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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.
cakespy says
The TEXTURE on this cake. It looks absolutely perfect! Makes me think of the “snack cakes” my mom would make for after school snacks.
Karly says
It’s got a great fudgy texture! 🙂
Dana says
It was okay, and easy to make, but we didn’t care for it. I guess I was expecting the cake part to really pop like a Reeces Cup type taste. It had a strange texture and it was pretty bland. Glad we tried it. It made a heck of a lot. But my husband whom usually does the deserts did not want to give it away as it wasn’t up to his usual fare. It does taste good with an ice cream topping.
Karly says
Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy this one. The texture is supposed to be very moist and a bit fudgy, like a cross between a cake and brownie. Sorry to hear you found it bland – we thought it was really popping with peanut butter flavor.
Kristen says
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.
Karly says
That’s great to hear! 🙂
Tricia @ Saving Room for Dessert says
Oh boy … this cake knows my first name and it’s calling me! What a perfect dessert and beautiful too!
Kelli @ Hungry Hobby says
Can you believe that for years I hated peanut butter?!?!?! I have some serious time to make up starting with this cake!
Karly says
I can’t imagine hating peanut butter!!
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen says
I like how you roll, my friend! Four times the peanut butter sounds about right :). And that frosting? Ummmmmm. Yes, yes, a million times yes!
Karly says
Always add extra peanut butter is my motto. 🙂
Amanda says
This looks and sounds so good!! Everyone in my house loves peanut butter and chocolate so I definitely need to make this soon.
Oriana @Mommy's Home Cooking says
Oh my goodness! This peanut butter sheet cake look absolutely delicious! Bookmarking to try soon.
Allyson says
Holy moly this looks amazing!!
Julie Danna says
This reads like a cake my mom used to make, “Poor Man’s Cake”. I have searched for the recipe for years. I remember thinking, as a young baker, how weird it was to use the stove top to make a cake. Love this technique for Coca-Cola cakes. I cannot wait to try this weekend!!
Karly says
It is a weird recipe, but it’s soooo good! Hope you love it!
Denise Wright says
I hear you about the kids. I’m the same way. When he has a sleepover I’m happy because that means date night for me and my hubby but then it feels too quiet in my house. I love this recipe! I totally crave peanut butter. What is it about that stuff? I like that this is a cake. Can’t wait to try it!
Nance Nicholls says
I;m sorry – what size is a half rimmed sheet pan? I want to try this but wasn’t sure what size pan – is that a jelly roll size pan?
Karly says
It’s 18×13. 🙂
Diane Sexton says
Loved reading your story… You sound like a great Mom. Recipe sounds delicious.. Love Peanut butter and chocolate, can’t wait to try. Thanks
STACEY CRAWFORD says
I’m a chocolate PB lover and these look delightfully naughty!
jude says
Step #4 in the directions has me confused. Do you immediately pour the mixture over the dry ingredients or do you cool for 5 minutes before pouring over?
This looks so good……….I want to make it but I don’t want to mess it up!!
Karly says
Sorry about! Edited the recipe for clarity. You let cool for 5 minutes and then pour over the dry ingredients. 🙂