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!