Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Recipe: This Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake has layers of chocolate cake and peanut butter frosting that is smooth and creamy. It is topped with a rich chocolate filling. If you want a really tasty cake, add some Reese’s peanut butter cups!
This Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake is a chocolate lover’s dream. It’s rich, moist chocolate cake and a delicious mix of two of my favorite flavors. You can make this cake ahead of time in steps, which makes it easy for any event!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cake:
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup oil (vegetable or canola oil)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water , or hot coffee
For the Peanut butter frosting
- batch Peanut Butter Frosting
For the Chocolate Frosting:
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 12 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for topping on cake, optional
Instructions
- Warm the oven up to 350°F. Put parchment paper around the bottom of two 8-inch round baking pans that have been greased.
- In a big bowl, mix sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
- To the bowl, add the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat for about two minutes on medium speed.
- Pour in the hot water and stir. The batter will be very thin, but that’s okay. Pour the batter into cake pans that have been prepped.
- Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
- Once cakes have cooled, use a sharp serrated knife to cut each cake horizontally in half, so that you end up with four, thin cake rounds.
- Place one cake layer on serving plate. Smooth ⅓ of the peanut butter frosting on top of that cake layer. Repeat with the remaining cake layers, adding a layer of peanut butter frosting between each layer of cake.
For the Chocolate Frosting:
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Add melted butter to a large mixing bowl. Stir in cocoa powder. Add powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and beat with electric mixers until smooth. Add additional powdered sugar to thicken frosting or milk to thin it, as needed.
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Use an offset spatula or butter knife to spread the frosting evenly over the outside of the cake. I piped swirls of extra chocolate and peanut butter frosting on top and topped with a mini Reese’s peanut butter cup.
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Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Cake Variations:
- Put non-stick cooking spray in a 9×13-inch pan and grease it. Fill the pan with batter. Put the pan in the oven and heat it to 350 degrees F. Allow the cake to cool before adding a layer of peanut butter filling. Put the frosting in the fridge to make it harder, and then add a layer of chocolate frosting if you want to.
- Cupcakes: Put paper cups in a cupcake pan and fill it two thirds of the way to the top with batter. Put cupcakes in the oven for 22 to 25 minutes. Let it cool all the way down before frosting. It makes 24 to 30 cupcakes. Every cupcake should have a small piece of cake in the middle. I like to put peanut butter filling in the middle of each cupcake. If you want, you can add a small Reese’s cup on top of the chocolate filling as well.
- Bundt Cake: Grease and flour the pan first, then bake the chocolate cake for 50 to 55 minutes. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning it over onto a wire cooling rack. Frosting lines of chocolate and peanut butter frosting one after the other.