chocolate chip peanut butter pound cake with peanut butter glaze
Ok, so Pixelated Crumb is way overdue for a recipe and I promised you some yummy birthday celebration desserts and I’m here to deliver! August and September are busy months for Joseph and me because they’re full of birthdays of friends and family (including my own!). First up is Mark, my brother-in-law. When I think of Mark and food there are two things that I always think of: pork belly and peanut butter with chocolate. We were visiting them outside Philly right after his birthday, and I knew I had to make him something good for his birthday. Not only is he a really cool guy with an awesome sense of humor, but he was immensely kind and helpful with all his web skills when I moved Pixelated Crumb to a self hosted site a few months ago. I owe him big time and this cake was my chance to begin to show my gratitude for all he’s done.
And since Mark loves chocolate and peanut butter, the flavor profile of his birthday treat was easy to decide on (pork belly cake just didn’t seem quite right somehow) and this cake from Recipe Girl seemed just about perfect. The cake itself really reminded me of a chewy peanut butter chocolate chip cookie, which I really loved. It’s big and dense and super delicious. I was really tempted to swap out the peanut butter glaze with a chocolate ganache glaze (that’s me, always trying to add more chocolate), but Joseph really pulled for the peanut butter glaze. I’m sure it would be fantastic with ganache, but I have to say, it the peanut butter glaze turned out to be quite a hit (there may or may not have been some fighting over who got to clean the plate off)!
I suppose if you wanted to take this cake to a whole new place, you could sprinkle it with some chunks of bacon hot off the griddle. Add some banana to the batter and you’ve got a cake fit for Elvis. If you do decide to go this somewhat unconventional route, please, please let me know how it goes. I’d love to know. No matter how you top it off, this recipe is definitely a keeper. It’s so easy to make and so tasty that before you know it, you’ll be looking at the crumbs on your otherwise empty plate wondering where it all went.
In other news, Pixelated Crumb is now a contributor on Gojee, a gorgeous recipe aggregator! Create an account there, and you can track your favorite recipes, use the pantry feature which helps you find recipes with the ingredients you have on hand, and you can even filter out recipes with ingredients you’re allergic to (or just don’t like!).
Recipe from Recipe Girl
There are several ways to adapt this recipe. You can swap out the peanut butter glaze with ganache and top with peanut butter chips, you could use mini peanut butter cups or crumbled peanut butter cups instead of the chocolate chips in the batter, and hey, you can even try adding bacon and bananas.
Please make sure to cook the cake enough! Several people have complained that their cake came out underdone. Check it at an hour twenty and if it's not ready, keep cooking. Keep in mind that it's a tall cake, so if you're using a toothpick, make sure to stick it in ALL the way to reach the center of the cake. Better yet, use a sharp knife or a skewer.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter (don't use natural unless you have the no-stir kind)
- 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups granulated white sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray 10-cup bundt pan generously with nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together peanut butter and butter. Add sugar and beat an additional 5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until well combined. Add dry ingredients a little at a time, beating just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Scrape batter into prepared bundt pan. Tap it a couple of times on the counter to shake out any hidden air pockets.
- Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, or until a skewer, sharp knife, or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Check on the cake at 1 hour to make sure it's not browning too quickly on top. If it is, just place a piece of foil loosely over the top of the pan. Let the cake cool for 20 minutes, then flip it onto a rack or platter and let it cool completely.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, milk, peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle glaze over the top of the cooled cake, letting it drizzle down the sides. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top.
September 14th, 2011 at 10:17 am
What a mouthwatering cake! Eek, can’t wait to try this out!!
September 14th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
WOAH. Those photos are almost cruel – this looks SOO good. There is nothing better thanpeanut butter and chocolate!
September 14th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
WOW! I am at a loss for words. This looks soooo fabulous. What a great presentation and then you cut into it to reveal all the chunks inside. HEAVEN.
September 15th, 2011 at 8:02 pm
Oh. My. God. Kristen, this is such a gorgeous Bundt! Even those of us that are so-so on chocolate should bow down to it when it’s paired with peanut butter…and this is the best choc/pb union I have seen in a long time. And in a Bundt! Be still my heart. Can’t wait to make this somday!
September 20th, 2011 at 9:26 am
Though I admit the beauty of the chocolate-peanut butter combination, it has never been at the top of my list. That said, even I, looking at these pictures WANT THIS CAKE RIGHT NOW. Can’t wait to make it!!!
September 30th, 2011 at 8:12 am
I’d like a big honkin fatty slice of this. Or maybe I’ll just make the cake for my birthday this year! Great pictures!
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:16 pm
hi! a friend of mine is lactose intolerant but this recipe looks REALLY good. Do you think it’s possible to substitute margarine for butter? And is it possible to do that for baking in general?
Thanks! 🙂
October 3rd, 2011 at 9:53 pm
I don’t bake with margarine, so I can’t speak from experience, but I’ve read that there are margarines that are meant specifically for baking. Some of the spreads have a higher water content than butter and may not react as well in the cake, but the baking margarines have a lower water content. Please keep in mind that you may also need to lower the amount of salt if the margarine is salted. It’s sort of the unwritten rule that when recipes call for butter, they mean unsalted. Good luck! If you try it out, let me know how it goes!
October 3rd, 2011 at 9:56 pm
This website looks like it has good info on baking with margarine and the different types: http://www.butteryspreads.org/howtousemargarine.php.
December 24th, 2011 at 1:36 pm
This was the worst cake ever! Recipe did not work! Just wasted so many ingredients! Cake was done on top and bottom but completely raw in the center after baking it for 1 hour 20 minutes. What a hot mess!!!!
January 2nd, 2012 at 4:27 pm
Oh no! I’m so sorry it didn’t work out for you! Did you test it with a toothpick, skewer, or knife before taking it out of the oven? Some ovens run hotter than others (and vice versa) so it’s important to always check for doneness before taking cakes out.
January 9th, 2012 at 11:45 pm
I made this a while back and everyone LOVED it. So delicious. I’m going to have to make it again give you kudos on my site. I wanted to eat the glaze straight up. Thanks for this one!
March 6th, 2012 at 3:00 am
tried this cake and agree with disappointed. Followed the recipe and yes I tested it with a skewer. Didn’t even get to the drizzle because the cake had to be scooped out of the pan. Waste of some good peanut butter and chocolate chips!
March 8th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
Yikes! I’m so sorry! I’m not sure from your comment if the cake was still undone in the center or overcooked. The only advice I can give is to make sure to measure your ingredients carefully and make sure that you test the cake for doneness several times towards the end.
March 19th, 2012 at 11:11 pm
Just made this cake and it came out perfectly! Brought it to a party and everyone (literally EVERYONE) asked me for the recipe! So happy I found this recipe!
April 14th, 2012 at 5:08 pm
I haven’t tried this but I wonder if the people who had trouble baking didn’t use a bundt pan. I could see how that wouldn’t bake right.
April 23rd, 2012 at 7:25 pm
I agree with sadness and disappointed because this cake came out as a big mess. It looked great, was pulling away from the sides, and knife came out clear. After letting it cool, I turned it onto a plate and the center stayed in and was raw. I modified it and just scooped it out and put it in a rectangular pan, baked longer, and made it into a scoop cake. Absolutely delicious regardless. I will definitely make this again but will cook it longer than 1 hour and 20 minutes.
April 25th, 2012 at 9:03 pm
I’m so glad you were able to salvage it! I’ve updated the recipe to indicate that it may take longer to fully bake. This cake is too good to let it go to waste!
May 1st, 2012 at 11:21 am
Looks great! Thinking about making it with mini-bundt pans. Any ideas for how long to cook it?
May 5th, 2012 at 1:04 pm
That’s a great idea! I’m going to have to try that myself! Hmmm. I’m not sure how long they would bake – I would start checking on them at 15 minutes, but given it’s long cooking time, it may well be longer. Better to check early and often than to end up with overcooked cakes! Let me know how it goes!
June 26th, 2012 at 5:18 pm
Didn’t work at all! After 2 hours in the oven the outside was burned and the inside wasn’t done but it was close. Yuck! Waste of time and food. And yes, I used the correct pan.
June 29th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
I made this cake last night. I sprayed it with non-stick cooking spray like it said in the recipe but the cake stuck to the pan & would not come out. I tried to carefully use a knife to pry it out, but the cake broke in half. Next time, I’ll spray with non stick spray & dust the pan with flour. Regarless the cake is still good, just not very pretty.
August 8th, 2012 at 2:34 pm
Jessica – I’ve found that regular baking spray never works well. When using a bundt pan, nothing seems to work better than the cooking spray with flour in it. (bakers joy, pam with flour, etc) For me, this works better than greasing and flouring the pan.
July 25th, 2012 at 12:45 pm
OMG. Just finished making this!! It turned out fabluous and looks wonderful. We will be cutting into it this afternoon!! If it tastes as good as it looks….i will definitely be making it again. I didn’t read any comments til it was in the oven, but if you DO read them first, BE PATIENT. It took the full hour and a half to bake and even testing it then showed a little gooeyness….but that was due to the chocolate being soft inside the cake. One thing i will do if i make it again will be to also lightly FLOUR my bundt pan…as it was hard to get out of the pan and i think the flour will make it easier.
July 26th, 2012 at 3:08 pm
I had never baked a pound cake before and loved the picture of this cake, thinking the glaze looked luxurious I decided to make this recipe last night. Using my Kitchen-Aid mixer for the first time my experience was; the cake cooked evenly, the ingredients were simple and my boyfriend was very impressed. I did have problems glazing the cake as mine turned out looking more like icing. Maybe I needed more milk or for the cake to be warm to melt the glaze nicely. Over all it was a perfect recipe to start my new hobby in baking! Thank you for the share!
Amanda
September 2nd, 2012 at 4:51 pm
I made this today, after 2 weeks of talking about it and staring at the picture. I read the reviews first, and though they were discouraging, I still went on and made the cake.
It was delicious. It took slightly longer to bake than the hour and a half, at 1 hour and 50 minutes, but I was patient. I took it over to a party, still warm from the oven, the glazed just poured over top. Everyone loved it.
Thank you for the great recipe, I will be making this for further family parties.
September 4th, 2012 at 11:13 am
I made this cake this weekend and mine did not turn out either. I used a high quality bundt pan and special baking cooking spray. The cake was done after about an hour and a half, but completely fell apart when I tried to take it out of the pan. It was not salvagable.
October 5th, 2012 at 10:22 pm
I was super excited to try this. I made it last week and where mine was fully cooked at the one hour check mark, it was over done. Not moist at all. It was still edible and we did finish it, but after some research, there are other recipes for this cake that call for cooking it only 45-50 minutes. I’m curious where you got the hour 20 to hour 30? Planning on making it again this week, cooking it at 45 minutes and see if that makes it more moist!
October 21st, 2012 at 8:25 pm
Made this tonight with the kids, had a hard time taking it out of pan, very yummy just broke apart a bit.
October 31st, 2012 at 5:59 pm
This is probably one of the best if not the best pound cake recipe I have ever made. I also sell cakes at my work place and of all the pound cakes, my co-worker’s order this one the most. This is definitely an easy no fail recipe. I also have used various flavorings combinations and all have worked out very well. This cake is very moist, easy to make and very delicious.
November 27th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
luvvvv it
thankxxxxxxxxxxx
December 4th, 2012 at 1:26 pm
I want to make this cake for my friend’s bday but I want to do it for 4 to 6 people tops, what would the ammount of the ingredients be?
December 6th, 2012 at 5:06 pm
I wanna bake this cake for my friend’s bday but I wanna make it for 4 to 6 people tops … what should the measuring for the ingredients be?
December 6th, 2012 at 5:09 pm
What should the measuring of the ingredients be if I wanna bake this cake for 4 to 6 people?
December 6th, 2012 at 7:48 pm
Hi Wassim, sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. If it’s more likely to be 4 people, I would quarter the recipe and if you’re leaning more towards 6 people, I would halve the recipe. You will also need to bake it in a smaller pan for a shorter amount of time.
January 19th, 2013 at 3:50 pm
I didn’t read the reviews before I put it in the oven. I had a feeling I should flour the pan but the recipe didn’t say to so I didn’t. The batter was REALLY thick so I added a bit of milk. I am making it for my SIL’s birthday. I hope it turns out!
February 13th, 2013 at 1:19 am
I made this tonight and oh.my.gosh!! Perfect and delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
May 9th, 2013 at 9:42 pm
Made this for my BFs staff meeting. He and co workers raved about it! Thanks for a great recipe
June 6th, 2013 at 3:13 pm
I made this today. I baked it in a bundt pan. I used solid Cisco to coat the inside of the pan and floured it. To me spray is not enough for a pan like this. I followed the recipe just as written. I baked it for 1 hr. 40 minutes and in my Owen it was just a little too long. It looks beautiful, taste wonderful and will make it again but will shorten the time a little. This is about the usual time and temp for a regular pound cake. Thanks for posting this wonderful recipe.
July 17th, 2013 at 2:04 pm
This looks to die for. At first it looked like some kind of cookie dough cake recipe. To my delight it is peanut butter and chocolate chips. I think you fell from heaven and landed in my computer. I actually found you by accident looking up photos. YAY I am going to try this recipe. Say goodbye diet and hello heaven.
September 27th, 2013 at 6:44 pm
I’m anxious to bake this wonderful looking cake. One problem prevents me from charging ahead – my supermarket does not carry bittersweet chocolate chips. Will you please give me an online source for those? Thanks for taking time to respond, and thanks for the tempting recipe.
January 3rd, 2014 at 7:49 pm
Cake is very good, but very dense. Great flavor. Had no problems with it being done on the inside.
February 14th, 2014 at 2:20 pm
I gave your recipe a try and it didn’t work out boo 🙁
April 20th, 2014 at 10:13 pm
Delicious cake!! Turned out great, I did have to bake it for about 1 hr 35 minutes. I substituted 1 cup of the sugar for honey so it wasn’t overly sweet- just right. Thanks for the recipe!
July 23rd, 2014 at 8:49 pm
Do you not put any milk in the cake batter itself? Going from other pound cake recipes I’ve made, you would add a cup of milk alternately with the dry ingredients after creaming the butter and sugar and incorporating the eggs.
September 9th, 2014 at 11:35 pm
No, this recipe doesn’t have milk in it (except for the glaze). It’s important that the butter is at room temp so that it’s soft enough to cream well with the peanut butter and sugar to form the base.
October 11th, 2014 at 9:13 pm
A.ma.zing!!!! Baked 1hr 35min- perfect. But you MUST flour the pan!!! Sprayed generously with Pam and was nearly impossible to get out of the pan. Came out in chunks but salvaged it for my fam (too ugly to take to others). Will def make again!
December 10th, 2014 at 1:11 pm
Do you have to use a bundt pan or can you use other pans I was thinking using two pans with glaze in the middle and outside what do you think
December 20th, 2014 at 8:56 pm
I have made this cake twice and am making it for the third time tomorrow (all since November 13, 2014). It IS to die for!! Thank you so much for this recipe! I baked it the first time for 1 hour :40 mins because the toothpick came out with wet cake mix on and it was just a bit overdone so the next time I baked for the 1:30 and even though the toothpicks still came out wet, I pulled it out of the oven and it was perfect!! Moist and dense. The second time I used Trader Joe’s mini PB cups instead of chips in the cake and that was a big hit. I also found the glaze thick so added more milk. AND, I served this at bunko and we were all laughing at how I could smack the outside with a metal spoon and it was so hard and crunchy but once I cut into it, we stopped laughing!! This is unbelievable. Thank you again.
December 20th, 2014 at 9:02 pm
My opinion is use any chips ( i used semi-sweet the first time) or mini reese’s or cut up small reese’s. IT is very forgiving! IT is DELICIOUS!!!
March 6th, 2015 at 1:18 pm
I love the idea of small reese’s!
March 24th, 2015 at 9:31 pm
Wow! Beautiful cake! Mine turned out wonderfully! I greased and floured the pan. My cake also turned out much lighter than the picture, but it is done.I cooked for 1 hr and 20 mins.
I was a little concerned about the negative posts, especially since my bundt pan has ruined many cakes, but not this one! The form couldn’t be more perfect.
Haven’t tried it yet, but the batter was amazing. Just wanted to comment and say thanks for the great recipe! So, thanks!
April 23rd, 2015 at 9:33 am
I am so disappointed with this cake. it stuck to the pan and had to be scooped out to eat.
I am an avid baker so I know I didn’t mess up anywhere.