This moist peanut butter cake recipe is one of the creamiest cakes I’ve ever had! Soft layers of peanut butter-infused cake are filled and topped with the most velvety soft peanut butter frosting. If I could define ‘melt-in-your-mouth’, it would be this cake! Perfect for satisfying your peanut butter cravings.
Why You’ll Love This Peanut Butter Cake
If you’re a peanut butter lover, you are going to fall in love with this cake and here’s why!
Firstly, the cake layers are some of the softest I’ve ever baked, and they have real peanut butter in them. This allows for a wonderful peanut butter flavor to come through, without it being over powering.
I will say though, that despite how good the cake layers are on their own, the star of this recipe is the peanut butter frosting. I think it’s the creamiest frosting I’ve ever made! Here’s how I would describe it: lightly sweetened peanut butter, that’s been whipped into a fluffy cloud like frosting that quite literally melts in your mouth. HOW INCREDIBLE DOES THAT SOUND!
I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge peanut butter fan, but this peanut butter cake I would eat over and over again for dessert.
Tips For Getting This Recipe Right
Here are a few pro tips to ensure you have the best possible outcome.
Using the right peanut butter
Firstly, make sure you use a creamy peanut butter, and one that is unsweetened. If you use a sweetened peanut butter (like Skippy or Jif), your cake will be a bit sweeter. This cake isn’t overly sweet though, so it may not be an issue for most people. However, if you do prefer a less sweet cake and only have a sweetened peanut butter on hand, then you can reduce the sugar in the cake batter slightly (I’ve added notes on the recipe card below with more information).
Be careful not to reduce too much of the sugar though, as sugar changes the texture of your cake (click here for more info). Too little sugar may result in your cake not baking up into that soft fluffy texture that we want.
I would also recommend using a peanut butter that doesn’t need to be thoroughly mixed (i.e. it doesn’t have a thick layer of oil on the top). This will just ensure that you’re not accidentally adding too little or too less oil to the cake batter, which can again impact the final texture.
Weighing out ingredients
If you have a kitchen scale, I would highly recommend using it for accuracy. Peanut butter has a lot of fat in it, and using too much or too little can significantly impact the final texture of the cake.
Will you be okay without a scale? Probably, BUT for best results, always best to use a kitchen scale 🙂
How to Make Peanut Butter Cake
This recipe comes together easily in a few quick steps.
Peanut Butter Cake
Begin by preheating your oven to 180 °C (350°F) and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake pans. I use my homemade cake release to grease my tins. If using a fan function (convection mode) then you will need to reduce the temperature to 160C/320F.
In a bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add in butter, vegetable oil, white granulated sugar, soft brown sugar and peanut butter. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine – see note 2), cream together on a medium speed for 3 minutes until light and creamy.
Add in eggs one at a time on a low speed, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
Add in vanilla and pour in buttermilk, and mix on a medium speed until well combined. You should have a smooth creamy batter. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
Add in the flour mixture from earlier into the peanut butter mixture and using a spatula, gently fold until just combined. Do not overmix.
Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins, and drop the cake tins lightly on the counter to remove any large air bubbles. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it.
Once baked, allow the cakes to cool in the cake tins for about 15-20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before frosting with the peanut butter frosting.
Peanut Butter Frosting
In a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer if using one), add in butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, cream, peanut butter and salt.
Mix on the lowest speed until the ingredients are combined (about a minute), and then turn up the speed to a medium high and mix for a full 10 minutes, scraping down the bowl half way through. If using a stand mixer then use the paddle attachment.
The frosting should be silky smooth and it’s now ready to use! If you find that your frosting is a bit firm and has a lot of air bubbles, then it means that either the butter or cream was too cold. To fix this, gently heat the buttercream in the microwave for 5 second bursts (don’t heat it for too long otherwise the buttercream will melt), mixing in between each burst until the frosting is softer in consistency and you can easily mix it, and then re-whip it for a few minutes.
How To Decorate Peanut Butter Cake
You can go ahead and decorate this cake however you like, but here’s a little ‘how-to’ on how I did mine.
So to start off I levelled off the tops of my cake layers so that they were nice and flat. This helps prevent your cake layers from sliding around once you come to stacking your cake.
I also trimmed off the caramelised edges of the cake layers. This step isn’t necessary though – I just wanted the perfect thumbnail (haha!), so you can skip it if you want 🙂
I then went ahead and placed my first cake layer in the middle of a cake stand and smoothed out some frosting on the top with my offset spatula.
I then placed the next cake layer on top, and again smoothed out some frosting on top and sides of the cake, so that the cake was completely covered. I didn’t bother doing a crumb coat (check out this video for more info on what a crumb coat is), but you can do one if you prefer. I then used my cake scraper to smooth out the sides.
Now when you scrape the sides of a cake, you usually end up with a lip of frosting around the top edges. To get rid of these and get a ‘sharp edge’ on the top, slowly bring your offset spatula into the middle of the cake, catching that lip of frosting as you go.
I then finished off by piping some little swirls on the top using a 1M piping tip.
And that’s it! The cake is now ready to serve. Enjoy!
Commonly Asked Questions
How do you store peanut butter cake?
This cake can be left out at room temperature overnight, however after a day or so it’s best to pop the cake into the refrigerator due to the cream in the frosting. The sugar and fat content will stop the frosting from going off immediately, but just to be safe it’s best to refrigerate no later than the day after it’s made.
Put the cake in an airtight container before refrigerating to prevent it from drying out.
What goes well with peanut butter cake?
Peanut butter in general goes so well with chocolate, so it’s no surprise that this cake will work great with chocolate too. You could add some chocolate to the top for extra decoration, or put a chocolate ganache drip onto the cake. You could even fold some mini chocolate chips into the batter!
I’ve also seen many recipes use a cream cheese frosting for peanut butter cake. I haven’t tried this myself just yet, but perhaps something you might like to experiment with!
Moist Peanut Butter Cake Recipe
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Cake
- 1⅔ cups (210 g) all purpose flour
- 3 tbsp (24 g) cornstarch
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- ⅓ cup (80 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ⅓ cup (75 g) unflavored vegetable oil - I use canola oil
- ½ cup (100 g) white granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (150 g) soft brown sugar - in the US use light soft brown sugar
- ⅔ cups (150 g) smooth unsweetened peanut butter - use a creamy, processed one (see note 5 if using a sweetened version like Skippy)
- 3 large eggs - room temperature
- 1½ tsps vanilla extract/essence
- 1 cup (225 g) buttermilk - room temperature
Peanut Butter Frosting
- 1½ cups (340 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- 3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar - also known as icing or confectioners sugar
- 2 tsps vanilla extract/essence
- ½ cup (120 g) whipping or heavy cream - room temperature
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup (250 g) smooth unsweetened peanut butter - use a creamy version
Instructions
Peanut Butter Cake
- Preheat oven to 180 °C (350°F) (see note 1 if using a fan function) and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake tins. I use my homemade cake release to grease my tins.
- In a bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add in butter, vegetable oil, white granulated sugar, soft brown sugar and peanut butter. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine - see note 2), cream together on a medium speed for 3 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add in eggs one at a time on a low speed, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
- Add in vanilla and buttermilk, and mix on a medium speed until well combined. You should have a smooth creamy batter. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
- Add in the pre-sifted dry ingredients from earlier and using a spatula, gently fold until just combined. Do not overmix (see note 3).
- Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins, and drop the cake tins lightly on the counter to remove any large air bubbles. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it.
Peanut Butter Frosting
- Before beginning: If you're making a simple cake with no crumb coat, only a thin layer of frosting on the sides and little to no piping, you can get away with making a half batch (or 3/4s) of the frosting 🙂
- In a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer if using one), add in butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, cream, peanut butter and salt.
- Mix on the lowest speed until the ingredients are combined (about a minute), and then turn up the speed to a medium high and mix for a full 10 minutes, scraping down the bowl half way through. If using a stand mixer then use the paddle attachment.
- The frosting should be silky smooth and it's now ready to use! See note 4 if your frosting isn't light and smooth, or too soft.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
86 Comments
Hi, I have a question about the frosting. I am making this cake and a bundt pan… Found a real cute design. I was wanting to make the frosting so that I could drizzle it over the cake… What should I add or take away from the frosting recipe you have so that I can drizzle it?
This is going to be made on March 3rd.
Thanks for a quick reply!
Hi Kristen! 🙂 In terms of baking this cake in a bundt pan, it may work fine, though I cannot guarantee it will rise/bake as intended as the cake layers are quite soft, so too much batter in one tin may result in a cake that isn’t as fluffy. Would love to hear how you go though if you decide to try it out so I can inform other readers who want to know 🙂
In terms of the frosting, because it will just be drizzled over the top, you could probably get away with making half the frosting recipe, and then add a bit more liquid to it (e.g. heavy cream). You could even heat it once it’s made and that will turn it into a more liquidy consistency. May require a bit of experimenting though as I haven’t tried this myself. Hope that helps 🙂
Hello, this cake l9oks amazing, by the way…🙂 was wondering if I can use 9 inch cake pans, and what the time might be for those. Thanks in advance, and cannot wait to try this recipe.
Thanks so much Mary! 🙂 Yes you can totally use 9 inch pans, you would just need to reduce the cooking time slightly (I would check the cakes 5-10 mintues earlier than the stated cooking time). Try not to check them too early though as opening the oven door too early can cause them to sink. Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
Bleached or unbleached flour?
How well would the peterpan honey roast PB work in the recipe?
Hi Rodney! Here in NZ we use unbleached flour, but I believe bleached would work fine as well. The creamy Peterpan honey roast PB would work, but because it has additional sugar, you will need to reduce the sugar in the recipe if you prefer a less sweet cake 🙂 check out the recipe notes on the recipe card for more info. Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Do you recommend a specific brand of peanut butter? Am in NZ 🙂
Hi Grace! 🙂 I personally use the Pams smooth peanut butter, but any smooth/creamy version that doesn’t require mixing will work fine. Most of our peanut butter here in NZ doesn’t have added sugar, but just double check the one you decide to get to make any necessary adjustments if it does have sugar 🙂 enjoy!
That looks amazingly delicious
Thanks so much Robin! 😀
Can I make this in a 9×13 cake pan?
Hi Sherry! 🙂 Yes you could totally make this into a 9×13 inch sheet cake. You may just need to adjust the cooking time (cook for less time if the height of the cake layer seems like it’s going to be on the thinner side, or more if it’s on the thicker side). Enjoy!
Does it have to be unsweetened peanut butter? We just have regular smooth peanut butter.
Hi Kara! 🙂 You could use peanut butter that has sugar added in, your cake will just be a little sweeter. This cake isn’t overly sweet as it is, so you can either keep the recipe as is and use the peanut butter you have, or reduce the sugar slightly (I’d say by about 2 tbsp in the cake batter). Hope that helps 🙂
Can I make this recipe into cupcakes? Any tips?
Hi Shelli! Yes this recipe should bake up well as cupcakes. I would half the recipe if you only want 1 tray of cupcakes (12), and I would check the cupcakes around the 18 minute mark to ensure they don’t overbake and then bake more if needed. Enjoy 🙂
Thank you! Right at 17-18 minutes worked perfectly! Will the frosting work well to pipe a simple design when cooled? Do I need to make any changes?
Awesome! So happy to hear that baking time worked well 🙂 and yes the frosting holds up quite well even though it is a softer frosting, so some piping should be fine. I did some piping on my cake and it held up great. You could add a little more powdered sugar for a more stable frosting if you don’t mind it being a bit sweeter, but without the extra sugar it should be fine 🙂 enjoy!
Gluten free version would be nice.
Hi John! 🙂 Will keep a gluten free version in mind for future recipes. Many of my readers have used gluten free flour (like Red Mill) as a 1:1 replacement with the all purpose flour in my recipes and it seems to work well so you could perhaps give that a go, though I haven’t tried it myself so can’t say for sure it’ll yield the same results 🙂
And that’s it! The cake is not ready to serve. Enjoy…Ok so is it Ready to eat or not????
Haha oops!! Typo on my end! It is indeed ready to serve 😀 Will change this now. Thanks Debra 🙂