This Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake includes layers of chocolate cake and creamy peanut butter frosting, covered in a decadent chocolate frosting. Add some Reese’s peanut butter cups for a truly delectable cake!
Want more cake recipes? Try my Hershey’s Chocolate Cake, Missippi Mud Cake, or Berry Cake!
Talk about a chocolate lover’s dream, this Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake has it all with decadent, moist chocolate cake and delicious blend of two of my favorite flavors. This is a great cake to make in stages ahead of time, making it really easy for any occasion!
How to make Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake:
Combine dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Add wet ingredients: eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
Stir in boiling water or hot coffee (batter will be very thin). pour batter into greased round cake pans with parchment paper liners at the bottom.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then invert onto cooling racks to cool completely.
Cut cakes in half, horizontally, using a sharp serrated knife, so you end up with four, thin cake rounds.
Peanut Butter Filling: Add ⅓ of the peanut butter frosting on top of the first cake layer on the serving plate. Repeat, adding frosting between the remaining 3 cake layers.
Make Chocolate Frosting: Pour melted butter in a large mixing bowl and stir in cocoa powder. Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla and beat with electric mixers until smooth. Thicken or thin, as needed. Spread frosting evenly over the outside of the cake.
Decorate (optional) the top of the cake with piped swirls of chocolate frosting on top and mini Reese’s peanut butter cups, if desired.
Variations:
- One Layer Cake: Grease 9×13” pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool before frosting with a layer of peanut butter frosting. Refrigerate to harden the frosting, then add a layer of chocolate frosting, if desired.
- Cupcakes: Line cupcake pan with paper liners and fill 2/3 full with batter. Bake cupcakes for 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely completely before frosting. Makes 24-30 cupcakes. I think it’s fun to scoop a small piece of cake out of the center of each cupcake and pipe some peanut butter frosting in the center. Then frost the cupcakes with chocolate frosting and add a mini Reese’s cup on top.
- Bundt Cake: Properly grease and flour the pan and cook the chocolate cake for about 50-55 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan before inverting onto a wire cooling rack. Frosting alternating lines of chocolate and peanut butter frosting.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: The baked cake and frostings can be made a day or two in advance. Wrap cakes tightly, and store frosting in an airtight container. Allow frosting to come to room temperature before using.
To Freeze: Allow cakes to cool completely, then cut in half horizontally and wrap each round in plastic wrap. Place in a freezer ziplock bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Freeze frosting in a freezer safe, air-tight container and allow to come to room temperature before using.
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Recipe
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
Equipment
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
- 1 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
- Heat oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch round baking pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
- Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
- Stir in the boiling water (your batter will be very thin–that's OK!). Pour batter into prepared cake pans.
- 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:
- 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.
- 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.
- Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
I originally shared this recipe March 2016. Updated September 2021.
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I haven’t used this recipe yet but I have searched high and low for a Reese’s peanut butter chocolate cake I once had in a book that never came back after loaning to a friend. Do not loan cook books to anyone. Anyway I’m going to use the cake part, it sounds like the recipe I had but the filling was only a cup of peanut butter and a Tablespoon of oil. Then the chocolate frosting over that. I baked mine in a sheet cake so I hope and pray this turns out right. The peanut butter filling in this recipe sounds like way too much sugar for me.
I followed the recipe and used 2 8 inch cake tins. They completely overflowed onto the sheet pan I had put underneath. IF I use this recipe again I will use three cake pans and not try to cut them horizontally. The recipe should state how deep the cake tins should be.
Delicious recipe! I just did two layers, so i did half of the mix in each 9″ springform pan (i prefer baking cake with them). And i did a decent amount of pb in the middle. Then piped some decorative peanut butter frosting on top to make up for less peanut butter layers! Did a pattern of pb frosting and chocolate frosting. Turned out great. Had no issues with the pb frosting not sticking together or being too thick. And no issues with the mix bubbling over using my two 9″ pans. Though one of my two cakes did slightly dip in the middle for some reason. But i think thats something i did wrong lol. Thank you!
I thought the cake was great . . . however, like many people, it rose too much and I needed to bake it for an hour (because I only used ONE deep baking dish) and even then it still had a liquid center. I will reduce the boiling water by 1/3 cup. It is a LARGE cake. The Other major issue is sugar!!! The peanut butter frosting is FAR too sweet. And then there is chocolate frosting and even Reece’s Pieces!!!! I ONLY made the PB frosting and even that is way too much. If I make again, I will reduce cake sugar, reduce boiling water/coffee, AND reduce the PB frosting by at least two-thirds! And I will only have the PB frosting (or only Reece’s Peices) but I need to find out how to make the PB frosting less sticky and more “fluffy” and easier to spread (add it to whipping cream?). I think there is great potential here just far too much sugar.
This recipe is completely wrong. I am an experienced baker and followed this recipe exact to find cake batter all in the bottom of my oven because they overflowed. Either the poster posted the wrong directions or something. The 8 inch round pans are definitely not big enough. Baker beware!
This cake was a HUGE hit!
Moist, rich marriage of two delicious flavours and I love how simple it was to make too.