Peanut Butter Coffee Cake (with Chocolate Chip Streusel)

Realizing the house had run out of normal breakfast food, with feeding the family another bowl of dry cereal feeling like a personal failure, is exactly what led to this peanut butter coffee cake at six on a Tuesday morning.

Operating on half a cup of coffee somehow led to almost drinking out of the glass left on the nightstand for the cat, an incident that is entirely real and deeply embarrassing. Avoiding two-week-old cat water turned out to be worth it for this bake.

This peanut butter coffee cake recipe makes anyone look like they have their life together before eight in the morning. Here is exactly how I do it.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Fast prep. About 15 minutes of active work covers the absolute limit for morning baking.
• Crowd-pleasing. This is basically a chocolate peanut butter coffee cake masquerading as acceptable morning food.
• Pantry staples. Every single ingredient probably already sits in the cupboards right now.
• Kid-approved. Chocolate chips for breakfast mean nobody argues about eating this cake.

Tools You’ll Need

Nothing fancy, I promise.

• 9-inch square baking pan You need this for the right thickness. If you use a bigger pan, you will end up with a sad, flat pancake.
• Mixing bowls. These keep the wet and dry ingredients separate like responsible adults.
• Whisk. This fluffs up the dry ingredients so nobody bites into a clump of baking powder.

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 1/2 cup brown sugar – Packing it gives the cake moisture.
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar – For that classic tender crumb.
• 1/4 cup butter – Softened! Do not melt it or the texture gets weird.
• 1/2 cup peanut butter – Use the processed stuff (like Jif or Skippy). Natural peanut butter separates and makes a greasy peanut butter crumb cake.
• 1 egg – The binder that holds our hopes and dreams together.
• 1/2 cup milk – I used nonfat, but use whatever you have.
• 1 1/2 cups flour – Standard all-purpose is fine. If you want to nerd out on protein content, King Arthur Baking explains it best.
• 2 teaspoons baking powder – Check the expiration date. Seriously.
• 1/2 teaspoon salt – To balance the sugar.

For the Streusel

• 1/2 cup brown sugar – More moisture, more flavor.
• 2 tablespoons flour – Helps bind the crumble.
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon – The backbone of any good streusel.
• 2 tablespoons butter – Melted this time.
• 1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips – Mini chips distribute better so you get chocolate in every bite of this peanut butter streusel cake.

How To Make Peanut Butter Coffee Cake

Do not let the layers intimidate you; it is mostly just dumping things in a bowl and stirring.

1. Prep the pan: Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9” square pan with cooking spray. If you forget the spray, you will be eating this straight out of the pan with a spoon, which is fine, but not ideal for sharing.
2. Whisk dry ingredients: Whisk flower, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Do not skip whisking or you will get bitter baking powder pockets.
3. Mix the batter: Mix sugars, butter, peanut butter, and egg in a large bowl. Stir in milk. Stir dry ingredients into wet and stir until just combined. Overmixing makes it tough, and nobody wants tough cake.
4. Make the topping: Make the crumb topping: stir together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and melted butter. Fold in chocolate chips. If you eat half of this before it goes on the cake, I am not looking.
5. Layer and bake: Place half the cake batter in the pan and spread to fit. Top with half the streusel. Repeat with remaining cake batter and streusel. Bake for 21-24 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. (Mine took 22 minutes to bake.) The batter is thick, so just do your best to spread it—it does not have to be perfect.

Make it yours

• Extra chocolate version. You fold additional mini chocolate chips directly into the batter for a more intense chocolate peanut butter coffee cake.
• Nutty version. You sprinkle chopped peanuts over the glaze for extra crunch and a stronger peanut flavor.

Perfect Pairings

This peanut butter streusel cake suits two specific pairings particularly well.

• A cold glass of milk works for the kids, or for anyone who wants one without judgment.
• Brunch with the in-laws needs exactly this kind of bake to distract them from personal questions.

Peanut Butter Coffee Cake

This peanut butter coffee cake proves that a genuinely impressive breakfast bake can come together from ingredients already sitting in the pantry. This peanut butter coffee cake recipe layers a double crumble loaded with mini chocolate chips around a tender peanut butter batter, delivering everything a proper peanut butter crumb cake should taste like. Whether served plain or finished as a peanut butter coffee cake with glaze for company, this chocolate peanut butter coffee cake earns a permanent spot in the regular rotation.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings: 12 servings

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Calories: 236

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup 1/2 of a stick butter softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk (I used nonfat)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter (melted)
• 1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

Equipment

• 9-inch square baking pan
• Mixing bowls
• Whisk

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9” square pan with cooking spray.
2. Whisk flower, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
3. Mix sugars, butter, peanut butter, and egg in a large bowl. Stir in milk. Stir dry ingredients into wet and stir until just combined.
4. Make the crumb topping: stir together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and melted butter. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Place half the cake batter in the pan and spread to fit. Top with half the streusel. Repeat with remaining cake batter and streusel. Bake for 21-24 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. (Mine took 22 minutes to bake.)

Recipe Notes

Peanut butter: I always use processed peanut butter like Jif or Skippy, since natural peanut butter separates and turns the cake greasy.

Chocolate chips: I use mini chips in the streusel, since they distribute more evenly than regular sized chips.

Butter: I keep mine softened for the batter and melted for the streusel, since each component needs a different texture.

Flour: I always spoon and level mine into the measuring cup to avoid a dry, dense cake.

Milk: I use nonfat most of the time, though whatever sits in the fridge handles the job fine.