My homemade Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting is an old school recipe that will quickly become a family favorite. You will find the moist cake loaded with peanut butter flavor. Then we top it with the best peanut butter frosting.
Peanut Butter Cake
Peanut butter fans are going to go crazy for this Peanut Butter cake. I am a big fan of everything peanut butter. If you follow along on my blog, you probably have already figured that out. I love my 3 ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies. My No Bake Reese’s Peanut Butter Cheesecake is an over the top peanut butter lovers dream. So peanut butter recipes are my most favorite desserts and I share them often.
Each year for my birthday, my grandmother would make us each a homemade cake to celebrate our day. My grandmother quickly realized that she never really had to ask me which cake was going to be my choice. Every year, I always requested her homemade peanut butter cake with peanut butter frosting. It really was her best homemade cake. It is perfect for feeding a crowd. We sometimes cut our cakes into smaller finger sized pieces when we are feeding more than just immediate family. You can easily get quite a few smaller pieces from a traditional sized cake pan. I know some make an old fashioned peanut butter sheet cake when serving a crowd. Sheet pan cakes are great but there is something about a thick moist cake topped with a layer of thicker frosting.
This recipe is an old fashioned cake recipe filled with so much flavor. She has been making this same recipe for years. I thought the recipe was very tedious so I never tried to make it myself. I can’t believe I have waited this long to make her homemade peanut butter cake. I have now made this recipe a few times and each and every time, my family has gobbled it up. They now have deemed it their favorite cake.It was not difficult to make and took very little time. Sure a peanut butter cake mix would be a blessing for a quick dessert but homemade desserts are always the best. The question always lingers in my mind as to why manufacturers have yet to make a good peanut butter cake mix. Maybe someday they will excite all of us peanut butter fans with such a product.
How do you make Peanut Butter Cake?
All that is needed to make this recipe is some creamy peanut butter and some basic ingredients you most likely have on hand. Grab some of the store brand peanut butter, it will work best. It is always creamy and has the most oil content. So it is perfect for this cake. Peter Pan or Skippy will work fine too.
Ingredients to Make Peanut Butter Cake with Homemade Peanut Butter Frosting
CAKE
2 cup Flour
2 cup Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 cup Milk
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Water
1/2 cup Butter
3/4 cup Peanut Butter
FROSTING
1/2 cup softened Butter
1 cup Peanut Butter
3 tbsp Milk
2 cup Powdered Sugar
How to make Homemade Peanut Butter Cake and Peanut Butter Frosting
Preheat oven to 350.
Grease a 9×13 baking dish with butter. Dust with flour to prevent sticking.
Whisk together flour, sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl.
Add milk, eggs, and vanilla to bowl.
Beat mixture at low speed until blended.
Add water, butter, and peanut butter to a saucepan.
Heat over medium heat stirring frequently until blended (about 5 minutes).
Add peanut butter mixture into flour mixture.
Stir until batter is well mixed and pour into prepared dish.
Bake about 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool.
Cream together the butter and peanut butter.
Slowly add in the sugar, if it gets too thick then add a little milk to thin.
Continue until all of the sugar is in and the frosting is blended to the right consistency.
Spread frosting over cooled cake.
Tips for Making Peanut Cake
I always heavily butter my baking dish. I also add a dusting of flour. This always keeps the cake from sticking.
Bake for long enough for your center to be baked thoroughly. Ovens and baking time can vary from oven to oven. Just use the toothpick trick. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cake is done.
Be sure to use softened butter for your peanut butter frosting. It will blend much better with the peanut butter and make the texture of your frosting creamier. Add a couple more drops of milk if you would like your frosting thinner.
Toss your cake in the refrigerator, it tastes amazing chilled too.
If storing your cake at room temperature, cover it to keep fresh.
Enjoy with a large glass of milk. Milk with this cake is amazing.
Peanut Butter Cake
Ingredients
CAKE
- 2 cup Flour
- 2 cup Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 2 Eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1 cup Water
- 1/2 cup Butter
- 3/4 cup Peanut Butter
FROSTING
- 1/2 cup softened Butter
- 1 cup Peanut Butter
- 3 tbsp Milk
- 2 cup Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter. Dust with flour to prevent sticking.
- Whisk together flour, sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl.
- Add milk, eggs, and vanilla to bowl.
- Beat mixture at low speed until blended.
- Add water butter and peanut butter to a saucepan.
- Heat over medium heat stirring frequently until blended (about 5 minutes).
- Add peanut butter mixture into flour mixture.
- Stir until batter is well mixed and pour into prepared dish.
- Bake about 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow to cool.
- Cream together the butter and peanut butter.
- Slowly add in the sugar, if it gets too thick then add a little milk to thin.
- Continue until all of the sugar is in and the frosting is blended to the right consistency.
- Spread frosting over cooled cake.
My dad loves this cake! His Mom made it for him every year as a kid and we have kept up the tradition! Highly recommend for someone who is a peanut butter fan. If your not or you are I suggest vanilla ice cream with it! Absolutely delicious! :))
Im going to make this next time i need to make a cake for church. So yummy. I poked holes in it when it was cooled with the handle of a wooden spoon and microwaved some strawberry jelly for a minute just to make it pourable. Then put it on the cake before putting on the frosting. My grandbabies love pb & j sandwiches so i bet they’re going to love this.
Do you measure your flour by weight? This looks like a dense cake. I want to make sure I use enough. I typically use 120 g all purpose per cup.
I requested this for my birthday in December. My mother in law made it for me. OMG the best cake EVER. So my work also asked what kinda of “professional “ cake I would like so I again requested PB cake. The over priced three layer PB was a disappointment after tasting this simple homemade cake!!! I literally ate THREE pieces in one sitting!! And a tall glass of milk goes perfectly with this cake.
Happy belated birthday to you Amber! I am happy to hear this Peanut Butter cake is one of your favorites. Thanks much! I will admit it is my favorite cake:) Each and every time I make it, I devour more than I should. Now you have me thinking I should make one for a birthday I have coming up. I hope you have a great weekend.
It’s an odd reason, but I plan on making this for my hamsters’ birthday in March. They’re my children and one of them loves peanut butter! He’ll only be able to have a small bite, but I think this will be a perfect way to celebrate the special fuzzy babies in the house. I’m looking forward to making it!
Hi. Excited to try this recipe. What butter are you using? Salted or unsalted?
Hi Holly! I usually use salted butter. I hope that helps. Enjoy!
Sounds delicious, cannot wait to make. Several people have asked, but I do not see a response. Salted or unsalted butter in the cake and the frosting?
HI Jil! I have used both but usually use salted butter. I hope that helps. Have a great evening!
Can this be made into cupcakes? Or will it not rise the same
Getting ready to make this! Why do you use water and milk versus all milk in the cake? Just curious!
This recipe is amazing!!! The cake itself is so full of flavor and not dry at all! No need for frosting. I made 24 cupcakes, 2/3 cup full and baked at 350 for 16 minutes. Thank you!!
Hi Cat! So happy you enjoyed the Peanut Butter Cake recipe. I think I am going to make some cupcakes to have for tomorrow night:) My family LOVES this cake so, I am sure they will love them as cupcakes too!
If someone had showed me all these posts yesterday, I would have accused Jen of writing them herself or paying someone to do so. Way over-the-top praise for a simple cake recipe and not a cure for cancer. Some people, Huh? Well, count me as one of those people that now consider Jen as a personal best friend of mine whom I trust with my life and will never question or doubt a single word that comes from her mouth even though we’ve never met or have spoken to each other. What’s more shocking about how deliciously moist and incredibly tasting this cake is, is that I’ve been a sorta decent cook in mostly nursing homes for over 25 years now and until 2 hours ago, I’ve never heard of a PB cake. EVER!! THANKS JEN! Now try your hand at a cure for cancer, you know I believe you could do it Bestie.
Merry Christmas to you:) Thanks much for the afternoon chuckle!
Hi can you explain what type of flour are you using.Is it plain or self raising flour?
I’m from the uk so it is a bit different.
Hi Wei! I use an all-purpose flour for this recipe. I hope that helps.
Please advise if the flour is all purpose or self rising. I see the question several times but no reply.
I made this cake yesterday and it was great. Very flavorful and really moist. However I did make some changes. I added a tsp of baking powder used salted butter in the cake and used unsalted In the frosting. I also cut back on the powdered sugar and added a bit more milk. Still ample amounts of frosting.
Hi,
Can you tell me if the peanut butter cake uses self rising flour or all purpose flour?
Thanks
Hello Jen! Thank you for this recipe. I’m very excited to try this cake on Sunday my only doubt is if I should use salted or unsalted butter for the cake as well as the frosting.. please let me know . Thank you cheers!!!
Best cake ever!! My go to cake now. Be sure to refrigerate so you get an amazing peanut fudge frosting! Tastes exactly like fudge! Can’t say enough awesome things about this!!!!
This cake is, AMAZING, DELICIOUS, MOIST,FLAVORFUL, SCRUMPTIOUS, I could go on and on, do not change anything in the recipe, thanks for sharing, Bless your Grandmother
I think your recipe needs a teaspoon of baking powder, mine rose much better when I added a teaspoon.
Gail
Tried this recipe for something different to bake. Super easy and my family loved it!
I only used the cake recipe, not the frosting. I put it in 3 6-inch rounds, baked for about 35 min. It came out delicious. I love PB cookies and this cake tastes just like one but in soft cakey form. I ended up making a PB&J cake with it, homemade strawberry jelly in between the cake layers and frosted with vanilla buttercream. So good! Thank you for this recipe. It’s totally a keeper.
Can you make this into two round cakes to make a layer cake with frosting in between? Would the bake times vary?
New baker here. Is the flour plain, do you use baking soda, not baking powder? Sounds wonderful, will try this.
Best cake I’ve ever made! It came out perfect and it’s addictive too. Thank you for this fantastic recipe.
I had a craving for peanut butter and found this recipe. My family didn’t want to try it. However, they took one bite and the whole thing disappeared. It was fantastic! I made it gluten free too. Super easy recipe to convert. Thank you for an amazing recipe.
Oh, Sarah,
Have NO fear whatsoever. The very same thought occurred to me, but let me tell you your apprehensions are groundless. This cake is soooooooooooooooo flavorful you may be sorry – because it is honestly wonderful. A whole room full of women were swooning over this cake, and some are really picky. Go ahead and do it like she wrote it – you will not regret it.
Never have I ever had more people rave about a cake than with this one. I took it to a potluck with a bunch of nurses, many of them who are faithfully “healthy” eaters. All that went out the window when this baby was cut and “sampled”; and one lady even told me that if this cake were made every month at our potlucks, she’d be happy, happy, happy. It is a winner in every way. Nothing too extraordinarily hard; the ingredients are all there all the time; and it’s just absolutely dee-lish-us! Than you so much for sharing.
is the temperature degrees or Fahrenheit?
I made this cake last week. Instead of the frosting listed, I opted for fresh cream flavoured with peanut butter,as my daughter has an allergy to icing or powdered sugar frosting. This is absolutely THE best cake I have made. It will be a regular bake at our house. Thanks for the recipe.
Yasmin, my husband can’t have powdered sugar because of the cornstarch in it, but I found different brands of powdered sugar that use tapioca starch instead… and he absolutely loves the icing!
I made it today,the batter was enough for a 2 layer cake. It turned out perfectly. I do recommend adding more milk to the frosting to thin it out.
This was absolutely the best cake ever!! Actually tastes just as good the next day. I did refrigerate it and it did make the frosting taste just like peanut butter fudge!!
Will be making this many mire times.
So excited to make this cake. Is the flour all purpose or self rising? And should I use salted or unsalted butter? Thank you!!
Ever since I made this homemade cake for my husband he wont eat any other cake. He loves this cake. He at the whole cake by himself with in a week. He says it is the most moist cake he has ever eaten. It’s not too sweet. it is perfect. The only thing is he likes layers so I am going to try and do the cake in a few layers next time a make it. Hope it turns out just as good. I wonder how many layers that would be able to make with this recipe? Any idea?
I forgot to give it 5 stars…but here they are.
Would you recommend the density of this cake for make a layer cake?
This is absolutely up there with the best cakes I’ve ever had. My kids did most of the work and it still came out moist (kids love to stir up that gluten!) I’m obsessed. My family is obsessed. I can’t wait to share this with friends! Thank you!
I made this cake two nights ago & it is SO GOOD! I used Reginald’s Homemade Bourbon Pecan Peanut Butter; which kids can have because the bourbon cooks off, so don’t freak out…Without a doubt, this is one of the best cake recipes I’ve ever used. It will definitely be made again.
I actually followed the recipe to a “T”, which I don’t usually do. Except for a smidge less sugar & no icing. Thank you for such a fabulous cake recipe. :-D
This cake was fabulous! I was also skeptical about using water but I followed the recipe and I’m glad I did! The cake was incredibly moist and delicious! We will definitely be making this for years to come.
I am new to baking cakes, but the idea of adding water doesn’t seem appealing, so I’m wondering if you could just add more milk or oil if it needs more wet…or does the water serve a purpose?
The water is necessary to help with the consistency of the cake, it melts the sugar and brings everything together if that makes sense…. Very moist if made this way.
Oh, Sarah,
Have NO fear whatsoever. The very same thought occurred to me, but let me tell you your apprehensions are groundless. This cake is soooooooooooooooo flavorful you may be sorry – because it is honestly wonderful. A whole room full of women were swooning over this cake, and some are really picky. Go ahead and do it like she wrote it – you will not regret it.
I really love this cake; easy to make. My family loved it as it was a birthday cake for some family. I will definitely make it again .
So good! Was a bit with friends just a huge sized cake but not complaining 🤣
Made this cake today I halved the recipe because it’s just myself and my husband ,I’m glad I made a smaller version. It was so good we would have eaten all of the 9×13 ourselves .
Hi this is Kristina visiting from Wow me Wednesday. Wow this looks incredible! I am a major PB fan and will be pinning this to my real food desserts board.
This looks and sounds delicious! Do u think this recipe would work for cupcakes?
Hi Nicole! I bet it would. I have not made as cupcakes as of yet. if you try, be sure to let us know the results.
Don’t know if you tried it yet but I did and they turned out perfect! I cooked them for 15 minutes in my oven.
WOW WOW WOW….this was the best cake I have ever eaten. My grandaughter said this to be her birthday cake from now on. Thank you for the recipe.
Glad she liked it. It’s a keeper recipe for sure.
I made this cake today and my entire family demolished it. Not a crumb left. Delicious and so moist! A new favorite!
I just made this yesterday. We tried it when it was room temp., pretty good! I put it in the refrigerator overnight and WOW..yummy! Not sure why, but it tastes much better cold.
Warm or cold, I’ll keep this recipe for sure.
Thanks for sharing.
This looks amazing. The cake looks so moist. Makes me want to grab a fork and gig in!
I just made this cake yesterday. My husband was skeptical that he would like it, but hw absolutely loved it. I will keep this recipe close at hand for future gatherings. Thanks so much. Karen
So happy your family enjoyed this cake! My kiddos gobbled the one I made this past week. I only had one piece. I think I need to make another.
Do you leave it in the baking dish after it’s cooled or take it out?