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Another one-layer cake coming at you today! One of the most popular recipes on my site (even years later and after a pretty long blogging hiatus) is this Ultimate Peanut Butter Lover’s Cake, so I figured it was time to do something else that’s totally over-the-top peanut butter.

Enter this Peanut Butter Crumb Cake! It has all the flavorful and peanut buttery goodness of the Peanut Butter Lover’s Cake, but packed into one thick layer with plenty of crumb and glaze.

Let me telllll youuuu about these peanut butter crumbs. Omg. So so good! I want to put them on everything. Or just eat them with a spoon from a bowl. With the glaze. They’re flavored with granulated and brown sugar. They’re sweet and a little salty and have a pinch of cinnamon. I’d have thrown in some chopped peanuts too if I’d had any on hand. I feel like they’d add some nice flavor and texture and cronch. 😛

This cake is the perfect little snack for weekends or even birthdays if you know some fellow peanut butter enthusiasts. I’m honestly not sure what the difference between crumb cake and coffee cake is here, but this is nice with a cup of coffee too!

ABOUT THIS RECIPE:

Peanut butter: I used JIF creamy peanut butter because it’s what I had on hand, but I used it for each part of this recipe. If you’d like to use crunchy, I think it could work in the crumbs and the cake. If you’d like to use natural peanut butter, just keep in mind that most natural peanut butters are a little more oily, so make sure to give it a good stir. And it might add some extra moisture to the texture, but I don’t think it would alter the texture too much.

Make ahead: Because there are three components to this cake, you can make the crumbs a day in advance if you want to! Just make them according to the recipe, but don’t bake them. Put them in an airtight container and store in the fridge over night.

Springform pan: I used a 9-inch springform pan for this cake so I could easily remove the cake from the pan without messing up the top. If you don’t have a springform pan, you could use a regular 9-inch square or round pan, but I’d just keep it in the pan instead of trying to flip out onto a wire rack or serving plate.

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Peanut Butter Crumb Cake

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 40

Ingredients

Peanut butter crumb:

½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
½ cup butter melted

Peanut Butter Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
¾ cup oil
½ cup creamy peanut butter
¾ cup whole milk

Peanut Butter Glaze:

1 tbsp creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp hot water
¾ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla
½ tbsp milk

Instructions

Peanut butter crumbs:

To make the peanut butter crumbs, whisk together brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt, and flour in a medium-sized bowl. Add peanut butter and melted butter. Use a rubber spatula to stir ingredients until mostly combined, then use clean hands to mix ingredients until completely combined and crumble into crumbs. Set aside.

Peanut butter cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a 9-inch springform pan with baking spray with flour.
To make the cake, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix on medium speed with an electric mixer until combined. Add oil, creamy peanut butter, and milk. Mix until all ingredients are completely combined, 1 to 2 minutes.
Pour batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle crumbs evenly over the top and slightly press into the batter. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, tenting pan with foil about halfway through baking to prevent the crumbs from over baking. Check for doneness by inserting a wooden pick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean or with only a couple of crumbs, it’s done, Let cake cool completely.

Peanut Butter Glaze:

To make the glaze, stir together hot water and peanut butter to make peanut butter easy to incorporate into the powdered sugar. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, peanut butter mixture, vanilla, and milk. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle over crumb cake and let the glaze set 5 to 10 minutes. Use a serrated knife to cut into slices.