Look, I am standing with a foot on both sides of the fence here: I still find the phrase “snacking cake” irritating and yet continuously, willfully bake cakes that undeniably fit this billing. I think it started when I got myself a 25cm square tin: such width, such surface area, there’s something so accessible and appealing and genuinely snackable about the cakes its shallow walls bear. The latest iteration is this Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Snacking Cake with Brown Sugar Icing; yes, it’s a cake, but it’s definitely of the snacking variety, almost veering into slice territory. After getting most of my disdain out of the way with my Lemon Polenta Snacking Cake I’ve probably got about one more cake like this left before I have to give up on the whole scornful thing and just proceed in earnest.

You may have noticed that there aren’t many sugary peanut butter recipes on my blog — not because I don’t enjoy it, but because it’s just not top of mind for me. My non-watertight theory is that you have to be American to know that true affinity for peanut butter. I can appreciate it, be curious even, but I’ll never truly understand peanut butter at that bone-deep level. I mean I probably ate peanut butter once a month at best as a kid, it just wasn’t part of our culinary landscape in the default way it is over there. Indeed, whenever I do post a peanut butter recipe I feel like I’m subconsciously low-key pandering to either an international audience or the SEO algorithm, whichever comes first. But let’s not overthink it, peanut butter + chocolate is a killer combination that’s not going anywhere, expressed in this cake in the form of chocolate chips that provide joyful textural em dashes to the magnificently peanutty cake.

I’ve lightly adapted this Short Girl Tall Order cake recipe and added my own icing; I initially planned to throw the word “caramel” into the title for real attention-grabbing flair but despite how much brown sugar went in (and I did try increasing it the second time I made this) the results were more muted than truly caramelly. Still delicious though — the molasses rasp of the brown sugar lifts up the earthiness of the peanuts and that smooth, fudgy layer of icing provides another extremely pleasing textural element. The cake itself is dense yet tender, not overly sweet, fragrantly peanutty with a soft crumb and crisp edge, and charmingly easy to throw together. The chocolate chips and peanuts scattered on top were initially my way to disguise a photography-unfriendly lumpy-looking surface from the crunchy peanut butter I’d used in the icing; I now concede that they’re necessary for more than just aesthetics. That final layer of chocolate crunch and salt rounds out the cake, making it even more satisfying to lower your teeth into, and balances the icing’s sweetness.

For further sweet peanut butter times there’s also these Small-Batch Peanut Mocha Cookies; making them reminded me of the lack of this ingredient on my blog and cogitating on that notion eventually led to this cake, so perhaps there’ll be even more opportunities soon (but till then there is the ENTIRE internet full of peanut butter recipes for all of our enjoyment, to be fair.)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Snacking Cake with Brown Sugar Icing

A shallow layer of peanut butter cake, studded with chocolate chips and covered in a darkly sweet brown sugar icing. Topped with more chocolate and salted peanuts just in case you forgot why you were here; it’s texturally fantastic and very delicious. Cake adapted from this Short Girl Tall Order recipe, everything else by myself.

• 160ml (2/3 cup) milk (I used soy)
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or malt vinegar
• 160g (3/4 cup) brown sugar
• 80 ml (1/3 cup) smooth peanut butter
• 80ml (1/3 cup) olive oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 175g (1 and 1/2 cups) flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate drops or chips

Brown sugar icing:

• 100g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons refined coconut oil or butter
• 2 tablespoons milk, plus more if needed
• 3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
• 300g (2 cups) icing sugar, plus more if needed
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips, extra
• 1/4 cup roasted salted peanuts

1: Set your oven to 180C/350F and line a 25cm square tin with baking paper. Place the 2/3 cup milk and the tablespoon of vinegar together in a large mixing bowl and leave for a minute to curdle a little.

2: Stir in the 3/4 cup brown sugar, the 1/3 cup each of peanut butter and olive oil, and the two teaspoons of vanilla. It might take a bit of agitation to get the peanut butter to incorporate, depending on its texture.

3: Sieve in the 1 and 1/2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and half teaspoon salt and fold them gently into the wet ingredients till just combined. Fold in the 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Spatula this mixture into the prepared cake tin and spread into an even layer – it will be quite thin, so if you’re the type to eat the batter like me, maybe wait till after this point to have a go at it. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the surface is firm and springy. Allow to cool before icing.

4: To make the icing — which you can start while the cake is baking and set aside till it’s cooled — place the 1/2 cup brown sugar, two tablespoons coconut oil or butter, and 2 tablespoons of milk in a heavy-based saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. As soon as the small bubbles that form on the surface begin to grow larger, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the three tablespoons of peanut butter. Sieve in the icing sugar one cup at a time, and stir to form a thick, smooth frosting. If it’s too thick, add a splash more milk, and if it’s not thick enough, sieve in more icing sugar. Spread the icing over the cooled cake and sprinkle over the 1/4 cup each of chocolate chips and roasted, salted peanuts.

Cut into slices, and store in an airtight container in the fridge. This is fine for a few days, after which point the cake will start to dry up a little.

Makes 16 – 24 slices, depending on how you cut it.

Notes: You can absolutely use crunchy peanut butter if that’s what you’ve got — it does make the icing look lumpy but once covered in peanuts and extra chocolate chips you don’t really notice it.

music lately:

Dogs, by Pink Floyd, specifically the version from Roger Waters’ (extremely formative on young me) In The Flesh tour led by Jon Carin — the way that guitar is crisper than a salt and vinegar chip; the way this song is the length of a sitcom episode and yet its urgency never slips for even a second! I love how Waters recognised his own vocal shortcomings and generously donated many of the best bits of each song to his wildly talented sessions musicians; somehow providing a fresh perspective on the music without compromising any of its original power, lending untold credibility and showmanship in the process.

1969 by The Stooges. When that beat kicks in! Immediately makes you want to sow discord!

Bug Like an Angel by Mitski. New Mitski music is always good news for society and terrible news for my productivity which is in turn probably fairly neutral for society all things considered. As per usual this song zigs when you think it’s going to zag and I’ll let you find out what that means for yourself!