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Insane Peanut Butter Cup Cake

Insane Peanut Butter Cup Cake – a fudgy chocolate cake with creamy peanut butter filling and a rich chocolate frosting…then I topped it with tons of peanut butter cups and melted chocolate! This chocolate peanut butter cake recipe is so delicious, you’ll have your family begging for more!

The BEST Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Dessert Recipe

Today is not for the faint of heart…

If you’re not in it to win it with dessert, this might not be the one for you. If you’re one of those people who use the phrase, “too rich”, or “too sweet” the door is to the left. I’ll see you tomorrow.

BUT if you’re down for some C.A.K.E. let’s talk…

This one is pretty intense…the rich chocolate cake…the creamy peanut butter filling…the buttery chocolate frosting…can you handle it? It’s man against cake.

Not only is this cake over the top delicious, it’s also quite a stunner, if I do say so myself.

The Ultimate Peanut Butter Cup Cake With Chocolate Frosting

I feel like I should probably skip all the words right now and just get down to business.

I am sure you agree.

The cake is an EXTRA simple chocolate cake recipe. I have never had anything but fantastic results.

The filling is my version of the center of a peanut butter cup…

Insane Peanut Butter Cup Cake! A fudgy chocolate cake with creamy peanut butter filling and a rich chocolate frosting. Topped with tons of peanut butter cups and melted chocolate!

And the frosting is my tried and true chocolate frosting…the same recipe I use ALL the time. It’s in my book too!

And then why not top it off with some chopped peanut butter cups and melted chocolate? Not only does this up the “INSANE” factor, but it does wonders for an imperfect frosting job!

Insane Peanut Butter Cup Cake! A fudgy chocolate cake with creamy peanut butter filling and a rich chocolate frosting. Topped with tons of peanut butter cups and melted chocolate!

Then step back and take in the gorgeousness that you have just created…

Insane Peanut Butter Cup Cake! A fudgy chocolate cake with creamy peanut butter filling and a rich chocolate frosting. Topped with tons of peanut butter cups and melted chocolate!

And then eat it, of course!
Insane Peanut Butter Cup Cake! A fudgy chocolate cake with creamy peanut butter filling and a rich chocolate frosting. Topped with tons of peanut butter cups and melted chocolate!This is THE perfect special occasion cake!

Enjoy!

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Insane Peanut Butter Cup Cake

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.1 from 25 reviews
  • Author: Cookies & Cups
  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: serves 16 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Description

Insane Peanut Butter Cup Cake – a fudgy chocolate cake with creamy peanut butter filling and a rich chocolate frosting…then I topped it with tons of peanut butter cups and melted chocolate! This chocolate peanut butter cake recipe is so delicious, you’ll have your family begging for more!


Ingredients

Scale

Cake

  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 cup very warm water

Peanut Butter Filling

  • 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/41/3 cup milk

Chocolate Frosting

  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 8 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2/3 cup very warm water

Garnish

  • 1012 full sized peanut butter cups chopped
  • 2 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips, divided
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 2, 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray. Cut 2, 9-inch rounds of parchment paper and place in the bottoms of the pans. Spray again with nonstick spray. Set aside.
  2. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined.
  3. With the mixer still on low, add in the eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Turn mixer up to medium and mix for 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Turn the mixer back down to low and slowly add in the hot water. Mix for an additional minutes until combined.
  4. Divide the batter between the 2 prepared pans. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  5. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Filling

  1. In the clean bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter and peanut butter together on medium speed until smooth. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar. Turn the mixer to medium and mix for 1 minute until combined.
  2. Turn mixer back to low and add in 1/4 cup milk. Mix for an additional minute, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary, until creamy and combined. If desired, add additional milk to achieve desired result.
  3. Transfer one of the cooled cakes to a plate or cake stand. Spread the peanut butter filling on top of the cake. Place the other cake on top of the peanut butter filling.

Chocolate Frosting

  1. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, vanilla, and warm water and mix on low speed, until the mixture just comes together.
  2. Slowly increase the speed to medium and beat the frosting for 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
  3. Let the frosting cool for 15 minutes before covering the cake.

Garnish

  1. Once you have the cake covered in the chocolate frosting, pile the chopped peanut butter cups on top. Next, sprinkle 2 cup of the milk chocolate chips on top and around the bottom of the cake.
  2. Place the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips and 1 1/2 milk into a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 15 second increments, stirring in between each, until the chocolate is smooth. Place the melted chocolate into a small zip-top bag and snip the corner off. Drizzle the melted chocolate all over the cake.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 slice
  • Calories: 971
  • Sugar: 120.7 g
  • Sodium: 631.6 mg
  • Fat: 44.6 g
  • Carbohydrates: 143.5 g
  • Protein: 14.3 g
  • Cholesterol: 24.5 mg

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104 comments on “Insane Peanut Butter Cup Cake”

  1. This is a great recipe if you are a chocolate peanut butter lover. However, it is super rich and like others mentioned too much frosting. I actually thought the filling was a good amount and probably could have stopped at that. I made one small change and added a cup of coffee versus the hot water in the cake. The batter is runny but it cooks well and the cake is moist. My only change would be to half the icing BUT I will agree with Shelly and say it’s better to have too much then not enough – I hate when I do not have enough icing.






  2. The flavor of the cake is amazing, but I was very unsuccessful with trying to take it out of the pan after only 10 minutes. Ended up with a crumbled mess I also used butter and flour instead of parchment paper so that could be my issue.

  3. Just so you know I only made the peanut butter filling and used that to frost the cake and my family loved it. If you don’t like extremely sweet cakes I would recommend doing this. Also warning if you make both the filling and the frosting half them because the recipe calls for way to much.

  4. Just made this for my wife for her birthday. Cake is excellent. Being a less experienced baker, I followed the recipe exactly. The problem was that the amount of filling and icing used in the cover photo is probably half of what the recipe actually made. Well, I didn’t realize this until I had used ALL the filling and ALL the icing to make my cake! It tastes good, but there’s so much excess filling and icing that no normal human Pancreas could ever keep up! A simple adjustment to the recipe that cautions the inexperienced baker to use only a portion of what’s made, or an adjustment to the quantities would create a 5 star worthy cake.






  5. I just tried making this cake and I followed the recipe to the letter and I was met with cake batter overflowing the pans and burning on the heating element of the oven. I don’t know how I could have gotten anything wrong following the recipe to the letter. I thought the batter looked fine before the hot cup of water.

    1. You probably overfilled your pans or accidentally put to much or to little of something. It is a very watery batter though.

  6. Does the icing use salted or unsalted butter? If salted, how much salt should I add when using unsalted butter for each icing recipe?

    1. I use salted, but it’s a personal preference. If you use unsalted you can add 1/4 teaspoon to the icing.

    1. You could but the fun part about this cake is the filling is peanut butter and the frosting is chocolate and you couldn’t really have both in a 9×13 or bundt 🙂

  7. Nana’s Girl

    Wowie!! This cake is not for the faint of heart! Just made it for my husband’s birthday and it was over-the-top decadent. Definitely one small slice is all you need! I followed your terrific recipe exactly, but made 1/2 the peanut butter filling and 1/2 the chocolate frosting … and there was still plenty to fill and frost 2 layers. I also cut the decorative Reese’s cups and mini-chocolate chips by 2/3. I just wanted to say how much I appreciate being able to make ANY of your recipes for the first time, and know in advance that they will taste amazing. Also, loved that your frosting recipe was ample to do the job … how many times have I followed others’ recipes only to have to make a second batch of frosting to have enough for the sides. Thank you!!

    1. So glad you liked it and I agree…I always run out of frosting, so I try to make sure there is plenty when I write recipes for cake…rather have too much!

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