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.
98 Comments
Ms., can we cake flour instant of all purpose flour and the how quantity should put
Hi Yashnee! 🙂 I haven’t tried it myself but cake flour should work fine in replacement of the all purpose flour and cornstarch in the recipe 🙂 so 234g of cake flour in total and omit both the all purpose flour and cornstarch.
Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
has anyone tried this with a 1:1 gluten- free flour? thank you
Hi K! 🙂 I haven’t myself, but perhaps one of the other readers can chime in. Based on feedback with other recipes, it has seemed to work fine (if using a gluten free flour that’s designed to act as a 1:1 substitute with all purpose flour) 🙂
Can I make this into cupcakes? Would I need to do any ratios differently?
Hi Rathi 🙂 Yes you can totally turn these into cupcakes! You would just need to reduce the cook time to about the 18 min mark – everything else will stay the same 🙂
Enjoy!
I was going to start my diet tomorrow but I changed my mind. I’m going to make this cake instead! Diet? What diet? 😂 😋
Haha I feel you Brenda!! Hope you enjoy the recipe 😀
Is it possible to make this cake in a Bundt pan? My son is not a big fan of frosting…
Hi Sharon! 🙂 I haven’t tried this recipe in a bundt pan myself and I am not too sure if it will rise well as the cake layers are quite soft and bake up better as thinner individual layers as opposed to a tall cake. So sorry I couldn’t be of more help!
Can this cake be made in a 9×13? How long would you suggest baking it?
Hi Nancy! 🙂 Yes you can make this recipe in a 9×13 inch pan but it may just cook a bit faster so I would check it around the 25min mark and then bake more if needed 🙂
Enjoy!
I’ve been practicing this cake to make for someone. I’m using 6 inch pans and I am finding that the sponge/cake is dense.
Is this expected with this cake? Or is it the pans? or the amount of PB?
It tastes delicious don’t get me wrong but wondering if I can make it even better.
Hi Jacob! 🙂 With the 6 inch pans, are you halving the reccipe or placing all the batter for 1x this recipe into two 6 inch pans? If it’s the latter, then this is likely the reason why the cakes are coming out a bit dense as there is too much batter in the cake tins. As the cake layers are quite soft, they don’t rise as well if baked as ‘tall’ cakes, so I would recommend halving the recipe for two 6 inch cake tins 🙂
I would also recommend using the gram measurments (if you didn’t already) for best results as too much flour or liquid can make for a dense cake. Lastly, overmixing can also make for a dense cake so just ensure that the batter isn’t overmixed at the end 🙂
Hope that helps for next time Jacob!
I made this a couple of weeks ago for a game night and I really intended on providing feedback the next morning. Instead, I had another piece of cake! Everything (okay, bar one) I’ve made following your recipes and videos have been incredible. I’ve never been “the popular one,” but now things are changing… if I’m carrying a cake!
This beautiful cake was easy to make (though it takes me far longer than what it takes you… I think it has to do with organization skills, or lack thereof!) and the taste was over the top! The game was paused – and the pleasure of eating this cake was audible!. The cake was not merely eaten – it was worshipped and “experienced.” It was incredibly moist and that frosting is what peanut butter clouds must taste like!
I added some shaved chocolate on top of the peanut butter frosting between the layers, and it was wonderful. I think that, the next peanut butter cake might need to have the layers split and “glued” back together with the peanut butter frosting, and between the layers I will use your to-die-for chocolate fudge frosting. Oh my… my mouth is watering again!
Since I’ve “met” you, I have embraced the scale (well, the FOOD scale… you are NOT helping me with that bathroom scale, my friend!) and the results are an epicurean delight! Funny thing is that I see no reason to try recipes by anyone else… but if I considered it and they didn’t spell out the weights, I would pass! You’ve made me a better baker.
(Question: Refrigerated, how long can I store the frosting? And can it successfully be frozen?
Aww thank you for taking out the time to write me such a heartfelt comment Leslie! 😀 So so happy to hear you’re loving the recipes and that you’ve now become the cake queen!!
Shaved chocolate sounds like such an incredible addition to this peanut butter cake and chocolate fudge frosting would be soooo good as an additional frosting!
Yes baking with a scale can seriously improve your baking game – it certainly did mine! It just helps to make sure things are always consistent 🙂
The frosting can be kept refrigerated for up to a week, and in terms of freezing I am not too sure sorry as I’ve never tried it myself! Though my gut feeling is that it should be okay (just let it come to room temp and re-whip it once you’re ready to use it again).
Hope that helps Leslie and thank you again for putting such a big smile on my face! 😀
Followed instructions
Easy to put together and the frosting is the best, light, fluffy with just enough peanut butter flavor. Cake came out moist. Taking to a party and hoping for rave reviews.!
Awesome! So so happy to hear you loved the recipe Shirley 😀 hope it went down a treat at the party! 🙂
I have been having dreams about peanut butter cake and peanut butter frosting. Made this cake and it did wonders. It was amazing. The frosting light and fluffy. Not too sweet. My husband took some to work and now I have to make more bc they were gone in the first half hour. Definitely keeping this recipe.. I made them into cupcakes
Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback Jme! So glad you, your husband and his coworkers loved the recipe! 😀
I just want to say I absolutely love your recipes! They are the ones I use the most while baking. I made like 8 of your cakes already (this one is the 9th one 😉) and I loved all of them. They always turn out to be so moisty and soft. Have you considered posting recipe for hazelnut cake? I would love it.
Hi Mary! Thank you so so much for your wonderful feedback, I’m so happy to hear you’ve been loving the recipes 😀
I will be sure to pop a hazelnut cake on my to do list for future recipes 🙂
Thank you again for all your love and support 🙂