Peanut Butter Cake
on Jan 16, 2019, Updated Nov 01, 2020
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.
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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.
I am eating a piece of this cake as I type. The flavor is wonderful. I am a peanut butter lover and this really hits the spot. However, the frosting is a bit too sweet, and it’s quite greasy. I refrigerated the cake right after frosting it early this morning. I like the denseness of the cake but the edges got too done due to having to leave it in the oven much longer than the 40 min it says in the recipe… for the middle to get done. I used a 9×13 glass cake pan.
If using a glass baking dish, lower the temp 25-degrees for better results next time!
Thank you!! That tidbit of information is very helpful.
For the frosting sweetness, add 1/4 tsp salt to cut the sweetness. Although there’s salt in the peanut butter and possibly in the butter, the added small amount works without adding saltiness. For the frosting greasiness, the oils in peanut butter fluctuate between brands, so you may need to add 1/4 cup more powdered sugar. Mix well. If still oily and still soft to spread, add another 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Continue adding in small increments to get desired spreadable frosting. Definitely add salt as mentioned above, if adding additional sugar to cut sweetness.
This is absolutely the best cake I have ever made in my entire life (and I’m not a super great cook either, especially baking.) My mom is a peanut butter queen, and she absolutely LOVED this cake! She’s still raving about the wonderful flavor hours later. I was kind of skeptical of the cup of water honestly and how “soupy” it made the batter, but reading reviews I did the recipe exactly, and it’s amazing. It’s the perfect texture, has the best flavor. I made it in a round pan so it’s two tiered, with icing heavily layered between, and each piece did take that whole 35-45 minutes.
One of the best cakes I’ve ever had. My cake fell in because I didn’t want to overcook it but ended up not cooking long enough. Despite that, the cake was super moist and delicious.
Just put my peanut butter cake in the oven. I modified the recipe to make it dairy free and gluten free . It’s for a coworkers birthday, so fingers crossed that it is delicious!
Hi, How did you modify the recipe, please would appreciate . Thanks in advance
I just made this as is and it. did. not. disappoint. Wow! So moist and flavorful! Love love love!
How do you measure Peanutbutter? It’s so sticky.
You can spray it with vegetable oil and put it in a measuring cup. I usually spray my spoon too. Works like a charm. Happy baking!!
No rating yet, making it for daughter birthday but I was wondering if I can all a little chocolate Ganache to the top?
Hi Ashley! Happy Birthday to your daughter, I hope she has a nice one. I have not tried any chocolate ganache on the top but it sounds AMAZING! If you give it a try, be sure to let us know how it works out.
I forgot to heat the peanut butter and water so we’ll see what happens 😳
Same girl
I made this for my daughters 23rd birthday. She doesn’t like chocolate and requested peanut butter cup cakes. I was totally delighted she wanted a home made something, as when the kids were little I was known for my fabulous, rich, dense cakes! I made it as written, put in cup cake tins and it was perfect! Mental note: don’t use the paper cup cake liners. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!
Hi. Is there an ossie with the paper liners? what do you suggest?
Thank you
I made the recipe, except substituted almond butter for peanut butter. It was absolutely delicious. So moist and yummy. My family loved it!
Hi
My cake sank.
Do i need to put baking powder in the recipe?
Thanks
The usual cause of a cake sinking is under-baking. Oven temps need to be checked with a thermometer periodically to make sure you don’t need to “adjust the dial” to compensate for a “hot” or “cool” oven. Also, sometimes opening the oven door and letting cooler air hit the cake before it’s done can cause it to sink. Of course, the pan itself (regular metal surface, no-stick, glass, or dark) can affect cooking time and what temp you should use. If you were using baking powder, I’d say to check the expiration date. I had a cake failure once when the baking powder was one day expired, but this recipe uses baking soda. Always set pans on cooling racks the recommended time. A very cool counter might cause the cake to fall. If you’re baking at high altitudes, ingredients, temperatures, and or cooking times may require adjustment. This isn’t the problem you had, but to avoid over-cooking, don’t use convection ovens for baking. I hope something in this list of ideas will be of help.
I made this cake for my Daughter’s fiancé. It was delicious. I made it as a layer cake in two 8 inch rounds….Thanks for the great recipe.
How long did you bake them for?
This was so yummy and super easy to make. Definitely going into my recipe book for the future!
I am not a fan of peanut butter but I tasted one my sister in law made. It was great! She made me a whole cake. I searched for a recipe that I wanted to remind me of the middle school cafeteria! This peanut butter recipe is awesome! I remember baking with my granny when I was younger. Last Friday night me and my granny got in the kitchen and used your recipe!! Let’s just say it was all gone Minday morning! Kudos!! Now people want men to make.them one!
The cake was very moist.. The next time I make it I will use less peanut butter in icing and do more of a buttercream icing. Seemed to have a strong peanut butter favor. My son enjoyed it for his birthday dessert!
When you say flour, do you mean All purpose or self rising? And with butter.. salted or unsalted? Just making sure I do this correctly. Thanks y’all!
The frosting tasted good enough, however, it was extremely oily and looked nothing like the picture. I followed the recipe, but it turned out oily and gloppy. I actually kept placing paper towels on the frosted cake to remove the oil. Please help. I’d like to make this cake again. The cake was very good. I just need to get the frosting right.
Thank you, Markie
You can’t use natural peanut butter in the frosting. Any peanut butter you have to stir will result in the same oily frosting.
For the frosting greasiness, the oils in peanut butter fluctuate between brands, so you may need to add 1/4 cup more powdered sugar. Mix well. If still oily and still soft to spread, add another 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Continue adding in small increments to get desired spreadable frosting. Add 1/4 tsp salt to cut sweetness. (In my buttercream recipe, there’s 1 cup of butter/shortening to 4 cups of powdered sugar, so you have some “play room” to adjust since this recipe is 1 1/2 c butter/peanut butter to only 2 cups powdered sugar)
Do you use cake flour? Or have you tried using cake flour?
Question peanut butter is listed twice in cake recipe how much hours in the 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.
What peanut butter do you suggest using
I would recommend Jif Brand peanut butter. It is it best of them all, and is my personal favorite as well.
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!
What type of flour do you use and what kind of peanut butter is best to use