Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake . . . two layers of chocolate cake with creamy peanut butter frosting and a generous dose of Reese’s peanut butter cups. Chocolate peanut butter perfection!
If you like chocolate and peanut butter like we do at our house, you have got to give this cake a try! The first time I made it, I used a recipe for homemade chocolate cake. For some reason, it was not as moist as I wanted. Now when I make it, I use a Duncan Hines devil’s food cake mix. It is perfect!
My son loves this cake so much he requests it for his birthday every year. If you have a Reese’s peanut butter cup fan at your house, this cake is sure to bring a smile to their face!
Not only does this cake taste divine, but it makes a wonderful presentation. Who could resist all those Reese’s peanut butter cups decorating the top? I’m glad I have a glass cake cover so my kids couldn’t walk by and pick them off. 😉
And of course there’s the frosting. Oh the frosting. Creamy, luscious layers of sweet peanut buttery goodness. You will have a hard time not eating it by the spoonful! It is sinfully delicious.
How to make Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake:
This cake starts with a basic cake mix. I like Duncan Hines brand the best, and I usually use devil’s food, but any of the chocolate flavors work just fine. Prepare the cake as directed and bake in two round 9″ pans. Let them cool completely. You can even wrap them up in plastic wrap and freeze them ahead of time.
Whip up the peanut butter frosting by beating together peanut butter, butter, vanilla, salt, powdered sugar, and enough cream to get a creamy consistency.
Place one layer of cake flat side up on a cake plate. Spread with about 3/4 cup of frosting, then sprinkle with chopped peanut butter cups.
Gently place the second layer on top, round side up. Spread remaining frosting on sides and top of cake. Cut the Reese’s peanut butter cups in half and press them into the frosting to decorate the cake.
How do I store my peanut butter chocolate cake?
You can store the cake at room temperature, you just need to make sure it’s covered so it doesn’t dry out.
Handy supplies for making peanut butter chocolate cake:
9″ round cake pans – I have these Chicago cake pans and they hold up really well, even when I wash mine in the dishwasher.
Baker’s Joy – I always use this stuff when I make layer or Bundt cakes. It works much better than regular non stick spray.
Miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – I buy the big bags on amazon because the price is right and they are delivered right to my door. Score!
Here are a few more chocolate peanut butter recipes:
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Pie
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles
- Peanut Butter Popcorn
MORE CAKE RECIPES:
- Butterfinger Cake
- Easy Pound Cake
- Chocolate Bundt Cake
- Peanut Butter Sheet Cake
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Lemon Bundt Cake
- Chocolate Cake
- Easy Pineapple Cake
-Originally posted June 25, 2010, updated 2/2019.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 box devils food cake mix plus ingredients to make cake
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup water
- 40 oz bag Reese’s peanut butter cups miniatures
Frosting:
- 2 cups creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup soft butter
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ⅔ cup whipping cream
Instructions
- Prepare cake according to directions on box. Bake in 2 greased and floured 9" round pans. Cool completely.
- For frosting: Beat together butter, peanut butter, vanilla and salt. Add powdered sugar and enough cream to reach spreading consistency.
- To assemble: Place one cake layer on a plate, flat side up. Spread with a layer of frosting. If desired, sprinkle with a few finely chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups.
- Top with remaining cake layer. Frost top and sides of cake. Decorate with halved Reese’s peanut butter cups.
- Finely chop any remaining peanut butter cups and sprinkle them in the center.
Notes
Nutrition
ENJOY!
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Can this be done in a 9×13 pan?
Yes, you can!
I made this cake today and it taste great. I do have a question about getting my icing to look like your icing in the picture. Yours looks so fluffy and creamy. Mine was “wet”. Odd description I know. My peanut butter cups were sliding off…what’d I do wrong?
Maybe try using a little less cream. Some brands of peanut butter are more runny than others, so that can make the frosting too thin.
Just found this recipe, going to make I have one question can you store
it in the refrigerator if you want too
Thank you
Yes, you can store it in the refrigerator. I like to let it come to room temperature before serving so that the frosting and cake are more soft and moist.
I made this cake for my grandson’s birthday. He loved it and so did everyone else.
Hooray! Happy to hear that I made your grandson’s birthday a little more tasty!
I can’t wait to make this frosting. Was just wondering if I should use salted or unsalted butter for the frosting? Thanks 🙂
I’m making this cake for my daughter this weekend. Have you ever done it with 3 layers? Would that be too much?
I can’t wait to make this cake, however I was wondering would it still be good if I baked a yellow cake instead?
Being a chocolate lover, I think it’s best with chocolate cake, but I do think it would still be great with yellow cake!
This recipe is amazing and such a hit! I’ve made it as a cake and as cupcakes and must say that the cupcake version is better. Since it’s such a rich, filling recipe, I think it’s better suited in cupcake form where you can enjoy smaller portions 🙂
It would be tasty as cupcakes as well I’m sure! (Although not as great for blowing out birthday candles- hah!)
I made this cake yesterday for my birthday! It was so delicious! Hubby and I loved it! Thanks for the recipe!
Just wondering if you whip the whipping cream before or can I use cool whip as well?
No, you do not whip the cream, so Cool Whip would not work as a substitute. I have tried using milk, but it didn’t work as well as the cream.
This is the first cake I ever made and I’ve made it two years in a row now for my boyfriends birthday! Its delicious!! The only problem I had was that this year I used organic peanut butter and it did not taste right at all. It was also not the same color as the first time nor was it as thick. So I suggest finding a decent peanut butter. (: all in all very yummy.
Thanks for the tip! I’ve never tried organic peanut butter, but I have definitely found that high quality peanut butter does tend to work better for baking. Glad to hear that this has become a favorite recipe at your house!
I had a friend make this for me last year for my birthday and I love it so I made it for myself this year! I put peanut butter chips in the cake batter and topped it off with the frosting of this recipe.
I love the idea of adding peanut butter chips to the batter! I just might have to try that next time.
Do you refrigerate this because of the icing or is it ok at room temperature?
I always leave mine at room temperature and it’s been just fine.
I do not bake. I can barely fry an egg. But I made this for my wife’s birthday to surprise her and she absolutely loved it. And it was so simple! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Aw, I am so happy to hear that Gordon! Glad I was able to help you make your wife’s birthday more tasty!
Just made the frosting ahead of time and OMG it is AMAZING. My whole family loves it. Thank you for this!
I am so glad to hear that you love it as much as we do. I agree, it’s pretty amazing! 🙂
What kind of whipping cream?
Like whip cream, heavy whipping cream
or half and half?
I usually just use regular whipping cream, but I think any of them would work just fine.
I made this cake for my son last year for his birthday. It was wonderful. His birthday is tomorrow and he asked me to look up that PB cake again. Thanks
Oh yay! I’m always thrilled to find out that one of my recipes becomes a family favorite. Hope your son has a very happy birthday!
This was by far the best recipe my family loved it
I had a hard time getting the right consistency for the frosting so far. Have not ate the cake or slice yet. But luckily somehow manage to make it work the texture.
Me too! Any idea why?
I just made your cake again today for the second time and omg, just love it! Thanks so much fornthe recipe. Glad I found this.
Glad you like it so much. I’ve actually been craving it lately. Hopefully I can talk my son into having it for his birthday next week. 😉
Just found this and it solved the mystery of what kind of birthday cake I’m making for my boyfriend!! Maybe I’ll get a ring out of it!! LOL!! I’ll let you know how it turns out!
That is awesome! I’m pretty sure that if you get a ring out of it, you owe me a piece of cake, right? LOL!
thank you, when i saw this i already made the cakes lol but i let it sit since yesterday and i’m going to cover with chocolate buttercream and use the frosting for filling. hope it comes out good i’ll share pictures if you want :] also the peanut butter cups stick to the bottom it was not a good idea :3
I wondered if the PB cups would sink to the bottom. I’ll know now not to try it. Bummer! I bet it will be yummy with chocolate frosting as well. I love me some chocolate buttercream!
i hope you get to answer this, how does this cake hold up? i want to make it to decorate with fondant. you think it’ll be ok?
thank you
I’ve never used fondant so I’m not sure. My guess is that if you are just adding smaller pieces of fondant as decoration, it would be fine. But I think that for layers of cake with fondant covering the whole thing, a more dense cake works better than a cake mix cake. Sorry I’m not much more help than that.
Oops… here is the actual link.
http://tasteoftheweekend.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/reeses-cake/
It was delicious!! Here is a link to my blog of your recipe:
http://tasteoftheweekend.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/reeses-cake/#comments
do you mean whipped cream like cool whip?? i’m going to make this for my grandma’s birthday.(:
I’d love for some of the chips to be IN the cake itself. Now that Reeses has new little unwrapped minis I plan to try this that way for a special peanut butter cup friend of mine.
Will let you know how it works out.
I am making this this week as a thank you for our bishop. He loves chocolate and peanut butter. I will let you know how it turns out! Thanks.
Kara, Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I’m doing a birthday dinner for my mother- of- three daughter tonight, and I always ask her what kind of cake she wants.
She has always loved Reese’s peanut butter cups, so I can’t wait to see her face when she sees her birthday cake! I was wondering, since you are from Utah, are you LDS? I am! Thanks again! Have a great day!
Yes, I am LDS! 🙂
Kara, thanks for this great recipe! I made this yesterday for my dad’s 60th birthday, it was a huge success. Decadent! And the perfect dessert to celebrate a man who always “taxed” our Halloween candy by nabbing a few peanut butter cups from our piles.
So glad you liked it Katie! And a very happy birthday to your dad! 🙂
Thanks so much! They don’t eat whipped cream (I think they’re insane, but hey) so, I can just use milk, right?
Yep, you can use milk. 🙂
Hi! I would love to make this for my boyfriend and dad for Valentine’s day but, what kind of cream do you mean in the frosting?
I updated the recipe to say whipping cream.
I usually use regular whipping cream, but heavy whipping cream would work too. If you are in a pinch, you can use milk, but the frosting won’t be quite as creamy. Hope that helps. 🙂
Thanks for such a great recipe! I made this last night for my husband’s birthday and have blogged about it and your recipe.
JanelleS
http://www.financiallyfree4ever.blogspot.com
Looks much too yummyh!
Thanks for posting! I love so many of your recipes! This will be perfect for my son’s birthday! Thanks!
Thanks Kellie, hope he likes it as much as my son did! 🙂
Hi Kara, I lost the picture link I had on my side bar to your blog. I’ll look around for another button, you must have changed it. Sorry, I haven’t had time to visit my favorite blogs and I’m out of the loop.
Thanks so much for sharing this. My son & i LOVE Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I’ll have to give this a try the next time i bake a cake for him. <
My husband would love this!!! I’ll have to make this for him sometime soon!
Your chocolate lovers bundt cake would be more to my liking! 😉
I’m giving away a $40 CSN Stores gift certificate:
http://under-the-big-oak-tree.blogspot.com/2010/06/csn-stores-giveaway-40-gift-certificate.html
You are KILLING ME! I just started my no sugar week;) (from mmb)
Yum! This looks amazing. I think that I would need to make this when I have people over, otherwise I might eat the whole thing myself.
This sounds like PURE heaven. There will be one of these in my house next time “that time” rolls around.
Perfect! Chocolate always makes me feel better during “that time” too. 🙂
No fair to post this in front of a hungry pregnant woman! I need it now!
I had something like this in a restaurant in California recently – but it didn’t have the peanut butter cups on it. It was delicious, but I think I like your version better 🙂
This looks DELISH! Reese’s are my hubby’s favorites — so I will definitely be giving this little recipe a try. Thanks so much for sharing!!
Oh, you must have heard my conversation with my 5 (soon to be 6 year old) yesterday! Her birthday is coming up next month & I always decorate a fun cake for my girls. I was asking her what kind of cake she wanted & she said a cake with PB cups in it (she loves Reeses!) and I told her I didn’t know if I could find a way to put them IN the cake – but this cake solves my problem! She loves anything PB and it looks delish – so I’m excited to show her!
HEY I JUST ADDED A LITTLE OF THE REESE’S CUPS TO THE MIX WHEN I WAS DONE MIXING THEN POURED IN PAN THE FLAVOR
WAS GREAT MY KIDS LOVED IT..TRY IT!!