day before and let it come to room temp before serving.
Shannon says
I love your blog and most of the recipes. But… I made this today and it was, by far, the worst cake we ever tasted. I am a very experienced cook so I followed the recipe exactly as written with the exact ingredients since I was making this particular recipe for the first time. The texture was great, it was moist to perfection. The color was as shown in your pictures. The problem is the taste. I used all fresh ingredients, as always, but this was horrible. And we are peanut butter lovers! I could not even think of enough tweaks to get this edible. No one would eat it and we ended up throwing the whole thing g away. The frosting was good but you couldn’t put enough frosting on this to make it taste good. Sorry this one is a miss. I will stick to some of your other recipes that are awesome.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Really, Shannon? You’re the first person in over 4 years since this was published to give negative feedback. Between the comments and emails I’ve gotten there have been literally hundreds of rave reviews. Certainly, not everything will please everyone, but to be “horrible” to the point of inedible is surprising to say the least. I mean, how can flour, sugar, eggs, butter and peanut butter in combination possibly be inedible, you know? But again and fair enough, not everyone has to love something. In any case, I hope you find some other recipes you enjoy!
Saarah says
Could I pipe flowers with this frosting recipe?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Saarah, I haven’t tried that specifically but I don’t see why not.
Anne says
Hi! I was looking for a peanut butter cake and found this!! and after reading the reviews I decide to give it a try :-) One question: what brown sugar do you use: light brown or dark brown sugar? I will keep you posted as soon as I bake this I cannot wait!! thank you so much!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Anne! I’ve used both light and dark and flavor-wise like both, not really sure I have a preference. Happy baking and yes, please let us know what you think!
Glen says
Made this cake for a contest and won first place
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s awesome, Glen!
Wendy says
So many wonderful comments, so I wanted to try this cake. I had some peanut butter cookies that had gone a bit hard and was planning on crumbling them and coating the sides of the cake. I’m not certain why, but it did not bake properly. I didn’t use coconut oil as my husband HATES coconut and can tell if I put even the oil in something. So I used part olive and part avacado oil. I always bake things in my oven a few minutes less than what is called for, but at 25 minted the center still seemed jiggly. I baked an additional 5 minutes, still seemed soft in the center although the toothpick came out clean, but moist. So I baked an additional 5 minutes. Cooled on a rack the 5 minutes as in the recipe, although even muffins or cupcakes I usually cool ten. When I turned it out into the rack, the center was so gooey It dripped through the rack. The outer edges were cooked fine. It seems this cake needs to be in two pans, rather than one, for the amount of batter it makes. Or maybe the time needs to be increased a lot. I can’t believe no one else has commented about this. I had the frosting made, so I ended up making chocolate cupcakes topped with the peanut butter frosting – and they were great.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Wendy, wow, something obviously went really wrong. This recipe always receives very positive feedback from the many who try it, it’s one of our most popular recipes, so I’m really not sure where in the process it went wrong for you.
Mariam says
Do you think I can switch the peanutbutter with biscoff and reduce the sugar? Any suggestions Are appreciated
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Mariam, yes definitely. I will say though that this cake is already less sweet than the average cake recipe, so if you leave the sugar in and use Biscoff, I don’t think the cake will be too sweet.
Paul says
Where is the recipe for the killer peanut butter cake? I only see the frosting recipe
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Paul, it’s in the recipe box at the bottom of the post, right under the frosting.