This is the perfect peanut butter cake recipe. It has the great taste of peanut butter without being overwhelming. I can’t wait to make it again and share it with friends! ~Marci
This old fashioned peanut butter cake is a winner!
Peanut butter cake is a good old Southern potluck staple. It starts with a base of moist peanut butter sheet cake. Then hot peanutty frosting gets poured right over the warm cake, and the whole thing gets showered with roasted peanuts. Just. Divine.
I can’t imagine there are too many of you out there who wouldn’t enjoy this old fashioned sheet cake. I loved everything about it. Starting with the cake itself; peanut butter does something wonderful to the texture. It’s not too sweet, just the way I like it, and very pillowy and moist. And I can’t even with that frosting.
gather your ingredients
- all purpose flour
- granulated sugar
- peanut butter
- I love Jiff for its flavor and texture. Regular creamy pb works best. Natural peanut butter, the kind that separates with an oily layer at the top, doesn’t work as well for baking.
- butter
- eggs
- vegetable oil
- buttermilk
- the buttermilk in the cake and in the frosting gives this cake its Southern charm.
- confectioner’s sugar
- baking soda, salt
- vanilla extract
- crushed peanuts
The hot peanut butter frosting is like peanutty caramel, so good
If you’ve tried my Brown Sugar Peach Cake or my Pumpkin Praline Cake, you might have an inkling about this one. The frosting is cooked in a saucepan, and then literally poured right over the cake. It sets up immediately, almost like fudge or caramel. You have to work quickly, but your reward is that saucepan with a thin layer of peanut frosting clinging to the sides…Let’s just say I stood there scraping it with a spoon for an embarrassingly looooong time.
we love caramel
- Pumpkin Layer Cake with Caramel Frosting
- Caramel Frosted Zucchini Pecan Bars
- Salted Caramel Pot de Crème
- Caramel Apple Sheet Cake
- Caramel Apple Bundt Cake
whisk up peanut cake batter right in a saucepan!
The batter is thin enough that you can whisk it up in a saucepan, no mixer or extra bowl needed. That makes this amazing cake dangerously easy to throw together (it could get habit forming.)
the bottom line
The older this site gets, the longer my favorites list gets, but I’m looking you straight in the eye when I say this peanut butter cake is a goodie. You’ll love it, and it will serve you well if you need an easy dessert to bring anywhere this season. The 9×13 cake can serve up to 24 people, right out of the pan. Try it.
“I never bake but I made this for my son’s birthday and my whole family thinks it may be the best cake they ever ate. The frosting is so good, like a peanut butter caramel.
Thanks for a great recipe!!” ~Gerry
Peanut Butter Cake
Equipment
- standard 9×13 baking pan
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter Note: I used regular peanut butter for this recipe, 'natural'peanut butter does not work as well.
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
frosting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 6 Tbsp buttermilk, you might need a touch more if your frosting is too stiff
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
garnish
- 1/2 cup roasted peanuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick spray.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Heat the butter and water in a medium/large saucepan until it comes to a boil. Take off the heat and whisk in the peanut butter and oil until smooth. Let cool for a few minutes, then whisk in the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla until well blended.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and whisk until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set the cake on a cooling rack while you make the frosting.
- To make the frosting, put the butter, peanut butter, and buttermilk in a saucepan and bring to a full boil. Take off the heat and beat in the vanilla and powdered sugar, adding a cup at a time, until the frosting is smooth. I like to put it back on a gentle heat just to rewarm it, stirring constantly, before pouring over the cake. Note: if your frosting is very stiff and not pourable, add a little bit more buttermilk to thin it out.
- Pour the hot frosting over the warm cake, working quickly because the frosting sets up immediately. Spread evenly over cake.
- Garnish with peanuts.
Video
Notes
- Make it chunky! Yes, of course, go ahead and use chunky PB for this cake. I would still use smooth for the frosting, but that’s your call.
Nutrition
Hi, you mentioned the preheat temperature but not the baking temperature. Is it the same?
Yes, the same.
Hi Sue! I didn’t read ALL the comments, just enough to see a bunch of rave reviews, so if my question has already been answered, my apologies.
Do you think I could use Jif/Skippy etc. light pb? Trying to shave calories where I can. But on the other hand, Kraft recently came out with a dark roast version that is to die for. Maybe I’ll use that one for the frosting! Thanks!
I think the light pb would be fine, and I need to track down the Kraft dark roast, that sounds right up my alley 🙂
Best peanut butter cake ever….my son in law and his dad, have requested it for their birthdays every year since I started making it. It never lasts more than one day at our house!
I made this on Mother’s Day as dessert for the big meal I made at my Mom’s house. Everybody loved it! I used mini chocolate chips because my step-father and mother do not do nuts (false teeth) and it was a great substitute.
I put them on while the frosting was warm so they melted ever so slightly but didn’t totally turn into blobs.
For some reason, I read “baking powder” instead of “baking soda” and used baking powder that day. (I had a lot going on so I probably wasn’t paying enough attention.) But, the baking powder version was terrific! I have another in the oven now, this time with baking soda. Don’t know how it could be better than what I made before, but curious. Thank you for a great, decadent recipe!
Made this today for my son’s birthday. Because I wanted to construct it as a bar cake with chocolate mousse filling between the layers, I wanted a less-dense, less-moist cake, So I made a few changes:
1. Cut the sugar to 1 c.
2. Nixed the buttermilk and used a heaping 1/2 c of Zoi Greek Honey yogurt
3. Cut the water to 3/4 c
4. Used a heaping 1/2 c of PB
5. Used 1/3 c of oil
6. Skipped the cooked frosting
I spread it in a parchment-lined 11×15 in bar pan, and baked it for 25 minutes. The end result is a deliciously soft, light cake that’s about 1/3” thick and will hold up BEAUTIFULLY when stacked. This recipe is fantastically easy to adapt to fit a variety of needs!
Thanks for the great adaptation Kerri 🙂
I am not a big peanut butter fan but this cake, oh my goodness, it is delicious. I have made it twice in a month and it has been a hit at both dinner parties. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
Oh my goodness.. One of the BEST!! I made recently for my Son in Law’s birthday and it was A HIT!! Loved the ease of making this, quick and simple! The cake is beyond moist and not too sweet, but full of wonderful deliciousness! Its a keeper! Followed the directions to a “T”.
Hey what can I substitute for eggless
Maybe try one of the new egg substitutes from Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur flour, they’ve gotten good reviews.
Made this cake for Easter and it got rave reviews. Tempting and tasty, loved it.
Can this recipe be halved and made in a square pan?
That should work fine!