Peanut Butter Cake

I'm a huge fan of peanut butter, always have been and more than likely always will be.  Yesterday I was wanting to bake something but just wasn't sure what to make. Opened the pantry and saw a brand new tub of organic, natural, made with sea salt, no sugar added peanut butter (a mouthful of a title). Then all I wanted was a dessert with peanut butter. So I set out on a baking adventure and came up with a recipe that I was hoping would make a great peanut butter dessert... it was a success (we already ate it all and if it wasn't nearly 10 at night I would be really really tempted to make another one right now)

It doesn't have a fancy name yet, I guess just Katie's Peanut Butter Cake - since my name is Katie maybe that gives me the right to eat it all... I mean, if it has my name in it, it should belong to me, right? I highly recommend trying this cake, its simple and so tasty. 

Katie's Peanut Butter Cake

filled with chocolate chips topped with a peanut butter glaze frosting

it never made it off the cooling rack... it was too good and I had to show great constraints to take a picture before diving right in

for the cake:

1 cup almond or oat milk (if not going for vegan use regular cow milk - as we call it in our house)

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (you can also use white vinegar but I prefer apple cider vinegar)

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup nondairy plain or vanilla yogurt, soy or coconut (if you aren't looking to make this vegan you can use regular yogurt or sour cream)

1/2 cup peanut butter (if not using pure peanut butter be cautious of how much sugar is in the peanut butter you are using - it can make the cake taste very sweet compared to natural no sugar added peanut butter)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°  and grease a 8x8 inch round or square pan

Mix together the milk and vinegar then set aside for a few minutes while working with the other ingredients. 

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. 

In a separate bowl mix together yogurt, peanut butter, and vanilla. Add the milk mixture to the peanut butter mixture, blending well. 

Mix the peanut butter ingredients into the dry flour ingredients just until blended. Add the chocolate chips (its not necessary to 'fold' them in, but you also don't want to over mix the batter)

Pour the batter into your prepared baking dish (its a thick batter so use a spatula to spread it evenly in the dish)

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a tooth pick poked in the center of the cake comes out clean. (you can either eat it straight out of the pan or let cool around 10 minutes before transferring out of its baking pan to a cake stand or your own plate)

I love how the dry ingredients appear so white on their own, and then as you add them you can see the true color 

great colors and so tasty - peanut butter, nondairy yogurt, and vanilla

Peanut Butter Glaze

1 1/2 cups sifted confentioner sugar

1/3 cup almond or oat milk - up to 1/2 cup if you like yours thinner (can use cow milk instead of vegan milk)

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

mix all the ingredients together and pour onto top of cooled cake. If still in the pan, smooth the glaze around like normal frosting, if on a plate smooth up and over the edges of the cake so it drips down the side. Let hardened for around 30 minutes before eating (or put in the freezer or fridge for a few minutes to eat even sooner) 

You can sprinkle the top with mini chocolate chips or heat  1/3 cup chocolate chips with a tablespoon of nondairy milk (or cow milk) until melted and then drizzle over the top of the cake.

the cake with just a few chocolate chips sprinkled on top

fighting over who got the last bite (sadly as I turned the camera off this bite was eaten by someone other than me).