These easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cakes give the feel of a 5-star restaurant in the comfort of your own home. They’re delicious, indulgent, and shockingly simple! I’ve added another twist – peanut butter – and it’s so good!
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cakes Recipe
Chocolate Lava Cakes– so what are they? They’re just the most intense and delicious chocolate cake you’ll ever eat, but with added peanut butter, that’s all!
These delectable desserts have a soft and spongey exterior and a gooey, molten-chocolate-peanut butter center; they’re so delicious!
Why You’ll Love this Peanut Butter Lava Cake Recipe:
- Intense flavors: Rich chocolate and creamy peanut butter combine to make one decadent dessert.
- Easy: They look gorgeous, with a melty middle, but are pretty simple to make. They go from pantry to table in around 30 mins.
- Restaurant quality dessert: Single servings, great for impressing at dinner parties.
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Ingredients
- Butter – unsalted.
- Cocoa powder – unsweetened.
- Flour – all-purpose.
- Chocolate – chopped. I prefer German baking chocolate.
- Peanut butter – creamy is best for a smooth cake filling. I went for low-fat peanut butter and it works great.
- Sugar – powdered and granulated.
- Eggs – large.
How to Make Chocolate Lava Cakes With Peanut Butter
You can jump to the recipe card for full ingredients & instructions!
- Melt butter and chocolate together in a saucepan; set aside to cool.
- Mix the peanut butter filling with powdered sugar and melted butter.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar together until thick and pale yellow.
- Stir in the chocolate until no streaks remain; then fold in the flour.
- Divide 2/3 of the mixture between four ramekins. Then add a big spoonful of peanut butter and top with the rest of the batter and bake.
- Once you take them out of the oven, try your best to refrain from eating them right out of the ramekins let them cool for about 10 minutes, and then flip them over. More detailed instructions are in the recipe card below, but they should come out pretty easily and create a nice little cake. So darn cute!
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar, or top with vanilla ice cream, and go to town! Inside this sweet little cake lies creamy, amazing peanut butter. It’s like a big peanut butter cup–heaven!
How Do You Prep Ramekins?
Prepping the ramekins so you can easily remove the lava cakes is super important, I mean unless you plan on eating it straight from the ramekin (no judging here), you need the cake to come out easily.
To prepare the ramekins, simply lightly coat them in a little olive oil (you can also use butter) and grease the inside like you would any other cake tin– but keep it light!
Next, dust the inside with a mixture of flour and cocoa powder; you might have done this before when making cakes.
This gives the ramekins an extra lining to stop any cake batter sticking, they’ll slide right out (see photo below).
How Do You Know When the Lava Cakes are Done?
These cakes don’t take long at all to bake (pretty much like cupcakes). Plan on about 14-16 minutes.
To tell if they are done, you should see a crispy and cracked top with a jiggly middle. If you stick a toothpick ½-inch into the cake it should come out clean (any deeper will be wet).
Should You Serve Them Warm or Cold?
Lava cakes should always be served warm to ensure that flowing ooey-gooey center. They are absolutely delicious and super decadent. Serving them cold just wouldn’t be the same!
More Chocolate Desserts You Might Like
- Easy Churros
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Classic Chocolate Fudge
- Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake Skillet
- Velvet Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache
Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cakes
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder 5 grams
- 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour 38 grams, divided
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter 127 grams, room temperature and divided (1⅛ sticks)
- 6 ounces German baking chocolate 170 grams, chopped (SEE NOTE)
- 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter 51 grams (SEE NOTE)
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar 7 grams
- ½ cup granulated sugar 100 grams
- 3 large eggs 150 grams, room temperature
- 1 pinch kosher salt
Recommended Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Spray each ramekin with nonstick spray/olive oil. Mix 1 tablespoon of flour with the cocoa powder. Coat the inside of each ramekin with this flour mixture and tap off the excess.1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- In a medium saucepan, melt 1 stick (8 tablespoons) of butter with the German chocolate over very low heat, stirring occasionally. Once it is melted and mixed completely, take it off the heat and allow to cool for a couple minutes.9 tablespoons unsalted butter, 6 ounces German baking chocolate
- In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer, blend the peanut butter with the powdered sugar and the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Set aside.3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter, 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- In another bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the granulated sugar with the eggs and salt at medium-high speed until thick and pale yellow, around 3 minutes. Turn off the mixer and fold in the chocolate, using a spatula. Blend until no streaks remain. Fold in the remaining flour and salt, and mix until smooth.½ cup granulated sugar, 3 large eggs, 1 pinch kosher salt
- Spoon two-thirds of the batter into the prepared ramekins, then place a large spoonful of the peanut butter mixture into the middle. Top with more chocolate batter. Leave about 2 centimeters at the top of the ramekin to allow for the cake to rise.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until the top is crispy/cracked and the middle is still slightly jiggly. Take out of the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Run the tip of a thin knife around each cake to loosen. Invert a small plate over each cake and using pot holders, invert again. Carefully lift the ramekins off the hot cakes.
- Dust the warm cakes with powdered sugar and serve right away. These are also great with vanilla ice cream!
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Becky’s tips
- German baking chocolate is already sweetened, so resist the urge to add more sugar to these cakes.
- Low-fat peanut butter works fine in this recipe.
- Prepare the ramekins as described to prevent the cakes from sticking.
- Feel free to use a different nut butter for this dessert.
- Make sure to let the cakes cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the ramekins.
- Serve with powdered sugar. (Ice cream is also a great option.)
Nutrition Information
Hi, how many cakes does this recipe make?
This looks amazing! Can yOu make The mixtures before hand and then bake?
what size ramekin? so many different sizes
Hey Becky! I just found your site through pinterest and it’s great. These lava cakes look amazing. I love the original chocolate lava cake and adding peanut butter can only make it better! Anything chocolate and peanut is my favorite type of dessert. I can’t wait to give this a try.
Aw thanks so much Beth!!
These were delicious! The middle of mine fell quite a bit during the 10 minute cooling period, but I’m 99% sure that was because it’s so cold in my apartment, not because of the recipe. :P They were still fantastic! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I’m so glad they were delicious!! Thanks for letting me know :)
can these be frozen? or made 48 hours in advance?
I don’t think they would work quite right frozen. You could probably make them the night before but 48 hours might be a bit far in advance. I’ve never made it in advance so I’m not sure! Let me know if you have success!
These look delicious, love anything with peanut butter! Can’t wait to try, my mouth is watering alredy!
Thanks Jill!! They were so delicious :)
I just might be the worst baker out there so I’m glad you say these are easy.
There is nothing like lava cake for dessert. Nothing. It’s what I order out because I lack the confidence to make it myself.
Thank you for this chocolate/peanut butter ooziness.
I agree Laura! I’m still scared to bake anything. But I promise you can make these. I got them on the first try (and that is saying something!!) Thanks for stopping by!
When I made them, the peanut butter on the inside was grainy and solid. It was in a 425 degree oven for 15 mins. Also, the cake was a little more like a brownie. What did I do wrong? :(