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This Peanut Butter Sheet Cake with homemade frosting is made with as much peanut butter as possible for a truly phenomenal taste and texture!
Our easy Peanut Butter Sheet Cake is topped with a rich, fudgy chocolate frosting! Perfect dessert for chocolate peanut butter lovers!
Mama’s Chocolate Frosting + Peanut Butter = Magic
Growing up, my mama always made sheet pan brownies and topped them with this fudgy chocolate frosting that had the whole family in a serious chokehold.
That frosting is the one and only treat that I can remember having to fight my dad for when it came time to lick the spoon and the pan clean. He was right in there, elbowing me and my brother to the side to be sure he got his fair share. ????????
We took that chocolate frosting and poured over this peanut butter sheet cake.
The cake is so rich and decadent, thanks to the loads of peanut butter we packed into the batter.
Plus, we love how easy sheet cakes are – minimal fuss, no messing with layers, and you literally pour the warm frosting over the top.
We love sheet cakes so much that we went a little wild and made these Texas sheet cake cookies, too! It’s all the best parts of a sheet cake in cookie form!
♥ What We Love About This Recipe:
Cakes can seem like such a special occasion, fussy kind of dessert, but that all changes when you make a simple sheet cake! The process is simple, there’s no special decorating skills needed, and you get cake for any night of the week! Love it.
Our Peanut Butter Sheet Cake is formulated to pack in as much peanut butter as possible, making this cake very rich and flavorful.
The frosting poured over the top is the same fudge frosting my mama made for brownies when I was growing up. It’s a family favorite and it’s made on the stove top – such a unique recipe! We added a little peanut butter to the frosting this time around.
Love cake? Check out all of our easy cake recipes!
What Readers are Saying!
“I love cakes and this is so delicious! I gave it a try last night and it is now one of my fave cakes. Thanks so much for sharing.” – Kristen
Ingredients for Peanut Butter Sheet Cake:
Creamy Peanut Butter – You’ll want to use creamy peanut butter in this recipe. You’ll also want processed peanut butter, like Jif or Skippy – not the natural kind you have to stir together and store in the fridge.
Dry Ingredients – For the dry cake ingredients you’ll need flour, white and brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Wet Ingredients – For the wet cake ingredients we’ll be using butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract.
Chocolate Frosting – You’ll whip this frosting up with some milk, butter, sugar, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and peanut butter! It’s super easy and it makes for perfect crackly frosting.
Step by Step:
Whisk together the dry ingredients, beat in the wet ingredients, and mix until smooth.
Spread the cake batter into a half sheet pan and bake for just 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
Add the sugar, butter, and milk to a small saucepan and boil for 1 minute exactly. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips and peanut butter.
Once the chocolate chips have fully melted, immediately pour the frosting over the cake. Smooth out the top with an off-set spatula.
Tools Needed:
- Mixer – Use a hand mixer or a stand mixer to make the cake batter.
- Half-Sheet Pan – We love USA Pans.
- Off-Set Spatula – Makes spreading the frosting so easy!
Expert Tips:
Dry Ingredients: Whisk together all of the dry ingredients before you add the wet ingredients. This will get everything nice and combined so it mixes up properly.
Peanut Butter: To get all that peanut butter flavor worked into the cake batter evenly, we’ll melt it with butter into some milk on the stove. This makes for a smooth peanut butter sauce that we use for the cake batter.
Frosting: The chocolate peanut butter frosting is super easy and I love that you just pour it right over the top of the cake and wait for it to set! You’ll let the milk, butter, and sugar boil for exactly 1 minute and then remove from the heat and add the chocolate and peanut butter. Don’t add the chocolate chips while the heat is still on or you’ll burn them.
Toppings
I really love the smooth texture of the chocolate frosting in this sheet cake recipe, but if you want to switch things up a bit you can mix some chopped peanuts in with the frosting or sprinkle them on top!
More Cake Recipes:
Storage Instructions:
This peanut butter cake recipe will last for 2-3 days at room temperature. It can be stored in the fridge for a bit longer, about 5 days in an airtight container or covered with some plastic wrap!
You can also freeze individual slices of the cake. Wrap them in some plastic wrap and foil and store for up to a couple of months.
More Chocolate Peanut Butter Love:
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Lasagna
- Keto Peanut Butter Fudge
- Air Fried Reese’s
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Bundt Cake
- Peanut Butter Stuffed Cookies
Peanut Butter Sheet Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk divided
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 large eggs
For the frosting:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a rimmed half sheet pan.
- Add the sugars, flour, baking soda, and salt to a mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
- Add 1 cup of milk, peanut butter, and butter to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil, stirring often.
- Remove from heat and let set for 5 minutes to cool. Add to the dry ingredients.
- Add the remaining 1/2 cup of milk, vanilla, and eggs to the bowl and use an electric mixer to beat together on low speed until the batter is smooth and well combined.
- Spread cake batter into prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Cool completely, about an hour.
To make the frosting:
- Add the sugar, butter, and milk to a small sauce pan and stir well. Bring to a boil and boil for exactly 60 seconds.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the peanut butter and chocolate chips until smooth and melted.
- Pour warm frosting over the cooled cake and spread with a spatula. Frosting will harden as it cools.
- Cut and serve once frosting has cooled and set.
Egard83 says
How do we store this? Does it need to be refrigerated?
Karly says
It will last for a couple of days at room temp or in the fridge for 5 or so days. 🙂
Ayla thelen says
This is the best dessert ever!!!!!!!
Karly says
Thanks, Ayla!
Sarah says
I just bought a Half Sheet pan and my pan is 12x17x1 I guess that will be ok???? I really want to use my new pan and this recipe looks amazing.
Karly says
Yes, that should be just fine. Enjoy!
Linda Gray says
Making this again for a potluck at church tomorrow afternoon, hope it turns out as well as the first. Will have to run to the store for peanuts for the frosting. I just buy the snack size, sold at convenience stores and that gives me my about 1/2 cup chopped peanuts for the frosting. Hope this one is as good as the first.
Linda Gray
Linda Gray says
Made the cake for a funeral, and made just like the receipe, and everyone loved it. My only addition was a half a cup of finely chopped salted peanuts I added to the frosting. I liked the texture, and everyone loved the favor and the strong smell of the peanut butter! Also baked my favorite chocolate sheet cake, but everyone preferred the Peanut Butter cake. It was the first dessert gone, not one slice to take home. Will bake and take again, for my next potluck, family dinner or holiday!!! And thank you for the great recipe.
Linda Gray says
looks a little underdone at 15 minutes, and very shiny on top, is this the way? just baked it a couple more minutes, and it is looking more done, also, the baking soda was listed , but couldn’t find anywhere to add it in directions,, so added with salt and flour? did I miss something? will let you know when I get home from funeral tomorrow, if it was well liked.
Karly says
Yes, if it’s not quite finished, go ahead and bake until done. Every oven is different, so it may take a bit longer.
The baking soda gets added with the flour. 🙂
Walter says
Excuse my stupidity. I have never made a cake from scratch. Judging by the ingredient quantity, I don’t see why this cannot be made in a 10″ x 13″ x 3″ pan. Its not worth it for me to buy a half sheet pan just for one recipe. Comments please?
Tricia says
What size did you use for the sheet pan?
Karly says
A half sheet pan is 18×13. 🙂
CakePants says
This looks phenomenal!! But then again, I may be a little biased, since I’m pretty sure 99% of my food cravings are for chocolate peanut butter things. I’ve actually never made a sheet cake, but I’m thinking I should start making up for lost time…
Marsha | Marsha's Baking Addiction says
I LOVE the combination on peanut butter and chocolate – this cake sounds amazing!
Lisa Goodman says
can i use crunchy PB?
Karly says
I haven’t tried it. I think it might make the cake texture a bit strange.