This chocolate peanut butter cake is an extra moist, rich, three layer chocolate cake with creamy peanut butter frosting and a sweet chocolate glaze on top! Perfect for birthdays or any special occasion, it’s a must-try for chocolate and peanut butter lovers.
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Test Kitchen Review
Why I Love this Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake
Chocolate and peanut butter โ a combination after my own heart. This is one of the moistest cakes I have ever made. I took my best chocolate cake recipe and added a fluffy peanut butter frosting, making every layer sheer perfection! I have made this chocolate and peanut butter cake recipe for countless birthdays. It is one of Jorgeโs favorites so it makes it perfect for Fatherโs Day as well. Heck, you donโt even need a special occasion, this cake will disappear on a random Tuesday just as fast! Check out what makes it so amazing:
- Rich: If you’re craving an extra rich chocolate cake with a thick peanut butter frosting, this cake is for you. It’s perfect for all the chocolate lovers in your life!
- Easy: While the layered look of this cake is pretty daunting, don’t worry – it couldn’t be easier to assemble this picture perfect chocolate cake recipe.
- Perfect for parties: I have made this chocolate and peanut butter cake every year for Jorgeโs birthday for the past 7 years. It has officially become his birthday cake!
- Impressive: While you and I know the truth (that this cake is quick and easy), no one else needs to know that! Let yourself enjoy the bragging rights of serving this gorgeous layered cake.
Looking for more chocolate and peanut butter desserts? Check out this easy chocolate peanut butter sheet cake, classic peanut butter blossoms and giant Reeseโs peanut butter cookies that are sure to impress!
Key Ingredients
Below you will find helpful notes for key ingredients used to make this decadent chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and exact amounts!
- All Purpose Flour: Spoon the flour into the measuring cup then level the top with a butter knife. Do not dunk the cup straight into a packed bag of flour. If you do, you will overly pack the flour into the cup and use more flour than needed, causing your cake to be overly dense.
- Dark Chocolate: Dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate work perfectly to create the richest flavor and to balance the sweetness from the sugar. I don’t recommend swapping this with milk chocolate.
- Peanut Butter: Creamy peanut butter is essential for making the smooth frosting. Natural peanut butter is usually too oily, so I recommend using standard peanut butter.
- Milk: You can use any milk that you have on hand. If you do not want to have to refrigerate the cake for storage, I recommend using evaporated milk (canned milk) in the peanut butter frosting!
How to Make this Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
Don’t let the layers intimidate you, I promise it’s easier than you think it will be! Below is a quick recipe overview, but please scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions and to watch the step-by-step video.
- Make the batter: Whisk together the dry ingredients first. Then, combine the sugar and water on your stove top. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and mix in the chocolate and butter. Whisk in the oil and vanilla, then beat in the eggs (quickly so they don’t cook)! Then, whisk in the dry ingredients until smooth.
- Bake: Divide the chocolate cake batter evenly between your prepared pans and bake. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.
- Make the frosting: Cream the butter and peanut butter together, then add vanilla and salt. Add the powdered sugar in a half cup at a time. Add milk (just one tsp at a time) until the frosting goes from dry to light and fluffy.
- Frost the cake: This is the fun part! Just make sure that there’s a thick layer of frosting between each layer to help keep things nice and sturdy. If your cakes baked up unevenly, use a large serrated knife to level the top of your cooled cakes before assembling with the icing.
- Serve: Frost on one final thick and even layer around the outside of the cake. Decorate as desired with peanut butter cups and a drizzle of chocolate sauce on top of the cake, if desired! Slice, serve and enjoy!
Chef’s Tips and Variations
- Prep your pan: If youโre worried about your cake sticking, flour the edges of each pan after youโve buttered them. You can also add a circle of parchment paper to the bottom to guarantee your cake will not stick!
- Even cake layers: Ensure your cake batter is spread evenly between all three cake pans so they all bake up evenly at the same time.
- Let the cake cool: Let the cake layers cool completely before decorating, otherwise, the icing will melt and make a big mess. The cake layers can be made a day or two before adding the frosting to save you time on the day of!
- Add a crumb coat: A crumb coat is a very thin layer of frosting used to โglueโ crumbs down. This prevents any crumbs from coming loose and making your icing lumpy. Apply a thin crumb layer on the top and sides of your cake and then chill cake in the fridge until frosting is firm. Then frost with the final thick layer of frosting.
- Even Baking: These cake pan strips wrapped around your cake pans make the biggest difference for a perfectly evenly baked cake! If you use these, you should not have to level your cake!
- Double chocolate: Sometimes I swap the peanut butter frosting recipe for my favorite chocolate buttercream frosting to create an epic chocolate on chocolate cake!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ยผ cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 5 oz dark chocolate, chopped
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
Peanut Butter Frosting
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ยผ cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ยฝ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons evaporated milk, or regular milk
- Chocolate Sauce
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Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐF. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, combine water and sugar. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and add chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally, until melted. Chill the butter mixture in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Whisk in vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Quickly beat in eggs into the melted chocolate mixture until well combined. Whisk in dry ingredients, until smooth. Do not over stir, mix just until the batter comes together.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 20 to 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cakes cool in pans until cool to the touch โ then frost.
Frosting
- Cream butter and peanut butter in a stand mixer or in a bowl with a hand mixer. Add the vanilla and salt. Gradually add powdered sugar, one half cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl as needed.
- When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk, one teaspoon at a time, and beat at medium speed until perfectly light and fluffy.
- Assemble the three cake layers with a thick layer of frosting in between the layers. Then apply a thin crumb coat on the top and sides. Pop cake in the freezer to harden the crumb coat for about 10 minutes.
- Apply one final thick and even layer around the outside of the cake and top with chocolate sauce and decorate, if desired!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
More Must-Try Best Chocolate Cake Recipes
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I have made this cake recipe many times over the last few years as both a cake and cupcakes, sometimes with the peanut butter icing sometimes not. It has become the go to chocolate cake the whole family. Great recipe!
Great tasting and moist cake. I double the icing and cut the cakes in half for more peanut butter icingโฆ so good
This cake tastes amazing! It’s fairly easy to make but seems like there are a few small technical tweaks that it could benefit from.
For context, I’ve made this cake and followed it to the letter (with good ingredients including leaveners) 2x over a few years.
This time preparing the cake, I noted a few small things to investigate:
1. Allowing the liquid mixture to cool completely to room temperature before adding the dry ingredients
2. Increasing the flour slightly.
My cakes have twice turned out fairly flat and dense (but so so moist!). I noticed before I’m able to pour them, that the baking soda and the first part of the baking powder are reacting. Lots of bubbles rise to the surface after mixing in the dry. My wet mixture is generally warm but not warm enough to curdle the eggs when I add the dry. Baking powders first stage activates with moisture and the second stage actives around 140 F. I’m thinking since the batter is so loose that there is no way for most of that leavening to be trapped to rise the cake. Which is why I may try increasing the flour slightly too.
Anyway, just wondering a loud so others may learn. โบ๏ธ Thanks for the amazing recipe! People RAVE about this cake!
Does the cocoa powder need to be sweetened or can it be unsweetened?
Unsweetened cocoa powder! ๐
I made this cake for work. Everyone loved it. Best cake ever.
Hey Jess, whatโs your instagram handle? I wanna post pics of my version of this cake but want to be sure I give you credit for the delish recipe! โค๏ธ
Hi Beth! That’s so kind, thank you for wanting to share! It’s @thenovicechef on instagram! ๐
Iโm closing a chocolate peanut butter to make for my husbandโs birthday. Your cake sounds amazing and seems to be well loved. Iโve seen cake that adds some strong brewed coffee. Do you think I could sub some coffee in place of the water that goes into making the simple syrup? Please share your thoughts.
Hi Dawn! Yes, you can replace some of the water with cold coffee, or you can also add a tablespoon of instant espresso to the batter!
This is GOOD cake!!!!!!! I’ll definitely be making this one again for sure.
One thing that I did, and I suggest doing: Instead of tossing your eggs in the hot mixture and hoping they don’t curdle, I suggest tempering the eggs first by adding your hot liquid to the eggs, a little bit at a time, THEN adding the tempered mixture to the rest of the batter. That’s usually the way you’re supposed to add eggs to a hot mixture.
This cake is delicious. Can it be made using gluten free flour?
Hi Josephine! I have not personally tried it, if you do, I’d love to hear how it turns out for you!
What flavor dark chocolate is best? Intense, bittersweet, semisweet or unsweetened?
Whichever you prefer is the best choice, personally I prefer to use semi-sweet chocolate!
I made the cake for m boyfriends birthday. I did alter the recipe and use a peanut butter icing in between layers and chocolate icing on the outside ! But i cant wait to try it.
This cake is DELICIOUS! The chocolate sauce instructions didnโt work for me last time, so this time I just made an actual ganache. I wish I could post a picture!
Is the decoration on top whipped creamโฆand if so how do you get the light tan color?
Hi Carla! The decoration on top of the cake is just extra of the peanut butter frosting piped on top! Hope this helps!
Is it moist enough to not have to use a simple syrup? CAN I use a simple syrup?
Yes, it’s definitely moist! I haven’t personally tried brushing this cake with simple syrup, but I *think* it should be ok! Just go light! ๐
What kind of dark chocolate do you use? Do you use baking chocolate or just a regular bar of chocolate?
You can use baking chocolate or any chocolate bar with a cocoa count of 60% or higher!
Made this today, was definitely nervous about how runny the batter was and wasn’t sure if the cake was fully done after 23min but I took them out and let them fully cool in the pans. I used 2 9inch pans. I used parchment paper in the bottom of the pans and ran a knife around the edges, came out perfectly. It all came together perfectly and is so good! My husband loves chocolate and peanut butter, he loved this cake. I just melted chocolate chips with coconut oil for the chocolate on top. Happy Valentine’s Day!
I want to make this for a birthday, but the birthday person likes milk chocolate better than dark, so for the cake can u replace the dark Chocolate with milk chocolate? And will it still have the same flavor?
Hi Riley, yes you can use milk chocolate!
And same with the chocolate sauce, if u replace the dark with milk chocolate will it still have the same taste?
It will have a lighter chocolate taste, but will still taste chocolate-y!
First time trying this recipe. It was super moist, almost like a brownie. Next time I will use parchment paper along with buttering the pans. I waited until the cakes were completely cooled before turning them out but it stuck to the pan and I had to scrape it out and stick it onto the cakes. I did a crumb coat and then put the cake in the freezer for an hour and then finished frosting it. The peanut butter buttercream was amazing!!! My family loved this cake. I will definitely make it again.
Can you make cupcakes with this recipe if so what temp and time
Hi Jerry, yes you can! The same temperature and they will probably need around 18 to 22 minutes to bake depending on the size of the cupcakes!
Can I use the cake batter to make cupcakes??
Yes!
What tip did you use for the top rosette type decorations before putting the mini candies in?
A large closed star tip!
What would the measurements be if Iโm using a 10 x 2 cake pan
This cake was AMAZING! The moistest chocolate cake recipe I have found so far, yet it wasn’t too dense!! The frosting was a little too peanutbuttery for me, but my husband lived it! I made this for hi. For our 15th anniversary and he sent me a text today with a cartoon character crying because his cake is all gone! So, tomorrow I am making another one!
One question, my cake was a 3 layer 9 inch – yours looks quite a bit taller than mine. Is there something I did different than you?
Thank you so very much!!
Hi Debbie! Glad you enjoyed it! I used 3 – 8-inch baking pans, not 9-inch. So mine is a little taller than yours. ๐
Hi
If I am using 10 inch cake should I double the recipe or is that going too be way too much and to big. Or should I do 1.5 of the portion.
Thanks
Vilma
Hi Vilma! If using 10 inch cake pans, you can bake three thin layers or two thicker layers with this recipe. If you want to do extra layers, I would recommend doubling the recipe!
Hi Shelbie! I’m sorry, but I haven’t used that size of a cake pan as it’s very unusual.
Hi I am not trying trying to reply to anyone directly, but Iโm really wanting to know how much batter I would need to make a 6โ round cake? I donโt wanna waste any by having left over. Just wondering if you have that figured out?
Thanks!
Hi Shannon! If you want to use 6 inch pans, the recipe will make about 4 layers of 6 inch cake pans. I’m sorry, but I don’t have a paired down version of the recipe. You could always halve it and do only two 6 inch pans. Hope this helps!