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
Video
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.
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
Oh my gracious! Thank goodness for Google. I was home on a Sunday morning when I remembered a coworkers birthday. He, like my son, is a peanut butter lover. I decided to try my luck at finding a new recipe and stumbled across this one. I had all of the ingredients at home, the reviews looked good so I thought I’d give it a try. This was a HUGE hit. Everyone loved it and made sure I saved this recipe for future events. Hardest part of the entire process was sifting the 3 cups of powdered sugar (probably had something to do with my tendonitis). LOL! Thank you so much for sharing. YUM-O!!
Thank you Babs for coming back to leave this glowing review…you’ve made me hungry for peanut butter cake and it’s only 7 am 🙂
Sue, I made your old fashion peanut butter cake for my son’s birthday. Everyone loved it. It was wonderful. I wanted to know if you make a 9 by 13 inch carrot cake? Please send me the recipe. Thanks so very much. Again thanks Diane
Gosh I don’t Diane, but that should definitely be at the top of my to do list. I’ll probably have to fit it in after the holidays, maybe even closer to spring, but I’ll definitely do it 🙂
My husband’s favorite cake is a peanut butter cake, for years and years on his birthday I have chosen a random recipe from the internet and not once been happy with what I ended up with. Well my years of searching are over!! This recipe has been printed and added to our family recipe binder!! I can’t say enough how wonderful this cake is. The cake is moist and delicious. The salty peanuts on top are the perfect compliment to the sweetness of the frosting…we will make it again and again!
I couldn’t be more thrilled!
I finally got around to making this cake. What can I say, it was DELICIOUS! I took it to work with me and I will say that it did not last very long. The cake was so moist, not too sweet but just right. It was definitely a hit with the crew!
The crew might just demand this on a regular basis! Thanks for coming back to let me know Rena 🙂
I had some chunky peanut butter and yogurt that were about to expire, looked for help to use them up, and ended up here. The result was a moist, soft and utterly delicious cake even though I’m not really a big PB fan. Reduced the sugar by half and omitted the frosting, and am very pleased with the result. In fact, the sweetness was just perfect for me and my family after reducing the sugar.
Thank you!
Why no natural PB? Does it effect the finished cake? Is it OK to use for the icing? Thanks!!
I only avoid the natural pb because it tends to be more oily than the regular, and is a bit more unreliable in baking, but you can use it if you like.
I just tried this recipe! So yummy! Very moist and fluffy. It’s very hard to find buttermilk in Brazil, specially where I live. So I used regular whole milk yogurt instead to make the batter. I did not make the frosting because I like naked cakes better. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe. It’s now part of my family’s recipe book. Abraços!
You’re so welcome Layla, and I’m glad you enjoyed it even without the frosting!
Sue, can I make the old fashion peanut butter cake the night before and serve it the next day? Should I refrigerate or leave out?
Thanks Diane
I would just leave it out, covered with foil, Diane.
Can u make a two or three tier cake with this recipe?
It’s a very moist cake, but I think you could make a 2 layer cake.
Hands down, this is the BEST bake that I have ever made! Perfect balance of salty sweet crunchy buttery… Recipe is also very forgiving. I am British and got confused about cups/sticks as I prefer metric, and I have even made it quite successfully using almost twice as much butter as I am supposed to. I bake for a small cafe and this bake is always one of the fastest to sell out. Thank you so much Sue!
A best seller? Wow, that’s amazing. Now you’ve got me craving a piece.
can you use regular milk instead of buttermilk???
Yes, that should work fine.
Well I have a question and I would love to make this cakeand I am needing to know if i can make a two layer rounds with this frosting . I have a lady who wants a old fashioned peanut butter cake with this type of frosting for her soon to be husband. She wants round cake not the sheet cake style.
You can make the cake in round pans, but the frosting would be tricky because it’s pourable, and then hardens as it sits on the cake, so I’m not sure how that would work on a layer cake. You might look up a different peanut butter frosting for your cake, Leigh.