St. Louis has a bunch of tasty treats that are big hometown hits: toasted ravioli, provel cheese, slingers, pork steaks, and my favorite… gooey butter cake.
Now while the traditional recipe is OH SO GOOD, my family likes to add a little twist…
CHOCOLATE – PEANUT BUTTER – GOOEY BUTTER CAKE.
Just a little something I like to call “The Three Pointer”.
Swoosh. Yep, that just happened.
Let me just tell you that this cake is a slam dunk. And if you’re a huge fan of REESE’S® Peanut Butter Cups like me, then this is your new weakness. Seriously, the best dessert ever.
INGREDIENTS:
Cake:
1 (18 1/4-ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted
Mid Layer:
REESE’S® Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures, chopped
Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup peanut butter
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine cake mix, egg and melted butter. Mix well with electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 9×13 inch pan.
Next chop the REESE’S® Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures into small pieces. Spread over the first cake layer.
For the filling, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. Next add the eggs, vanilla and melted butter. Mix together. Add the powdered sugar and beat together.
Pour the filling over the over the REESE’S® Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures layer and then spread evenly using a rubber spatula.
Bake for approximately 50 minutes. Make sure you do not over bake as the center should be gooey. Let set for about 30 minutes or until the peanut butter layer cools and thickens.
So what’s with all the basketball references? Well, I’m excited to say that my recipe was chosen to be in the REESE’S® Baking Bracket Challenge this March! There are a total of 32 fun game day REESE’S® recipes, but I would LOVE your vote to win!
Fans who vote will be entered for a chance to win a daily prize $100 Walmart® gift card! Plus when you visit you can see all of the 32 Game Day Recipes. You can vote once a day for my recipe too!
So do you think this recipe is a slam dunk?
Are you obsessed with anything chocolate and peanut butter like me?
Chocolate Peanut Butter Gooey butter Cake
A mouth watering gooey cake made with Reese's peanut butter cups. You'll need stretchy pants after this one but it's totally worth it.
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 package chocolate cake mix
- 1 egg
- 8 tbsp butter (melted)
Mid Layer:
- Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures (chopped)
Filling:
- 8 oz package of cream cheese
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 8 tbsp butter (melted)
- 16 oz powdered sugar
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350°.
-
Combine cake mix, egg, and melted butter.
-
Mix well with electric mixer.
-
Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13" baking dish.
-
Chop the Reese's peanut butter cup miniatures into small pieces.
-
Spread over the first cake layer.
-
For the filling, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth.
-
Add the eggs, vanilla, and melted butter. Mix together.
-
Add the powdered sugar and beat together.
-
Pour the filling over the Reese's cups layer and spread evenly using a rubber spatula.
-
Bake for 50 minutes. Make sure you do not over bake as the center should be gooey.
-
Let set for about 30 minutes or until the peanut butter layer cools and thickens.
Judy I, St. Louis MO says
That sounds absolutely awesome. I love gooey butter cake and I love peanut butter. And of course I had to vote for a fellow St. Louis gal. Good luck.
howtonestforless says
Thank you Judy! I sure do appreciate it!
Chris k in Wisconsin says
This sounds really good! Could you list how many peanut butter cups are to be used? Thanks so much !!!!
howtonestforless says
I used about 20-25 of the mini Reese’s peanut butter cups chopped into bits. Or just enough to lightly cover on top of the bottom layer!
kw says
i see your knack for having delish desserts…. as this is on the heels of your yummy reese dip 🙂
thank you for sharing!!
howtonestforless says
Can you tell I love anything peanut butter? 🙂
Annie says
Erin, you have done it again! This sounds to darn good. Off to vote…Good Luck!
howtonestforless says
Thanks so much Annie! I’m telling you… the best dessert I’ve ever eaten (although I might be biased!).
Angie G says
Made this yesterday for a family get together and everyone love it and had seconds or more. It was so awesome! Love, love it. 🙂 Do you store it in the fridge? I had a little left and put it in the fridge and it tasted pretty good cold but does make it less gooey for the top part, so wasn’t sure if supposed to or not.
Also put a vote in.
howtonestforless says
YAY! So happy your family loved it! No need to refrigerate either. You can let it sit out no worries for a few days if you cover the top. And thanks so much for the vote!
Bonnie says
Do you think it’s possible to use less than 16oz of Confectioner’s Sugar? Or is it needed to hold it all together?
howtonestforless says
If you do use less, I would cut the peanut butter down as well as it would be too runny.
Rachel @ Little Ivie Lane says
Oh my goodness! I am a peanut butter lover and these are definitely meant for a peanut butter lover kind of person! Match made in heaven. Thanks for sharing 🙂
howtonestforless says
You’re welcome! It’s my absolute favorite!
Susan Bailey says
This sounds delicious since I am a lover of Reese Peanut Butter cups. I am looking forward to making it. I’m off to vote.
Beth says
This recipe sounds great, but I do have a question. I prefer to make homemade cakes and seldom use a box mix. Could I mix up my own cake recipe and use that on the bottom instead of the box mix? I’m guessing you didn’t make the box mix according to the box directions, so would my batter be too soupy to work?
Thanks for your help,
Beth
howtonestforless says
I’ve never made my own cake mix before so not quite sure how it would work. I know that the bottom layer is not liquid, more of a crumble that you press to form the crust.
samantha says
beth i also make my own cake batter now. i use the hersheys cocoa recipe but use all organic ingredients instead [no GMOS !] i think if you leave out the liquid [ for hersheys you add 1 cup boiling water at the end]maybe it willl be batter like this. and i love justins organic peanut butter cups .i used to love reeses! but since i found out about GMOS and the health dangers i stopped buying them and anything made with GMOs, which unfortunately means almost everything i used to buy at the supermarket !
cant wait to try this recipe but with all organic !
jessica says
Hi. Looks good. Does it taste like cream cheese? I’m looking for a birthday cake recipe for a PB lover but he dislikes cream cheese. Sometimes he can’t taste it in recipes though. Please let me know! Thanks!
howtonestforless says
Doesn’t take anything like cream cheese! Promise 🙂
Tauba says
I am from St.Louis and introduced everyone to gooey butter cake when I moved to S.C.yrs ago. I miss toasted Ravioli soooo much.thanks for new twist on gooey butter cake
Marcia says
Just made this recipe, as it looked fabulous, but I used left over Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs that were from Easter. Can’t wait to take a bite!!!
howtonestforless says
YUM!!! And smart to use the leftovers. Hope you enjoyed it!
Kathy Nielsen says
This sounds absolutely decadant! So with that said I must try it! YUM!
christy says
the chocolate crust is EASY to burn, but the filling is great. Need to find another crust.
Bethany says
I made this last night. After taste testing it, here are my suggestions. I also want to add that I followed the instructions thoroughly. I suggest reducing the bake time and checking on your cake. I would say check on it at 40 minutes. I set the timer for 50 like she says and find it to be just slightly over cooked. Also, add the whole bag of reese’s. I used just enough to sprinkle the top but will add the rest of the bag next time for more reese’s flavor!
Everyone loved this. I was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t as gooey as I had hoped but nobody else knew what to expect so they loved it! So, even if you slightly over cook it like I did, it will still be great as long as you don’t burn it.
Sandy says
Fabulous and as a non cooking person I did it It was loved by all.
Cheryl Johnson says
This is indeed the best..love it.
howtonestforless says
Glad you loved it!
N says
Question – this may be a dumb one but when you say mix the cake mix together with 1 egg and 8 tbsp of butter, do you mean mix the cake mix according to the directions on the box PLUS 1 egg and 8 tbsp of butter OR do you mean pour in the cake mix and only add 1 egg and 8 tbsp of butter? Thank you.
howtonestforless says
Cake mix being dry cake mix only. Do not prepare as on the box. Only use 1 egg and 8tbsp of butter.
Cindi says
I made these today and they are so good. I am taking them to work tomorrow, I think they will be a hit.
Thanks for the info about not putting them in the fridge.
I also make the ooey gooey bars, that are very much like these except the candy and peanut butter.
I baked mine for 40 minutes, I felt like 50 minutes would be too long.