I don’t have the data to back it up, but I would venture to say that peanut butter and chocolate has to be one of the most popular flavor combinations out there. Surely it’s in the top ten. It’s certainly in my top few.
The advantage of that kind of popularity is that the baking world has no shortage of recipes for us fans to try. I don’t imagine I’ll exhaust the possibilities any time soon.
The cake’s flavor is not overwhelmingly peanut butter-y. It’s just enough, though, to satisfy peanut butter fans like me. I love that this cake doesn’t need a frosting. The crumb topping and chocolate chips are the perfect topping to dress up an otherwise traditional cake.
This cake is denser than most, making me think of it as a snack cake more than a full-out dessert. Of course, I wouldn’t turn it away if it were presented on a pretty plate. Just know that it’s also the kind of cake that can be cut and eaten while holding it in your hand. Not that I did that. Well, maybe once.
Ingredients
- 2 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups light brown sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 9″x 13″ baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, combine flour, brown sugar, peanut butter, and butter. Remove 1 cup of mixture and set aside.
Mix in baking powder and baking soda. Mix in milk and vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Transfer batter to prepared pan. Sprinkle top with reserved flour mixture and chocolate chips. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Chefs.com.
February 13th, 2012 at 4:43 am
oh my, that looks good…adding to my favs!
February 13th, 2012 at 6:51 am
Love peanut butter and chocolate together, a perfect combination. This cake looks delicious!
February 13th, 2012 at 11:27 am
A match made in heaven. Yum!
February 13th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
This cake is made to be devoured – how decadent
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Latest: Healthiest Natural Sugars Muesli Bars
February 13th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
Lovely! Will have to look for peanut butter in Spain and try this recipe!
February 14th, 2012 at 12:44 am
love when cake doesn’t need a frosting! pb+chocolate is a match made in heaven!
February 14th, 2012 at 12:37 pm
Ummm…I just made this cake following recipe exactly and it did not turn out as pictured – my crumb topping melted down into the cake. What did I do wrong?
I’ll try it once it cools. Hopefully, it will still taste good.
February 15th, 2012 at 7:17 am
My guess would be that your batter wasn’t thick enough to hold up to the crumb topping. That’s usually an overmixing issue.
February 15th, 2012 at 7:49 am
This looks delicious! Like a peanut butter cup became a cake! In my list of recipes to try for sure.
February 16th, 2012 at 4:53 am
I made this last night and it turned out spectacular! Mine looks just like your photos!
Delicious and super, super easy!
February 19th, 2012 at 8:40 am
This looks amazing. Snack cakes are always better, you end up eating so much of them
February 27th, 2012 at 5:57 am
I made this the other day and it was fantastic! thanks for sharing!
April 29th, 2012 at 3:43 am
I don’t usually comment on recipes, but I’ve had this one bookmarked for awhile now and finally tried it yesterday. This cake turned out AMAZING. My Husband and I both love it and I’ll be making it again and again.
I did halve the amount of chocolate chips, but made no adjustments otherwise.
Thank you so much for the recipe. It was unbelievably easy to make for such a great reward.
After writing about it, I must go have a slice. Now.
May 21st, 2012 at 2:12 pm
This is such a delicious cake! The crunchy topping is so good! I had to bake mine for 45 minutes. I also added a dollop of whipped cream on each slice when serving…YUM!!! Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe!
June 3rd, 2012 at 10:13 am
I made this cake yesterday, and I’d have to say I was a little disappointed. It was a very dense cake, and the topping was tasty There just wasn’t enough peanut butter and/or chocolate chip flavor for my taste.
I’m very glad I made it though; my hubby loved the batter, licking it straight from the bowl.
June 5th, 2012 at 2:08 pm
Has anyone tried cooking this in a smaller pan? I only have a 8X8…
June 6th, 2012 at 7:35 am
Lindsey, you can half the recipe for an 8-inch square pan. The only issue is you’ll need 1 & 1/2 eggs. For the half, break the egg into a small measuring cup. Beat it lightly, then use half the volume.
June 23rd, 2012 at 3:12 pm
This is the best cake ever!! Thanks for sharing!
July 29th, 2012 at 5:15 am
This cake is good. However, my husband and I both agree if we make it again we will put the chocolate chips in the cake and then make chocolate frosting for the top. It is not very sweet and the flavors are not as strong as I think we had expected.
August 18th, 2012 at 8:19 am
It also works well with 1 1/4 c Trader Joe’s Sunbutter for those with a peanut allergy.
August 30th, 2012 at 4:44 pm
August 30, 2012. I made this cake today. It is wonderful! Very moist & easy to made. Everyone really liked it so, it’s a keeper for sure. I’ll make this again. Thanks for the recipe!
September 1st, 2012 at 5:26 pm
I love peanut butter + chocolate! I’d love to try this recipe, but I don’t have brown sugar. Do you think I could sub a yellow cake mix for the flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda? I would combine the cake mix with the melted butter and peanut butter, save 1 cup for the topping, and then continue the recipe from there. I know it wouldn’t be as good as homemade, but do you think it would work?
September 1st, 2012 at 5:39 pm
Julie, that’s a pretty big substitution with a lot of changes implied. If you have granulated sugar, I would use that instead of brown sugar and not risk the cake mix.
September 1st, 2012 at 8:21 pm
Thanks, Jennifer. Why didn’t I think of granulated sugar?!
September 9th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Julie, it easy to make brown sugar from white sugar, hon. Just use 1 cup granulated white sugar and 1 tablespoon of molasses, per cup needed of brown sugar. You only need to mix it with a fork until the all the white has turned brown. For dark brown sugar, use 1 1/2 Tablespoon molasses per cup white sugar. Works perfectly everytime! If you just substitute white sugar for brown, your product will not be as rich and full of deep flavor. It should still be tasty though!
September 9th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
I made this cake today and OMG it is tasty! After reading some of the earlier comments, I substituted 1 cup whole wheat flour for 1 of the cups of white to give it a more “nutty” flavor…which it did PERFECTLY! I also increased the peanut butter to 1 1/4 cup for more peanut flavor and a little more moisture. Instead of 1 cup chocolate chips on top of the cake, I stirred them into the cake. Don’t wory I still added a up to the top of the cake as well, but used miniatures instead! The topping is awesome! Jennifer, this is now my picky family’s favorite cake. Thank you so much for introducing it to us! You rock! And so does this cake!
September 10th, 2012 at 12:44 pm
This is the exact recipe for the first cake that my Grandmother taught me to make about 40 yrs. ago. I made it for my kids as an after school snack and now I am making it for my grandchildren. Everyone loves it.
September 15th, 2012 at 6:28 am
My Grandma used to make a peanut butter chocolate chip years ago and it was wonderful. I am hoping this recipe is close to what she used to make because nobody has her recipe. I am hopefully making this today. Thank you for the recipe!
October 6th, 2012 at 5:45 pm
Made this cake and it was unbelievable!!!! It came out looking exactly as your pic! and although it was great the night i made it, it was even better the next day!! the cake stayed moist for a few days (much longer than i thought) and i ate it once a day!! LOL This cake is so moist and good I would definitely make it again!!
November 29th, 2012 at 1:15 pm
Has anyone tried replacing the flour with gluten-free flour to make this recipe gluten-free? If yes, did it turn out? I’m gluten-free and I love peanut butter and chocolate and want to try to make this gluten-free!
February 6th, 2013 at 4:28 pm
I made this last night for my birthday. Added a cup of peanut butter chips and a cup of chocolate chips to the batter. It was delicious! I will just add that I let my husband pull it from the oven after 55 minutes and he said the toothpick was clean, but it was way undercooked. He now knows not to depend on the toothpick. But this would have taken over an hour to fully cook for us. I had to toss half the cake. Our fault! I blame my cat for being too snuggly on my lap for me to get up. Just don’t be afraid if you think it’s taking too long to cook! Will make again!
April 2nd, 2013 at 7:56 pm
Jennifer,
My grandmother used to make this cake for me when I was a little girl. I’ve lost track of the recipe so I was so excited to come across it on Pinterest. Looking at the pictures I can smell it baking. I can’t wait to make it this weekend for a church event. Thank you for giving me a little peeve of my childhood back!