Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Poke Cake made with a cake mix, chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups and a delicious homemade peanut butter caramel sauce. Decadent but easy chocolate cake recipe!
Chocolate cake is even better when paired with peanut butter and caramel. With just a few simple ingredients, you can have a Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Poke Cake that tastes incredible, and requires very little work!
WHAT IS CHOCOLATE CARAMEL PEANUT BUTTER POKE CAKE?
Poke cakes are cakes that are baked and then (literally) poked, usually by the end of a wooden spoon. After that, they are covered with a wet liquid (in this case a peanut butter caramel sauce) and then topped with whipped cream and placed in the fridge to chill. This recipe uses a box cake that is topped with a homemade peanut butter caramel sauce, whipped topping, and chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups to create a delicious flavor-packed cake.
Ingredients in Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Poke Cake
Chocolate cake mix: Find your favorite boxed chocolate cake from the store, just make sure it’s 15.25 ounces as some boxes will be closer to 18 ounces in size and that might throw off the ingredient proportions. If the cake mix is a different size, just make sure to use the egg, oil and water amounts that are listed on the back of the box.
Water: You’ll need 1 1/4 cups of water to help bring the boxed cake mix to life.
Oil: Use vegetable oil, canola oil or even coconut oil if you prefer. I’ve even used melted butter before and it works great!
Eggs: We need 3 large eggs to work as the binder for this recipe and to hold the cake together.
Whipped topping: Cool Whip works the best for the whipped topping on the cake. Make sure it is completely thawed before spreading on the top of the cake.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups: You’ll need about 4-6 regular sized peanut butter cups, chopped. You can always add more if you want more!
Caramel Peanut Butter Sauce:
Brown sugar: Make sure the brown sugar is fresh, not dried out. I prefer to use light brown sugar in this recipe.
Milk: I use 1% because that’s what I keep in the refrigerator, but you can use 2%, skim, whole….any variety of milk should work fine.
Corn syrup: I use light corn syrup in this recipe. This ingredient is a must to create the caramel sauce.
Butter: Salted butter works the best in the sauce.
Peanut butter: Creamy peanut butter works best. I usually use a regular peanut butter as opposed to a more natural peanut butter because it is easier to work with in recipes. If you do use a natural peanut butter, make sure the oil is well mixed in before adding to the sauce.
How to make Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Poke Cake
Preheat oven to 350°.
In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, eggs, oil and water.
Bake cake in a 9X13 according to package directions. While cake is baking, make the sauce.
In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, milk, corn syrup and butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter until melted and smooth. Set aside and allow the sauce to cool.
Cool the cake for approximately 30 minutes after removing from oven. Using the end of a wooden spoon, poke holes in cake about 1-2” apart. Pour peanut butter sauce evenly over the cake and cool completely.
Spread Cool Whip over the top. Refrigerate overnight. Sprinkle with chopped Reeses PB Cups right before serving.
Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Poke Cake
Ingredients
- 1 chocolate cake mix
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 8 oz. Cool Whip thawed
- 4-6 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups chopped
Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/3 cup corn syrup
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- In a large mixing bowl mix together the cake mix, water, oil and eggs until combined.
- Bake cake in a 9X13 according to package directions. While cake is baking, make the sauce.
- In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, milk, corn syrup and butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter until melted and smooth. Set aside and allow the sauce to cool.
- Cool the cake for approximately 30 minutes after removing from oven. Using the end of a wooden spoon, poke holes in cake about 1-2” apart. Pour peanut butter sauce evenly over the cake and cool completely.
- Spread Cool Whip over the top. Refrigerate overnight. Sprinkle with chopped Reeses PB Cups right before serving.
Nutrition
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CAN YOU REPLACE THE COOL WHIP?
Cool Whip is the best “whipped topping” to use in this recipe. However, if you can’t find Cool Whip where you live or you prefer not to use it in recipes, you can use stabilized whipped cream instead. If you just use regular whipped cream, the consistency will be too light and the cream will not hold up very well. It’s very simple to make your own stabilized whipped cream and it just takes a few minutes!
See Homemade Whipped Cream recipes here.
HOW DO YOU MAKE STABILIZED WHIPPED CREAM?
To make stabilized whipped cream, you will need the following ingredients:
- 4 ounces of cream cheese (softened to room temperature)
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- Beat the whipping cream just until soft peaks form.
- Add in the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Whip on high until mixture is smooth.
- Store in the refrigerator until ready to use, up to 3 days.
A little tip for making whipped cream faster: use a metal bowl and place the bowl in the freezer for about 30 minutes before you make the whipped cream. This will significantly decrease the amount of time that you will need to beat the whipped cream – the process will go much faster!
OTHER INCREDIBLE CHOCOLATE DESSERTS YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE:
- Double Chocolate Mint Cookies
- Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Hot Chocolate Cookie Cups
- Chocolate Chip Coconut Pie
- Cherry Chocolate Cream Cheese Pie
- Easy Chocolate Fondue
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bars
- Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cookies Bars
- Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Bars
- Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce
- Brownies with Cheesecake Frosting
- Chocolate Raspberry Cake
- 3 Ingredient Reeses Fudge
- Oreo Krispie Treats
- Cheesecake with Berries and Chocolate Ganache
Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Poke Cake made with a cake mix, chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups and a delicious homemade peanut butter caramel sauce. Decadent but easy chocolate cake recipe!
Long says
Hey! Looks very delicious. Moreover, it’s not too difficult to make so I will try soon. Thanks for your sharing!