This Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake includes layers of chocolate cake and creamy peanut butter frosting, covered in a decadent chocolate frosting. Add some Reese’s peanut butter cups for a truly delectable cake!

Want more cake recipes? Try my Hershey’s Chocolate Cake, Missippi Mud Cake, or Berry Cake!

A cake stand displaying a Chocolate peanut butter cake with a few slices removed, showing the layers inside. .

Talk about a chocolate lover’s dream, this Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake has it all with decadent, moist chocolate cake and delicious blend of two of my favorite flavors. This is a great cake to make in stages ahead of time, making it really easy for any occasion!

How to make Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake:

Combine dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Add wet ingredients: eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.

Dry cake batter ingredients added to a mixing bowl, then milk, eggs and vanilla added.

Stir in boiling water or hot coffee (batter will be very thin). pour batter into greased round cake pans with parchment paper liners at the bottom.

Boiling water added to chocolate cake batter, then the batter in a round cake pan, ready to bake.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then invert onto cooling racks to cool completely.

Cut cakes in half, horizontally, using a sharp serrated knife, so you end up with four, thin cake rounds.

A baked round chocolate cake layer being cut in half horizontally with a serrated knife.

Peanut Butter Filling: Add ⅓ of the peanut butter frosting on top of the first cake layer on the serving plate. Repeat, adding frosting between the remaining 3 cake layers.

A round baked cake layer with peanut butter frosting smoothed over it, then three more layers of chocolate cake added on top with peanut butter frosting between the layers.

Make Chocolate Frosting: Pour melted butter in a large mixing bowl and stir in cocoa powder. Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla and beat with electric mixers until smooth. Thicken or thin, as needed. Spread frosting evenly over the outside of the cake.

A layered round chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

Decorate (optional) the top of the cake with piped swirls of chocolate frosting on top and mini Reese’s peanut butter cups, if desired.

A round layered Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake decorated with Reese's peanut butter cups on top.

Variations:

  • One Layer Cake: Grease 9×13” pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool before frosting with a layer of peanut butter frosting. Refrigerate to harden the frosting, then add a layer of chocolate frosting, if desired.
  • Cupcakes: Line cupcake pan with paper liners and fill 2/3 full with batter. Bake cupcakes for 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely completely before frosting. Makes 24-30 cupcakes. I think it’s fun to scoop a small piece of cake out of the center of each cupcake and pipe some peanut butter frosting in the center. Then frost the cupcakes with chocolate frosting and add a mini Reese’s cup on top.
  • Bundt Cake: Properly grease and flour the pan and cook the chocolate cake for about 50-55 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan before inverting onto a wire cooling rack. Frosting alternating lines of chocolate and peanut butter frosting.

Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:

To Make Ahead: The baked cake and frostings can be made a day or two in advance. Wrap cakes tightly, and store frosting in an airtight container. Allow frosting to come to room temperature before using.

To Freeze: Allow cakes to cool completely, then cut in half horizontally and wrap each round in plastic wrap. Place in a freezer ziplock bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Freeze frosting in a freezer safe, air-tight container and allow to come to room temperature before using.

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Recipe

A cake stand displaying a Chocolate peanut butter cake with a few slices removed, showing the layers inside. .
Prep 20 minutes
Cook 30 minutes
Cool time 10 minutes
Total 1 hour
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Ingredients
 
 

For the Chocolate Cake:

For the Peanut butter frosting

For the Chocolate Frosting:

  • 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 12 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for topping on cake, optional

Instructions
 

  • Heat oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch round baking pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
  • Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. 
  • Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. 
  • Stir in the boiling water (your batter will be very thin–that's OK!). Pour batter into prepared cake pans.
  • Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
  • Once cakes have cooled, use a sharp serrated knife to cut each cake horizontally in half, so that you end up with four, thin cake rounds.
  • Place one cake layer on serving plate. Smooth ⅓ of the peanut butter frosting on top of that cake layer. Repeat with the remaining cake layers, adding a layer of peanut butter frosting between each layer of cake.

For the Chocolate Frosting:

  • Add melted butter to a large mixing bowl. Stir in cocoa powder. Add powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and beat with electric mixers until smooth. Add additional powdered sugar to thicken frosting or milk to thin it, as needed.
  • Use an offset spatula or butter knife to spread the frosting evenly over the outside of the cake. I piped swirls of extra chocolate and peanut butter frosting on top and topped with a mini Reese's peanut butter cup. 
  • Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

To Make Ahead: The baked cake and frostings can be made a day or two in advance. Wrap cakes tightly, and store frosting in an airtight container. Allow frosting to come to room temperature before using.
To Freeze: Allow cakes to cool completely, then cut in half horizontally and wrap each round in plastic wrap. Place in a freezer ziplock bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Freeze frosting in a freezer safe, air-tight container and allow to come to room temperature before using.
One Layer Cake: Grease 9×13” pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool before frosting with a layer of peanut butter frosting. Refrigerate to harden the frosting, then add a layer of chocolate frosting, if desired.
Cupcakes: Line cupcake pan with paper liners and fill 2/3 full with batter. Bake cupcakes for 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely completely before frosting. Makes 24-30 cupcakes. I think it’s fun to scoop a small piece of cake out of the center of each cupcake and pipe some peanut butter frosting in the center. Then frost the cupcakes with chocolate frosting and add a mini Reese’s cup on top.
Bundt Cake: Properly grease and flour the pan and cook the chocolate cake for about 50-55 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan before inverting onto a wire cooling rack. Frosting alternating lines of chocolate and peanut butter frosting.

Nutrition

Calories: 446kcalCarbohydrates: 47gProtein: 5gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 52mgSodium: 453mgPotassium: 287mgFiber: 3gSugar: 38gVitamin A: 325IUVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 88mgIron: 1.8mg

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I originally shared this recipe March 2016. Updated September 2021.

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About The Author

Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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Comments

  1. I haven’t used this recipe yet but I have searched high and low for a Reese’s peanut butter chocolate cake I once had in a book that never came back after loaning to a friend. Do not loan cook books to anyone. Anyway I’m going to use the cake part, it sounds like the recipe I had but the filling was only a cup of peanut butter and a Tablespoon of oil. Then the chocolate frosting over that. I baked mine in a sheet cake so I hope and pray this turns out right. The peanut butter filling in this recipe sounds like way too much sugar for me.

  2. 2 stars
    I followed the recipe and used 2 8 inch cake tins. They completely overflowed onto the sheet pan I had put underneath. IF I use this recipe again I will use three cake pans and not try to cut them horizontally. The recipe should state how deep the cake tins should be.

  3. Delicious recipe! I just did two layers, so i did half of the mix in each 9″ springform pan (i prefer baking cake with them). And i did a decent amount of pb in the middle. Then piped some decorative peanut butter frosting on top to make up for less peanut butter layers! Did a pattern of pb frosting and chocolate frosting. Turned out great. Had no issues with the pb frosting not sticking together or being too thick. And no issues with the mix bubbling over using my two 9″ pans. Though one of my two cakes did slightly dip in the middle for some reason. But i think thats something i did wrong lol. Thank you!

  4. 3 stars
    I thought the cake was great . . . however, like many people, it rose too much and I needed to bake it for an hour (because I only used ONE deep baking dish) and even then it still had a liquid center. I will reduce the boiling water by 1/3 cup. It is a LARGE cake. The Other major issue is sugar!!! The peanut butter frosting is FAR too sweet. And then there is chocolate frosting and even Reece’s Pieces!!!! I ONLY made the PB frosting and even that is way too much. If I make again, I will reduce cake sugar, reduce boiling water/coffee, AND reduce the PB frosting by at least two-thirds! And I will only have the PB frosting (or only Reece’s Peices) but I need to find out how to make the PB frosting less sticky and more “fluffy” and easier to spread (add it to whipping cream?). I think there is great potential here just far too much sugar.

  5. 1 star
    This recipe is completely wrong. I am an experienced baker and followed this recipe exact to find cake batter all in the bottom of my oven because they overflowed. Either the poster posted the wrong directions or something. The 8 inch round pans are definitely not big enough. Baker beware!

  6. This cake was a HUGE hit!
    Moist, rich marriage of two delicious flavours and I love how simple it was to make too.

  7. My husband wanted a choc Pb cake for his birthday and BOY did this moist cake deliver!! Easy, fast and absolutely delicious!!

  8. 4 stars
    Cake and frostings were amazing. Definitely my favorite chocolate cake and peanut butter frosting ever. I did have one problem with the recipe-when I made the cakes, they both sunk a little in the middle, even though I did not open the oven. I thought I had not mixed the hot water in carefully enough so I made it again and was extra careful, but they still sunk. I cut the top uneven part off of each of my four cake rounds, and was able to use the bottom part to make four thin layers, but not sure what I did wrong.

  9. 2 stars
    DO NOT MAKE IN 8X8. They were very full but I baked according to directions. The batter is all over the bottom of my oven. This was my Sons birthday cake. So sad!

  10. 5 stars
    I loved the recipe! I modified it slightly, but it was a huge hit! I used 1.5 cups sugar instead of 2 cups. My new philosophy is let the frosting provide most of the sweetness instead of the cake. I did use coffee. I frosted with the peanut butter frosting recipe provided. Be warned, it is very thick. It was tasty tho! And I finished it with a chocolate ganache drizzle (3/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips + 1/2 cup whipping cream). And topped it with a single crumbled Reese’s. Was delicious!!

  11. 5 stars
    Made this cake for my daughter in law’s birthday supper. She is a chocolate and Reese’s peanut butter cup lover. It was easy to make and the frosting easy to spread. The cake was a hit. My second son who is not a dessert eater said that he loved the cake. I will certainly keep this recipe for another celebration.

  12. 5 stars
    Made this for chocolate/pb-loving daughter-in-law’s birthday and it was a hit! And such great presentation…beautiful on a cake stand! And actually, we liked it even better the next day after it had been well-refrigerated. When it was well-chilled the slices also stayed together better even when cut thin.

  13. 5 stars
    This was amazing. When I tasted the peanut butter frosting I ended up making a second batch to use in peanut butter cups. Very similar ( we thought identical) to Hershey’s peanut butter cups. Gorgeous recipe and definitely a keeper.

  14. 3 stars
    Cake itself is fantastic; perfectly dense, moist and deeply flavored. The Peanut Butter Frosting, however, was a nightmare. Would not stick to the cake and began to separate within a few minutes. Wasn’t sure about those untraditional proportions (PB to butter ratio should be nearly identical) but I trusted it and ended up with a mess I’m embarrassed to serve. I’m glad it worked out for others, but I’ll be sticking with my traditional peanut butter frosting recipe.

  15. 5 stars
    Made this cake for hubbys birthday and everyone loved it! The cake was so easy to make. I used coffee instead of water and it really made the flavor extra delicious. Everyone said it tasted like a funny bone! It was a huge cake so may halve recipe next time.

  16. Followed recipe exactly and it cooked over and made a huge mess. Top was burned and center gooey. Had high hopes but not a fan.

  17. 5 stars
    This cake was amazing! It was a hit with my family. Not too sweet or heavy. Followed the recipe. Next time I’m going to try the coffee just for fun. Saving this recipe for sure!

  18. I’ve read through a few comments and I’m glad it worked for others, but this cake was an ultimate fail for me. A box cake would’ve been better. I’ve never added boiling water to a batter before and after this, I won’t be doing it again. I had the cake cooling outside on my porch (there’s snow on the ground) and over an hour passed and my cake was still just a mess. It refused to come out of the pan in one piece. I tried cooling off only inside, half time inside/half time outside, nothing worked. I have no idea what it was. All I know is I’ve been working with this recipe since four in the morning and now it’s almost 9 A.M. and every second of this has been terrible.

    1. I wonder if you used the metric recipe? When I checked the ratios between flour and sugar and cocoa I realised that the extra 2 tbsp of flour in the American version weren’t added in the metric one so flour should be c.235g not 220g. Not sure what happened with the cocoa translation but should be c.88g not 65g so out by c.38g of dry ingredients, or 10%.

  19. 5 stars
    My name is Astrid and I am 11 years old and made this for my dads birthday. It turned out amazing and was easy to bake. The one thing that worried me is that my batter was soupy, but, somehow it worked! Thank you for the recipe, and I will use it again soon!

  20. 1 star
    I’ve never had a cake fail. His was a spectacular fail. The center did something, a total different texture , one batter decided to go up over one side. I live in Maine, so I’m maybe 75 feet above sea level. This was for a dinner party tonight. Guess I better find another dessert ASAP.

  21. This recipe sounds perfect for my son’s birthday, thank you so much! One thing, when you say ‘melted butter’… do you mean stay out on the counter all day or place in microwave melted?

  22. Can you verify the mesurement for the amount of flour in the recipe is it 1 and 3/4 cup for the chocolate cake portion . Sorry want to make sure it comes out perfect ! Thanks

  23. 5 stars
    Made this for my son’s birthday and everyone loved it! So easy to make. The peanut butter filling was not overpowering, the cake was moist and chocolatey, the frosting light and the perfect compliment to the cake and peanut butter filling. This will be my go-to chocolate cake. Thank you!

  24. Don’t bake this cake in Colorado. It’ll explode all over your oven from the altitude. Screwed…..

  25. 5 stars
    I’m a huge fan of chocolate and peanut butter and I made this cake for a friend’s birthday. This might be the most delicious cake I’ve ever tasted! thank you for the recipe 🙂

  26. 5 stars
    I just made this for my 22 year old son’s birthday . I was a little sceptical because the chocolate cake was so simplistic. I cut back the sugar a little. The peanut butter filling was rich and delicious as was the chocolate frosting . Once the cake was cut into it was much more appealing visually. Next time I would save some of the peanut butter filling to pipe rosettes on the top and alternate with the reeses cups . Very rich and delicious . The cake layers came out quite thin.

  27. I made this cake and my layers seem very thin. Once they are stacked the cake will be 2in high. Of course that doesn’t count the frosting. Does that seem correct?

    1. Hi Heather, it sounds like your cake didn’t rise properly while baking. The most common reasons would be using the wrong type of flour, forgetting to add baking powder of baking soda, or using old baking powder or baking soda. Do any of these sound like they could have been the problem. I’m so sorry you had trouble–hope you get to try it again soon!

  28. My bf loves peanut butter on everything. I recently made brownies and we put peanut butter on them. They were delicious. His birthday is coming up and I plan on making this for him. I’m so excited! 🙂

  29. 5 stars
    Hi Lauren ! As a homebaker, finding this recipe in the last Minute saved me, cz my regular recipe stopped Working for me.. my client was very happy with this cake , thank you!!

  30. 5 stars
    I made this cake with coconut flour, coconut sugar, coconut oil, and coconut milk, and it turned out awesome and moist!!! Makes it GF, dairy free, soy free annnnnd pretty sure that makes it vegan, or at least vegetarian. I’m at regular altitude. Just wanted to share that these version of the ingredients turned out great for me. Just a slight hint of coconut flavor.

  31. Just made this cake for my husband’s birthday. It was AMAZING! Usually I’m not a big fan of chocolate cake. I usually feel that it’s too rich or bitter and leaves an awful aftertaste. But not this recipe. It was light with just enough peanut butter and chocolate. Nothing dominated the other components, they complimented each other so well. Thank you SO much for sharing. I will definitely be making this again.

  32. Adding the water at 6,500 ft completely ruined the cake. Literally it over flowed in the oven and didn’t solidify at all after 35 minutes. Huge thumbs down at altitude.

  33. Hi Lauren, I found your beautiful blog through Princess Pinky Girl. Your content is awesome and your pics too. Loving this delicious cake, yum!