Peanut Butter Cake
Sep 21, 2025 10:56 AM
Meet the ultimate Peanut Butter Cake. A Milk Bar-inspired cake with three layers of peanut butter cake, peanut butter cream cheese frosting and homemade chocolate cookie crumbs.
Say hello to my seriously good Peanut Butter Cake.
A three layer pb cake filled with melt-in-your-mouth cream cheese frosting and plenty of cocoa-laden chocolate cookie crumbs. This Milk Bar-inspired Peanut Butter Cake is as delicious as it is p-r-e-t-t-y.
If you can eat peanut butter with a spoon and adore all things cake AND cookie, this is the perfect dessert for you.
Last month, my husband and I went on holiday to Los Angeles and New York. And one of the BEST things we did on the trip was a cooking class at Milk Bar in Los Angeles.
We had so much fun making one of their classic birthday cakes and their birthday cake truffles. I got to wear a pink headband, play with frosting and sprinkles, and eat cake for days. It was the BEST.
I was so inspired after learning how they make their famous naked cakes, and I knew the minute I got home I wanted to create my own version. And here she is.
My perfect Peanut Butter Cake. The cake itself has a boatload of peanut butter baked right into the batter, so it’s moist, soft and sweet (but not too sweet). But let’s be real – the star of the show is that peanut butter cream cheese frosting.
You’ll want to face plant into the bowl of frosting alone. The cream cheese makes it extra luscious and there’s a heap of peanut butter in the frosting as well. Ya know, because this is a serious Peanut Butter Cake.
One thing that Milk Bar does so well, is adding texture to their cakes. So instead of your cake being soft with soft frosting, they add a crunchy element by making their own cookie crumbs.
They’re the best. I can (and do) eat them by the handful.
So this is how it goes – peanut butter cake, a little peanut butter frosting, a handful of chocolate cookie crumbs, more peanut butter frosting. Repeat.
Ingredients:
Peanut Butter Cake
- 230 grams (1 cup / 2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 180 grams (1 cup) brown sugar
- 100 grams (1/2 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 250 grams (1 cup) smooth peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 280 grams (2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 180 ml (3/4 cup) full fat or whole milk
Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- 250 grams (1 and 1/4 cup) full fat block cream cheese, room temperature
- 115 grams (1/2 cup / 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 125 grams (1/2 cup) smooth peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 435 grams (3 and 1/2 cups) icing sugar or powdered sugar
- 2–3 tablespoons full fat or whole milk
Chocolate Cookie Crumbs
- 105 grams (3/4 cup) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 50 grams (1/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornflour or corn starch
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 60 grams (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
Prep Time:
120 minutes
Cook Time:
30 minutes
Total Time:
150 minutes
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