Tempt My Tummy Peanut Butter Crumb Cake

My new favorite dessert cookbook is Fearless Baking by Elinor Klivans. I will be baking my way through it in the coming months (years, yes, there are that many good recipes). I discovered it at the library but found it on half.com for 0.19 cents! Bonus :)

The Peanut Butter Crumb Cake is just the right amount of peanut butter (not overly so) and just the right amount of sweet. The crumb topping is perfect! The cake freezes nicely and is very moist when thawed (to freeze: when completely cooled, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then in foil). The picture I have here is a square that had been frozen. The crumb topping is a little smooshed, but no less delicious. You probably have everything on hand, so go make your peanut butter lovers happy today!

Peanut Butter Crumb Cake

by Elinor Klivans

2 large eggs

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 cups packed light brown sugar

1/2 t salt

5 tablespoons soft, unsalted butter cut into pieces (for some reason I only put in 4 and it turned out just fine)

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (I used creamy)

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk with 1 teaspoon lemon juice, left alone for 5 minutes)

1 t vanilla extract

1 t baking soda

1 t water

Position the oven rack in the middle of the over and preheat to 350 degrees. Butter or spray a 13x9x2 baking pan.

Beat the eggs in a small bowl and set aside.

Put the flour, brown sugar, and salt in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low (of course you can do it by hand or use a stand mixer like I did). Add the butter and peanut butter and continue beating until a mealy mixture with some large crumbs forms, about 1 minute. Remove 2/3 cup of the mixture and set aside for crumb topping. Add the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla and beat until blended and a thick batter forms. The batter will have a few lumps. Stir the baking soda and water together in a small bowl until dissolved and add to the batter, mixing just until it is blended. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture evenly over top.

Bake for about 30 minutes, just until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Go check out other Tempt My Tummy recipes at Blessed With Grace!