The Best Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake! Â – Â This easy to make incredibly delicious treat will become your favorite cake everrrrr! Â The peanut butter layer is just that…plain peanut butter slathered onto of delicious chocolate cake!
I have been waiting for this cake my entire life…. period.  Drop the mic.  Walk away.  Boom and Booyah!   Chocolaty cake, smothered in peanut butter and topped with chocolate ganache frosting.  I am speechless, (which could be from the peanut butter stuck to the roof of my mouth…I am a spoon licker).
I used our easy one bowl Best Chocolate Cake recipe, topped it with peanut butter straight from the jar…which is how peanut butter is best.  Then covered it with a two ingredient ganache that you make in your microwave in 2 minutes!
Birds sang, the skies parted and there was cake! Â The Best Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cake ever!
My favorite part of making this cake is spreading the peanut butter, right from the jar, onto the cooled cake! Â I make this for everyone I love….I just like to watch them eat it and smile through their chocolate and peanut butter coated teeth! Â Heaven!
Chill in the fridge for a bit. Â Then top with this 5 minute microwave Chocolate Ganache!
Slip this beauty back in the fridge for 30-60 minutes before slicing, and everybody is your friend!
The cake and frosting are not overly sweet, which makes the peanut butter the star of the show.  If you have a peanut butter lover in your life, this Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake will be their forever favorite!
Have I mentioned how much I love this cake? Â I love this cake!
 NOTE:  THERE ARE TWO RECIPE CARDS BELOW.  8 X 8 size for a small PB binge or a 9 x 13 for when a small cake just won’t do! Â
To the best cake in the world!
Clink!
Kathi
8 x 8 SIZE PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE CAKE
Ingredients
For Ganache - make this so it can cool while your cake is baking
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Cake
- 1 egg
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup sour cream or greek yogurt do not use fat free
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup brewed coffee, cooled you can not taste the coffee, it simply enhances the chocolate flavor
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Peanut Butter Layer
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare ganache frosting.
- For Ganache Frosting
- Pour chocolate chips in large microwave save bowl and microwave for one minute until just soft.
- In another microwave safe bowl heat cream until it just begins to simmer around the edges. About 2 minutes.
- Pour hot cream over chocolate chips and let sit for 2-3 minutes.
- Using a wire whisk, mix well. Chocolate will melt and will become a creamy consistency. Be patient, it takes a bit of stirring.
- Add vanilla. Cool in fridge for while cake is baking to thicken the ganache.
- Cake
- Spray an 8 x 8 pan with non stick spray.
- In large mixing bowl combine egg, sugar, sour cream, vegetable oil and vanilla until well blended.
- Add cocoa powder and coffee. Mix until no lumps are evident.
- Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix until combined.
- Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Completely cool cake. Spread peanut butter on top with a spatula.
- Chill cake in refrigerator until peanut butter is firm to the touch, about 15 minutes.
- Top with cooled chocolate ganache. If your ganache is to firm, microwave for 10 seconds at a time stirring until spreadable but not heated through.
- Chill 30-60 minutes, slice and serve!
Nutrition
9 x 13 Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
Ingredients
Ganache Chocolate Frosting - make this first so it can chill while your cake cooks
- 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cake
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup sour cream or greek yogurt do not use fat free
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 cup brewed coffee, cooled you can not taste the coffee, it simply enhances the taste of the chocolate
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Peanut Butter Layer
- 2 cups smooth peanut butter not the unstirred oil on top kind. Jif or Skippy works great
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 x 13 cake pan with non stick spray.
- For Chocolate Ganache Frosting
- Pour chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl and microwave for one minute until just soft.
- In another microwave safe bowl heat cream until it just begins to simmer around the edges. About 2 minutes. Pour hot cream over chocolate chips and let sit for 2-3 minutes
- Using a wire whisk, mix well. Chocolate will melt and will become a creamy consistency. Be patient, it takes a bit of stirring
- Add vanilla. Coo ganache l in fridge while cake is baking, this will thicken it up.
Cake
- In large mixing bowl combine egg, sugar, sour cream, vegetable oil and vanilla until well blended.
- Add cocoa powder and coffee. Mix until no lumps are evident.
- Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix until combined. Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into he center comes out clean.
- Completely cool cake. Spread peanut butter on top of cooled cake with spatula. Chill until peanut butter is firm to the touch.
- Top with cooled chocolate ganache. If your ganache is to firm, microwave for 10 seconds at a time stirring until spreadable but not heated through.
- Chill for 30- 60 minutes, slice and serve!
Jen says
My husband was raving about a chocolate peanut butter cake that his grandma makes and was wanting to make one for our soon to be 5 year old daughter. I was looking online and found this recipe which appeals to me more than his grandmothers. Yours sounds absolutely devine!! But since this is for children, how much caffeine do you think the coffee is adding per serving? Chocolate in itself has caffeine in it so I’m not expecting caffeine free but some parents are super picky about the caffeine intake for their children. If it was just my child I wouldn’t care!
Kathi @ LaughingSpatula.com says
Hi Jen – 1/2 cup of coffee divided by 8 servings, can’t be much. You can probably fine some info on exact mg’s on the google somewhere :). Substitute 1/2 cup off decaf or water for the coffee if it’s a big concern. The peanut butter is the star of the show for this cake!
Debbie Wood says
I was looking on line for a receipe like this, to make a cake for a friend’s birthday. She just lost her husband of 18 years 2 weeks ago, her birthday is next Thursday. She needs a pick me up and I know she loves chocolate and peanut butter. This is the perfect cake for her. I lost my husband 4 years ago myself and know how hard the first year especially is. Plus she has two son’s who lost their dad. Thank you for this, I am sure she will love it.
Kathi @ LaughingSpatula.com says
You are a good friend Debbie! Hugs to you both…hoping cake lifts her spirits. xoxoxo!
Desi says
This was one of the most delicious cakes I’ve made in a long while. Last night I had a hankerin’ for chocolate and peanut butter. Now I’m not a fan of being in the kitchen so I rarely bake or cook.
I did a search for chocolate and peanut butter cake and your link read the best, I had all the ingredients except for the cream which I ran out to get in the midst of a snowstorm. I get all the ingredients measured out and ready, subbing white granulated sugar for raw sugar, vegetable oil for coconut oil, and organic peanut butter for regular processed peanut butter. Followed the instructions. After 25 minutes of being in the oven I test the cake in the center with a toothpick and it came out very wet. So I add another 10 minutes. It should have been 5 as the cake came out a tad dry. so next time I will be a bit more cautious with baking time.
I cooled off the ganache in the freezer while my I hoped my loose organic peanut butter would Harden somewhat in the fridge but it didn’t. There’s a bit too much oil in that type of peanut butter but the following day most of the oils had seeped into the cake so that was a plus in disguise. This cake actually tasted better the following day. Anyho, I will definitely make it again, and next time I will add some espresso powder to the ganache to give it a little more pop. Not that it needed it in the least, I just LOVE coffee!
Oh, and one more thing, this cake of yours reminded me of the Funny Bone Cakes I used to eat as a kid, only this is much better, and more of it! Thanks for a great easy to make dessert! Desi
Rachel Kirk says
Holy compliment! Thanks so much, Desi! I love the modifications you made and I’m so happy you enjoyed! Cheers!
Andrea says
Hi there– in the ganache recipe you list vanilla twice– how many teaspoons does this frosting call for? Thanks!
Kathi @ LaughingSpatula.com says
H Andrea! My apologies! I moved to a new recipe card system and some of them got mixed up. I have fixed it…please take a look and let me know if you have any other questions! Thanks so much for the note, we are working our way all 350 recipes to make sure there are no more errors.
Andrea says
Thank you so much, Kathi! I figured it out by reading the directions. I made this todaybfor my husband’s birthday— and it was delicious! I used canola oil as it’s what I had, chunky peanut butter (because it’s his favorite) and ended up not using all of the ganache. Thanks again!
Cassandra says
I made this 2 ways- as written, and the other I made a pb buttercream in place of straight pb. These cakes are amaaaaaaazing!!! I was skeptical of the coffee/sour cream in the cake, especially with no butter but this is delicious. Using the buttercream instead of straight pb was my favorite.
Kathi @ LaughingSpatula.com says
Thank you Cassandra! totally thrilled you loved it as much as I do and the buttercream sounds delicious!
Teresa says
How did you make the peanut butter buttercream? Sounds great!!
Kathi & Rachel says
It isn’t butter cream…it’s just peanut butter straight outta the jar! Easy and delicious!
Meghan Willis says
Made this tonight- used a dark pan and found it was done at 30 minutes. I also used crunchy natural peanut butter and not all of the ganache frosting. Was amazing! My husband said it was the best cake I’ve ever made and I bake a lot! Served it with chocolate peanut butter ice cream- really good!
Kathi @ LaughingSpatula.com says
I am so glad you loved it! I can’t keep it in the house because we can’t stop eating it…but every special occasion and I whip this up! Thank you for taking the time to send such a nice note!
Kelly says
I really want to make this but my husband wouldn’t like thw coffee. What could I substitute? My first thought is milk or just water? Thanks!
Kathi @ LaughingSpatula.com says
Hi Kelly! You truly can not taste the coffee. It simply enhances the flavor of the chocolate. But if you really need to pass on it, just sub 1/2 cup water. Shouldn’t affect the taste too much. The peanut butter is the star of the show! :).
Poorvi says
Hi just wondering how long this will keep in the fridge? Made this yesterday and it was perfect! Thank you 🙂
Kathi @ LaughingSpatula.com says
Well in my house it lasts about a day! LOL! But would probably go 4 days and I’d probably still eat it on day 5 in a pinch!
George says
This looks de-licious! Is it okay to make it as a round cake rather than in a brownie style?
Thanks!
Kathi @ LaughingSpatula.com says
Hello George, yes a round pan is fine. An 8 x 8 pan holds about 7 cups of batter (it’s an 8 cup pan but you don’t want it to go to the top). You would want your round pan to be about the same. Not sure how much some of the smaller round cake pans hold. Hope that helps!
Hirut says
Hello again, I made it and it is really good. Thanks.
Kathi Kirk says
It’s my favorite cake of all time! I am so glad you loved it!
Hirut says
Wow wow wow, looks yummy, I was searching for a chocolate and peanut butter cake. Glad I found you. I’m gonna try it to night and let you know how it turned out. So excited. Brava.
Jilara says
I made this cake and it was delicious and easy – I NEVER bake and I had no troubles. I used crunchy peanut butter instead and it added a lovely crunch. Highly recommend.
plasterer bristol says
This sounds really nice. gonna make this for tea tonight. Thanks. Simon
Megan says
I’m literally drooling all over my keyboard over this chocolate PB cake and that is NOT a bad way to start the day! Now to get into the kitchen and whip these babies up…that’ll make this Monday even better!
Kathi Kirk says
Ha ha Megan! I love when I can create keyboard drool! Thanks for the note!
Luci says
A fellow self-confessed spoon licker, love it! And… chocolate cake, peanut butter AND chocolate ganache? Who wouldn’t! I can practically taste it all the way from here just from the photos and your descriptions :O
Kathi Kirk says
Thanks Luci! This cake is a keeper for sure!
Kathi Kirk says
Thank you Taylor..what a sweet note! Even sweeter given that you can’t eat it! Hopefully you can save it for later!