Chocolate Peanut Butter Sheet Cake Recipes

CHOCOLATE SHEET CAKE WITH CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Generously grease a 12×17 inch half sheet/jelly roll pan. Set aside.
• Heat the butter, water, and cocoa powder together in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the butter has melted and everything is smooth and combined. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Pour the warm chocolate/butter mixture on top, then slowly whisk together until combined. It will be very thick.
• Whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together in a medium bowl. The mixture will be thick. Whisk in the vanilla until combined, then pour into the chocolate batter and whisk until combined. Finally, whisk in the buttermilk. Pour the chocolate batter into the sheet pan.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes. (Mine takes exactly 17 minutes.) Use a toothpick to test for doneness: stick it into the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done. If not, continue baking. Remove cake from the oven and set the pan on a wire rack. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan before frosting. The refrigerator helps speed things up, if you have room for the large pan!
• Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat softened butter and peanut butter together on medium-high speed for 2 minutes until completely smooth and creamy. Add the confectioners' sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat on low speed for about 20 seconds, then gradually increase to high speed. Beat on high for 1 minute until combined and frosting is fluffy. Taste; add more salt if needed. To thicken, add more confectioners' sugar and to thin, add more cream.
• Spread frosting all over cooled cake, and then top with toppings, if using. Slice and serve. Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It's so good cold!

CHOCOLATE SHEET CAKE WITH PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 18 by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. In a separate mixing bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the sour cream, and vanilla. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, mixing until just combined.
• In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter and stir in the cocoa powder, and hot water. Bring the mixture to a boil and then remove from the heat. Cool slightly, and incorporate the cocoa mixture with the dry ingredients, mixing just until blended.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely.
• For the frosting:
• In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the peanut butter and mix until smooth. Remove from the heat. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the milk, and powdered sugar until fully incorporated. Stir in the vanilla, and slowly incorporate the peanut butter mixture, blending well after each addition.
• Frost the cake while both the frosting and cake are still warm. Top with nuts, if desired.
• Cook's Note: Making a sheet cake is the best bang for your buck when it comes to dessert for a group. To vamp it up, take small biscuit cutters and create tiered cakes that can be dusted with powdered sugar. Cake scraps can be saved for a delicious trifle the next day.
• Sheet Cake Variations:
• Chocolate Fudge Frosting: instead of peanut butter frosting, replace peanut butter in frosting recipe with 1/3 cocoa powder. Prepare the frosting the same way.
• Toasted Coconut: In addition to topping with nuts, top cake with toasted coconut.
• Caramel/Fudge Cake: Drizzle warm caramel sauce and/or fudge sauce over frosting just before serving.
• Sheet Cake Variations, follows.

CHOCOLATE-PEANUT BUTTER SHEET CAKE

Steps:

• Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush a 9-by-13-inch or 8-by-12-inch baking pan with butter. Line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on long sides. Butter parchment.
• Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Combine eggs and granulated sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until thick and pale, about 4 minutes. Add flour mixture; beat just to combine. Add butter and vanilla; beat to combine. Add sour cream; beat until smooth.
• Scrape batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with a spatula. Bake until top springs back when lightly touched and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes (for 9-by-13-inch) or about 40 minutes (for 8-by-12).
• Let cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Using parchment overhangs, lift cake out of pan and let cool completely on rack. (Cake can be made to this point and stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic, up to 1 day.)
• Frosting: Beat butter and peanut butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in confectioners' sugar until thick and fluffy. Remove from mixer; stir in sour cream by hand until frosting is silky and dense. Spread over cake; sprinkle top with peanuts. Frosted cake is best the day it's assembled, but can be refrigerated, wrapped in plastic, up to 1 day. Return to room temperature before serving.

RICH CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CAKE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat the sugar, milk, coffee, oil, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, cocoa, coffee granules, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into sugar mixture until blended., Transfer to two greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean., Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For filling, in a large bowl, beat butter and peanut butter until blended. Add confectioners' sugar; beat until smooth., For frosting, melt peanut butter and chocolate in a microwave; stir until smooth. Cool. In a large bowl, beat butter and chocolate mixture until fluffy. Add the marshmallow creme, confectioners' sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth. If necessary, refrigerate until frosting reaches spreading consistency., Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate; spread with filling. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving., For optional garnish, place chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl; microwave 1-2 minutes or until melted, stirring every 20 seconds. Repeat with peanut butter chips and shortening. Line a 15x10x1 pan with waxed paper; spread the melted chocolate into a 1/4-inch layer. Drizzle melted peanut butter mixture over melted chocolate and swirl with the tip of a spoon. Tap pan on counter to smooth. Refrigerate until set; break into pieces and place on top of cake.

PEANUT BUTTER SHEET CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 15x10x1-in. baking pan., In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In a small saucepan, combine water and butter; bring just to a boil. Stir in peanut butter and oil until blended. Stir into flour mixture. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, buttermilk and vanilla until blended; add to flour mixture, whisking constantly., Transfer to prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes., Meanwhile, for glaze, combine sugar, milk and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in peanut butter, marshmallows and vanilla until blended. Spoon over warm cake, spreading evenly. Cool on a wire rack.