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If there’s one thing that almost everyone in my family agrees on it’s the yumminess of foods that combine sweet and salty flavors. And, peanut butter-filled pretzels happen to be a favorite around here. That’s what makes this peanut butter pretzel cake a real winner. If you’ve love a salty pretzel combined with sweet, peanut butter frosting then this is the cake for you.
This recipe as written is a layer cake and that extra layer of divine peanut butter frosting in the middle really makes the cake for me. But, if you want a much simpler affair you can half the recipe and serve it as a single layer cake.
And, it’s not only the frosting that’s loaded with peanut flavor. The cake is also made with peanut butter for all around peanut extravaganza.
I chose to decorate this cake with pretzels on the outer edge of the entire cake. If you want more pretzel crunch and flavor crush some pretzels and place them on top of your filling frosting. I decorated the top with honey roasted peanuts, but the top can be your canvas for adding crushed pretzels if you prefer.
To get a perfect circle of either peanuts or pretzels pieces in the center of the cake use a wide mouth canning jar ring. Place it gently in the center and fill it with your topping. Then carefully remove the ring. For the most part the toppings will spill out jut a bit when you remove the ring, conveniently covering any faint indent left from the metal. If they don’t fall into place simply nudge them with your fingers until they cover the ring mark.
If you’re short on time you can buy some pretzels already coated in chocolate for the decoration instead of making them yourself. Or use only plain pretzels if you don’t want any chocolate in the recipe. Or use the small pretzel sticks for a much different look. I love that this cake is customizable for many types of looks and flavors. You can make so many different styles with this one cake recipe.
The only downside to this cake is that the pretzels can lose their snap pretty quickly so this isn’t a good cake to leave in the fridge for a long time. In fact, I recommend you finish the cake ASAP. But, something tells me that with all that delicious flavor and crunch avoiding cake leftovers won’t be a problem at all!
Peanut Butter Pretzel Cake
Diet: Vegetarian
For the cake:
- 1 stick salted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 eggs
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
For the frosting and topping:
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 (10 oz) bag mini pretzel twists or sticks
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup honey roasted peanuts
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. In a large bowl cream together butter, peanut butter, and sugar until light in color. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time, stirring between each addition. In another bowl combine flour and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to wet 1 cup at a time, then stir in 1 tablespoon milk. Add another tablespoon of milk if the batter is too thick.
- Line the bottoms of 2 8”-cake tins with parchment paper and grease the sides. Add half the batter to each pan and bake for 22-24 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of each one comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes before tipping out to finish cooling on wire rack for 30-60 minutes. Place in refrigerator after that.
- While cake is cooling combine butter, peanut butter, milk, and powdered sugar for frosting. Start with only 2 tablespoons milk and add more only if frosting is too thick. Place in refrigerator until ready to frost.
- Melt chocolate chips in microwave using 30-second intervals. Dip half the pretzels into melted chocolate, either halfway up pretzels or part way to make a design in the finished cake. Lay on parchment paper lined sheet or on wire cooling rack for 20 minutes, then place in refrigerator to fully harden.
- Cut tops off cakes if they not are level. Place first cake on serving plate or stand. Frost with icing and place second cake on top. Spread a very thin layer of frosting over entire cake for your crumb coat, then apply a thicker latter on top of that. This keeps crumbs from making it to the top layer of frosting.
- Decorate on the sides with pretzels and place a pile of peanuts in the center of the cake. Refrigerate until ready to cut into slices and serve.
Recipe adapted from 30 Seconds Food.