15 Delicious Peanut Butter Cake Recipes You’ll Love

Ahh, peanut butter. We love you on toast, in sandwiches, and in desserts. If you’ve been craving a cake with a hit of peanut butter in it, then sit back and read this list – we’ve got you covered. 

Whether you like it smooth or crunchy, there are peanut butter cake recipes for you here! You’ll also see that there’s a lot you can do with peanut butter in your baking and that the possibilities for creating new flavor combinations are endless.

Peanut Butter Cake

A classic peanut butter cake recipe, but an exceptionally good one. This is a cake where the peanut butter is really center-stage and the other ingredients are just there to support it – it’s not competing with chocolate or fruit here. 

It’s given a wonderful richness with the addition of buttermilk in the batter and butter and cream in the frosting, making it a moist cake. Make sure to only take it out the oven once a toothpick inserted has come out clean, otherwise you risk underbaking the cake. You’ll be willing your stomach to open up enough for you to have a second slice and it’s tasty enough that you’ll probably succeed!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

The combination of peanut butter and chocolate has a long and happy history. It works in ice cream and it works just as well when it comes to cake. 

This recipe is one of Nigella Lawson’s and her reputation for decadent desserts is well-deserved. This one is topped with dry roasted peanuts over the creamy peanut butter frosting for a wonderful nutty crunch to go with the rich, sweet peanut butter and chocolate combination.

Plus, this cake will remind you of Reese’s peanut butter cups!

Carrot and Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Icing

This is where we start to go into slightly unusual territory. You’ve probably eaten (or at least seen) a carrot cake before, but mixing it with peanut butter is an unorthodox move. It definitely pays off, though. 

It also includes a lovely bit of cinnamon, which adds spice, and a refreshing citrus kick with orange and lemon juice and zest. The result is inarguably delicious. This recipe calls for smooth peanut butter but crunchy could also work if you prefer a bit more bite.

Old-fashioned Peanut Butter Cake

If you know someone who loves peanut butter, make them this cake. This is a different style of peanut butter cake that hails from the Deep South, where it’s a staple at potluck dinners. The secret is to pour the hot peanut frosting on the warm cake and then top it with a large helping of roasted peanuts. 

Another thing you should know is that this is a sheet cake, so you can make it easily even if you don’t have a cake tin.

Chocolate, Peanut, and Raisin Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing

We’ve seen a chocolate and peanut butter cake already but this is something quite different. First off, these are cupcakes, so you can make a batch of them to give out to your friends or at work. 

Another thing is that this recipe includes raisins. Actually, the recipe calls for chocolate raisins but you could replace them with regular ones if you don’t want to overdo the chocolate too much.

Banana-nut Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Peanut butter and banana is another one of those time-honored food parings and it really comes alive in this cake. The recipe for the cake itself called for chopped nuts but if you want to really emphasize the peanuts, you can just use those. 

The frosting is where the peanuts really come out to play – the sweet peanut butter with a hint of vanilla really goes down a treat.

Vegan Peanut Butter Cake

Peanut butter cake is delicious, and thankfully, it’s a dessert that isn’t too hard to adapt to vegan dietary requirements. This one’s for the vegan peanut butter lovers.

This recipe uses plant-based milk and peanut butter powder to achieve that classic taste without sacrificing any of the flavor that makes peanut butter cake so great. You can experiment with different kinds of milk, too.

Peanut butter tres leches cake

In case you were wondering, tres leches is Spanish for “three milks”. The name comes from the fact that the cake is soaked in three kinds of milk – evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream. 

The traditional recipe doesn’t include peanut butter, but we think you’ll agree it’s a worthy addition. The resulting cake is deliciously sweet and has that characteristic creamy peanut butter flavor we all love.

Honey Roasted Peanut Butter Pound Cake

This dense pound cake is a glorious confection of honey and peanut butter. Honey roasted peanut butter is something you might not have tried before so if you’re looking for something new and exciting to bake then this could be exactly what you’re looking for. 

The recipe also calls for you to honey roast peanuts yourself. If you have any left over afterwards, they make for an absolutely amazing snack in their own right.

 Mixed Berry and Peanut Butter Streusel Cake

What’s streusel? It’s a topping often used on various types of cake. It’s made of flour, butter, and sugar and can also include oats, nuts, and spices (often things like cinnamon and nutmeg). It also makes a great topping for this particular cake. 

The recipe calls for strawberries and raspberries but also suggests blueberries as an alternative. Other berries would also be great so if you have them, use them! When it comes to the streusel, you have a fair bit of liberty to experiment. 

If you want spices, you could add ground cloves and mace to the peanut butter mixture. Oats and nuts add a nice crunch to it too. Peanuts would go well, but you could try almonds, pecans, and more.

 Peanut Butter Coconut Layer Cake

The toasty, nutty flavors of peanut butter and coconut were surely born to be together, but for some reason, you tend not to see them paired very much. The author of this recipe clearly thinks this is just as unfortunate as we do, and they’ve mixed the two masterfully. 

The peanut butter layer cake includes coconut milk and is covered in a coconut frosting that’s finished with shreds of lightly toasted coconut. If you say you don’t want to try a slice of this then we won’t believe you.

 Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake

It’s peanut butter jelly time! Just about everyone is familiar with this combination from sandwiches eaten as a kid (did you like your crusts on or off?) but it’s reached maturity in this cake. It’s an impressive-looking layer cake, its sides coated with a wonderfully nutty buttercream and topped with jelly. 

The nostalgia factor is very much in play here but even without that help, this cake is absolutely first-rate. Of course, which type of jelly you use is completely up to you. Strawberry and grape are favorites, but if you want to experiment, apricot, blueberry, and pineapple are all great options.

 Peanut Butter, Rum, and Cola Cake

From a childhood throwback to something a bit more adult – here’s a peanut butter cake that benefits from the addition of some liquor (rum to be precise). A rum and coke is a classic drink for a reason and it makes the transition from cocktail to cake beautifully. 

The cola’s mixed in with the batter so that sweet flavor is present all throughout. It’s then topped with an incredible rum and cola syrup as if the cocktail’s been cooked down to its delicious essence. 

To finish, add sugared peanuts on top of the peanut butter icing. We’re not sure who came up with this recipe, but they deserve all of our thanks.

Peanut Butter Mug Cake

Mug cakes are a brilliant way to have fun baking with your microwave. As an added bonus, they can be made in double-quick time, too. The taste of this one is somewhere between a peanut butter cookie and a piece of fudge cake. 

Yes, you’re right, that does sound amazing. Another great thing about it is that you only need a few ingredients. In fact, it’s one of the simplest recipes on this list. 

It’s easy to modify too – add chocolate chips if you like, or if you want to remove the egg, just add extra milk to compensate.

 Peanut Butter Cheesecake

This is peanut butter cake made classy. It calls for sweet ricotta cheese, peanut butter, golden syrup, and milk for the main part. It’s served with cream whipped with sugar and scattered with pieces of peanut brittle. 

A good thing about this one is that it can be kept for quite a long time in the freezer – up to two months. This means it’s a good one to make in advance of a party or event. All you’ll need to do is thaw it when you’re ready.

Final Thoughts

Did you ever think that peanut butter cakes could be as varied as this? Whether you’re looking for a classic peanut butter cake recipe or are interested in finding something a touch more unusual, whether you’re looking for a recipe you can make in a few minutes or have hours to spare, there’ll be a cake for you on this list. 

Maybe you’ve even been inspired to come up with your own original recipe. If so, good for you! The world can always use another kind of peanut butter cake.

Kathryn Sewell

Kathryn Sewell

Hi! I'm Kate and I have been baking and cooking for as long as I can remember. I like to share the most interesting tips and recipes I try here on What Kate Baked for you to enjoy. If you have a favorite recipe you'd like to share send it over on social.

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