Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cake is a chocolate cake filled with peanut butter cups and a rich filling of homemade peanut butter frosting. This easy, irresistible treat is perfect for a party or potluck!
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Almost 6 years ago to the day, I published the first edition of this Reese's Cake recipe on my blog. It went viral almost immediately and, to this day, it is one of the best among hundreds of recipes on this site.
♥️ Why You'll Love This Reese's Cake Recipe
- You get the best parts of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup in each bite. This chocolate cake has a rich swirl of creamy peanut butter frosting and candies throughout the cake. You'll get peanut butter and chocolate in each bite!
- It's a great shortcut (that doesn't seem like a shortcut). I use a jazzed-up boxed chocolate cake mix and a really simple peanut butter frosting for this recipe. You'd never know it's not homemade!
- It's a wow-factor cake. Trust me, you're going to get lots of requests for the recipe when you make this - I always do!
🍫 Reese's Peanut Butter Cake Ingredients
(Exact ingredient measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.)
- Devil's Food Cake mix - The Devil's Food Cake gives it a really rich, chocolate base that's perfect with the peanut butter swirled throughout.
- eggs
- vanilla extract - This small addition gives your cake so much more flavor!
- milk - I prefer to use whole milk in my cakes.
- peanut butter - I recommend creamy peanut butter for this; you'll want creamy to make that smooth, buttery frosting.
- butter - This should be softened to room temperature before using it in your cake batter.
- chocolate syrup
- powdered sugar - We'll use this to sweeten the peanut butter icing. It's important you use powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar for a smooth icing!
- miniature Reese's peanut butter cups - This is the kind of peanut butter cup that's about 1" in diameter. You can typically find a pack of about 30 in the candy aisle at the grocery store.
Ingredient Variations & Additions
This is one of those recipes where I don't recommend straying much from the original. The flavors all work so well together - as we say in the South, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
A few minor variations that could work...
- Use a different candy, like Rolos, Snickers, or Milky Way bars.
- Really any chocolate cake mix works. If needed, you could even use a gluten-free chocolate cake mix.
- Add in even more chocolate or peanut butter goodness with a sprinkle of chocolate or peanut butter chips into the cake batter. Reese's pieces would also be fun to sprinkle on the top of the icing!
🥜 How to Make Reese's Cake
Step 1: Mix Cake Batter
In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, eggs, vanilla extract, 1 cup milk, 1 cup of peanut butter, and 1 stick of butter. Pour the cake batter and spread in a greased 9x13" baking dish.
My Boxed Cake Mix Hack
Make a boxed cake taste like it's homemade! Just follow the directions on the box, but use butter instead of oil, milk instead of water, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and add an extra egg.
Step 2: Make Peanut Butter Frosting
With a hand mixer, cream together half a cup of butter (1 stick), 1 cup of peanut butter, and milk. Once those ingredients are mixed, add in powdered sugar until the frosting is mixed well.
Step 3: Add Mix-Ins to Cake Batter & Swirl
After mixing your peanut butter buttercream, dollop half of the frosting mixture on top of the cake batter in 5-6 scoops. Add 6-8 large squirts of chocolate syrup.
Next, gently swirl the ingredients together with a butter knife or a spoon. Swirls should reach the end and bottom of the pan.
Sprinkle chopped Reese's peanut butter cups over the swirled cake batter and gently press in.
Step 4: Bake in the oven
Bake the Reese's cake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.
Step 5: Frost & Finish
Frost the cake with the remaining peanut butter frosting, more chocolate syrup, and remaining chopped peanut butter cups.
🎥 Step-by-Step Recipe Video
🍽️ Serving & Storage Tips
I recommend storing this one in the fridge in an airtight container. There's milk in the icing...you don't want that to spoil! It's best within 2-3 days of baking.
This Reese's cake is best at room temperature or even a little warm, so try to take your cake out of the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before serving. You can pop pieces of the cake in the microwave to reheat - just set the microwave to about 15 seconds.
✅ More Expert Tips and Tricks
- I think this cake is best fresh out of the oven. Give it 30 minutes or so to cool, frost/top it, then serve ASAP - it's still warm and the chocolate and peanut butter are perfectly melty!
- Vanilla ice cream is incredibly yummy with this warm cake. I have a great recipe for homemade Ninja Creami vanilla ice cream if you need an easy one!
- Sometimes, you might be able to find the really small peanut butter cups that come unwrapped. You can definitely use those instead of the miniature peanut butter cups...no chopping needed!
More Chocolate & Peanut Butter Desserts
Thanks for stopping by - I hope you love this chocolatey, peanut-buttery cake! If you try this recipe, make sure to leave a ⭐️ review and comment below. And, for more great recipes, follow along!
Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cake
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Ingredients
- 1 box Devil's food cake mix
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 2 sticks butter softened to room temperature
- chocolate syrup
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 30 miniature peanut butter cups chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, eggs, 1 cup milk, vanilla extract, 1 cup of peanut butter, and 1 stick of butter. Spread mixture in a greased 9x13" baking dish.
- With a hand mixer, blend 1 stick of butter, 1 cup of peanut butter, and ¼ cup milk. Slowly add in powdered sugar until the frosting is mixed well.
- Spoon half of the peanut butter frosting mixture on top of the cake batter. Add 6-8 large squirts of chocolate syrup. Very gently swirl frosting and syrup into the cake mix. Don't completely mix. Make sure you get swirls into the edge of the cake pan.
- Gently press in half of the chopped peanut butter cups.
- Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow cake to cool for 15-20 minutes.
- Top the cake with the remaining frosting, more chocolate syrup, and the remaining chopped peanut butter cups.
Notes
- I think this cake is best fresh out of the oven. Give it 15-20 minutes to cool, frost/top it, then serve ASAP - it's still warm and the chocolate and peanut butter are perfectly melty!
- Vanilla ice cream is incredibly yummy with this warm cake.
- Sometimes, you might be able to find the really small peanut butter cups that come unwrapped. You can definitely use those instead of the miniature peanut butter cups...no chopping needed!
- I recommend storing this one in the fridge in an airtight container. There's milk in the icing...you don't want that to spoil! It's best within 2-3 days of baking.
- This cake is best at room temperature or even a little warm, so try to take your cake out of the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before serving. You can pop pieces of the cake in the microwave to reheat - just set the microwave to about 15 seconds.
Nutrition Facts
Leslie Lambert is a lifestyle writer and content creator specializing in home organization, family recipes, and intentional living. With 16 years of experience in blogging and digital storytelling, she helps busy women create calm, purposeful homes they love.
