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Remember that cake I tried to make in a crock pot that ended up being tedious and difficult? After that, my friend Jenny emailed me a recipe for Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake, figuring that I could surely make over the ingredients to make this a healthier recipe.
I was excited, yet given my experience with cake in a crock pot, I couldn’t help but wonder: Would this cake be a lot of work? Would it be tasty in the end?
The answer to those questions are: No, this cake is not a lot of work…and YES this cake is incredibly tasty.
I actually handed the recipe to the Cake Boys (aka Justus and bros) to make this for Matt’s birthday last week. It was so easy for them to adapt that they did it without any help from me. Yes indeed, this Real Food Makeover is brought to you by the Cake Boys. :)
You simply pour the batter into the crock pot, then drizzle over a layer of boiling water/cocoa/sucanat. The cake bakes in a crock pot for two hours, and when it’s finished, the cake has baked over the top and a layer of fudgy pudding is on the bottom.
This cake is dreamy, rich deliciousness. We all loved it!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sucanat
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 Tablespoons melted butter (or coconut oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Combine flour, cocoa, sucanat, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Make a well in the center and add milk, butter, and vanilla. Stir well, until batter is smooth. Stir in peanut butter (heat if needed, to thin). Stir in chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly into a well greased slow cooker. Make the topping:
Topping:
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
3/4 cup sucanat
3/4 cup sucanat
1 1/2 cups boiling water
Mix cocoa and sucanat, whisk in boiling water until smooth. Gently pour over batter in crock pot, but don’t stir. Cover and cook on HIGH until puffed and the top layer is set, about 2- 2 1/4 hours. Turn off crock pot and let stand, covered for at least 30 minutes. Serve the cake (which is now on top) with ice cream or whipped cream and drizzle the fudgy pudding from the bottom over both.
Makes 6-8 servings
And now, you can enjoy Episode 7 of Cake Boys, which includes a ridiculous commercial break by Asa. Wow, our boys have tooooo much fun putting these together. Also, I should note: Justus says that he added “shortening” to the cake. He really added butter. He was just reading the original recipe when he recorded. :) And then we had a little lesson about what shortening is and why we don’t eat it unless it’s Palm Shortening. But anyway…
How yummy! I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Oh my!! I will not make this recipe at 11:00 at night. I will NOT make this recipe at 11:00 at night. Not sure how strong my will power is while staring at these pics.
Hahaha, I’m glad I’m not the only one forcing myself to not run to the kitchen and make this!
Hi Laura,
I assume sucanat is a type of sugar and if so can it be swapped out equally with regular sugar? I am on a gluten free diet and I am going to try this with almond flour. Thank you for sharing all this info with us every day. I appreciate it :)
Yes, sucanat is “dehydrated cane sugar juice”, which you can read more about here: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/the-most-nutritious-sweeteners. But it can be equally swapped with white or brown sugar. :)
That “commercial” is hillarious!!! Thank you for that great laugh to get my day started! Tell your boys that they did an awesome job!
Do you think this recipe could be made with coconut flour or almond flour?
I’m not sure since I’ve not done it before. If you use coconut flour, you’d probably need to make some major adjustments since that is such a dry flour. Maybe almond flour would work better?
What is the smallest crockpot that you think this can be made in?
I’d say maybe a 3-quart?
Your family is precious. You are all welcome to come over and hang out with my family anytime. :) Except it might be a long drive, since we live in South Louisiana…
WOW!! Yum, your boys have outdone themselves Laura, so good! I am on a gluten free diet and substituted sorghum and tapioca starch and it turned out great. My boys are enjoying the cake boys videos. It may just motivate them enough to help out in the kitchen!
Blessings,
Michelle
My 5 year old thoroughly enjoyed the video and is excited to make this for a Thanksgiving dessert for the non-pumpkin pie eaters. Thanks!
I currently have to avoid nuts. Is the peanut butter essential? Can I leave it out or substitute it with something else? Thanks.
The peanut butter is not essential. Go ahead and skip it!
I cheated and made this with white flour, white sugar (though organic), subbing coconut milk and coconut oil and sunbutter. LOL It came out delicious! Kid and mommy approved, just not daddy approved (but not much meets his rules!).
Do you think this could be doubled? I have eight children. :-)
Yes, I think so. :)
2 of my children (14 & 10 yrs old) & I made this, so easy. We had ReddiWhip available for it and took it to a group taco night and it was fabulous!
Can this be adapted for the instant pot? Hubby got rid of the crock pot…and replaced it with a new instant pot (Happy Chanukah!). Just trying to learn how to adapt recipes for my new machine. :-)
I absolutely think it could be adapted for the cp. Most Instant Pots actually have a Crock Pot setting. Does yours? You might try that! Let us know how it works!
-Bethany (Laura’s assistant)