Chocolate Peanut Butter Loaf Cake

This Chocolate Peanut Butter Loaf Cake recipe uses one batter to create both the peanut butter cake and the chocolate cake. When swirled together, this loaf cake is a chocolate and peanut butter lover’s dream dessert. It’s topped with a peanut butter glaze and honey roasted peanuts. 

If you love chocolate and peanut butter, this Chocolate Peanut Butter Loaf Cake is hands down for you!

It’s a marbled loaf cake of chocolate cake swirls and peanut butter cake swirls, and it’s topped with an easy peanut butter glaze that adds just enough sweetness without being over the top. 

If you saw this instagram post, you already heard this…but, here’s to being in the unofficial last week of summer!

I know late September is technically the end of summer and start of fall, but if we haven’t seen pumpkin spice and everything nice in all of the stores already (and in the coffee shops—Dunkin, Starbs, I’m lookin’ at you), you know all the shelves will be lined with fall the day after Labor Day.

I’m still enjoying the warm weather, sunny evenings and summer fruits, but I know so many are already in full out fall mode.

I struggle with being in the fall mode before Labor Day.

But the day after? Oh yeah.

I don’t know why or how the switch flips, but you can rest assured I’m ready to kick off the season with You’ve Got Mail (it’s my tradition and in my opinion, it’s the best tradition 😉), my stack of fall magazines and a pumpkin spice latte in hand.

Since we’re kind of in the in between stage of summer and fall, I opted to share this Chocolate Peanut Butter Loaf Cake recipe because chocolate and peanut butter know no season.

They transcend all conventional seasonal ingredients, if you will. (Dramatic, yes. True? Also, yes.)

It’s a flavor combination you just can’t go wrong with and it’s pretty much always a crowd pleaser.

Plus, who doesn’t love a good marble cake??? Swirls of chocolate cake mixed with peanut butter cake…

Too pretty, guys. It’s just too pretty.

Enough rambling, let’s talk about this recipe.

Why do I love this? Well, for one, it’s chocolate and PB. But truly, I love that it’s a small chocolate peanut butter cake that you can serve up in small slices.

It’s similar to a pound cake where you can serve it as is, serve it with ganache (like this marble pound cake recipe), top it with peanut butter frosting or top it with a peanut butter glaze. Plus, you can top easy slice with whipped cream, chopped peanuts and chocolate chips to make it extra fancy, ya know?

Lastly, I love it because it looks kind of like a chocolate peanut butter bread so I can eat it with my hands, like bread, and not feel like a total heathen.

I mean, come on. With all of these stellar examples, how can you not be in love with this?

Do I have to make two batters for this chocolate peanut butter cake?

No! That’s the beauty of this recipe. You make one peanut butter cake batter. You reserve some of the batter, add cocoa powder and coffee, and voila! You have chocolate cake batter.

I told you, this recipe rocks.

What kind of peanut butter do you use?

So I used all natural, creamy peanut butter (Kirkland’s brand—what up, Costco 🙌🏻) and it works wonderfully in both the cake batter and in the peanut butter glaze.

You can use a peanut butter like Jif—it’ll work perfectly in both the cake batter and the glaze. Just note it is sweeter than the all natural peanut butter, so you’re cake will taste a bit sweeter.

With the all natural peanut butter, the cake has a richer, more where’s-the-milk kind of flavor.

Tips and Tricks for this Chocolate Peanut Butter Loaf Cake:

• Line your bread pans with parchment paper. It will save your life when you’re trying to get this cake out. If you do not have parchment paper, make sure you grease your bread pans really well. Like, really well.
• If the edges of the cake are cooking quicker than the center of the cake, tent a piece of non-stick foil over the top each loaf cake and continue baking.
• I used a peanut butter glaze on top, but you can make a peanut butter ganache, chocolate ganache or frosting to go on top, if you’d prefer. Or, you can leave it plain and top each slice with whipped cream or ice cream.

Who needs a slice?! (Besides me.)

Print

Chocolate Peanut Butter Loaf Cake

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Total Time

1 hr 15 mins

 

This Chocolate Peanut Butter Loaf Cake recipe uses one batter to create both the peanut butter cake and the chocolate cake. When swirled together, this loaf cake is a chocolate and peanut butter lover’s dream dessert. It’s topped with a peanut butter glaze and honey roasted peanuts.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Chocolate Peanut Butter Loaf Cake

Servings: 2 loaves

Author: Michelle

Ingredients

Peanut Butter Cake

• 1/2 cup peanut butter, at room temperature (I used all natural)
• 1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 2 Tbsp sour cream
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs, large
• 1/4 cup cornstarch*
• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour*
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk

Chocolate Cake

• 4 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 Tbsp brewed coffee, hot (or hot water)

Peanut Butter Glaze

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 3 Tbsp heavy cream (half & half or milk)
• 3 Tbsp peanut butter, at room temperature (I used all natural)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Toppings

• chopped peanuts
• chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 (8 x 4 or 8 1/2 x 4 1/2—either will work) bread pans with parchment paper (or grease well).

Peanut Butter Batter

1. With a standing mixer or hand mixer, cream peanut butter, oil and sour cream together.
2. Add in the granulated sugar and brown sugar. Cream the mixture until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes (this makes for a lighter, fluffier cake texture).
3. Add in the eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each addition.
4. In a separate bowl, sift cornstarch and flour together. Gently stir in baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
5. Mix vanilla extract and buttermilk together.
6. Alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture to the peanut butter batter. Mix until ingredients are just combined.

Chocolate Batter

1. In a separate bowl, mix cocoa powder and hot coffee (or hot water). Whisk until well combined. Add about 1 1/4 cups peanut butter batter to the chocolate mixture and gently mix until combined.

Assembly

1. Pour about 1 cup of peanut butter batter into each bread pan, spreading in an even layer. Dollop half of the chocolate batter on top of the peanut butter batter. Add the remaining peanut butter batter on top of the chocolate batter. Then dollop the remaining chocolate batter. Swirl the batter with a knife until it is marbled.
2. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs stuck to it.

3. (If the outside of the cake is baking faster than the inside, tent a piece of non-stick foil on top and continue baking until baked through.)

4. Allow each loaf cake to cool for about 10 minutes, then remove them from the loaf pans and allow them to continue cooling on a wire rack.

Glaze

1. Whisk peanut butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract and salt together. Once combined, drizzle over the top of each loaf. Top with chopped peanuts and chocolate chips, if desired.
2. Allow the glaze to set a bit before slicing.
3. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

*You can substitute 2 1/2 cups of cake flour for all purpose flour and cornstarch.

Here are some other recipes you might love:

Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal Cups

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Double Chocolate Chunk Muffins