Skip to main content

Crispy Peanut Butter Snack Cake

Image may contain Food Dessert Bread and Pastry
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks

This salty-sweet “snack cake” has a simple honey-peanut butter base (no added sugar needed), plus all your favorite snacks: crunchy cereal, crispy puffed rice, and salty peanuts, pretzels, and potato chips. Finish it with a dramatic drizzle of dark chocolate and cut into chunks for an after-school treat or larger slices for dessert.

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    1 hour 30 minutes

  • Yield

    Serves 12–16

Ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1

1/2 cups creamy, no-stir peanut butter

1

/2 cup honey

1

teaspoon vanilla extract

1

/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons warmed virgin coconut oil, divided

5

cups crispy rice cereal

2

cups Chex cereal

1

1/2 cups salted mini pretzels, lightly crushed

1

cup potato chips, lightly crushed

1

cup roasted, salted peanuts

6

ounces dark chocolate

Special Equipment

An 8-cup Bundt pan

Need to make a substitution?

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Line Bundt pan with plastic wrap, leaving a few inches of overhang; coat with nonstick spray.

    Step 2

    Whisk peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and 1/2 cup coconut oil in a large bowl until combined. Using a spatula, gently fold in cereals, pretzels, potato chips, and peanuts. Transfer mixture to prepared pan, spreading evenly and pressing firmly into pan. Chill until cake is set, at least 1 hour.

    Step 3

    When ready to serve, melt chocolate and remaining 2 Tbsp. coconut oil in a medium heatproof bowl set over a medium pot of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, or melt in a microwave in short bursts, stirring between bursts, until chocolate is smooth.

    Step 4

    Using plastic overhang, lift cake from pan, then invert onto a platter. Drizzle cooled cake with melted chocolate, then chill to set before serving, about 10 minutes.

  2. Do Ahead

    Step 5

    Cake can be made 3 days ahead. Wrap in plastic and chill.