Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake

Recipe by: Beth Hensperger, Julie Kaufmann | from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

Cookstr

Course: Dessert

Total Time: Under 4 Hours

Skill Level: Easy

Cost: Inexpensive

Photo by: Joseph DeLeo

This is one of the oldest cooker desserts circulating and could be nicknamed Chocolate Goober Pudding Cake. The mixture is cooked directly in the cooker on HIGH, the temperature it needs to bake properly; do not attempt it on LOW. When you assemble the cake, the batter goes on the bottom and the pudding on top. But after it has baked, when you take off the lid, you will discover that the pudding has sunk to the bottom, and the gooey, chocolatey cake is on top! This can be served warm, at room temperature, or chilled.

Yield: Serves 6 to 8

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
½ cup whole milk or chocolate milk
2 tablespoons canola, peanut, or walnut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ cup smooth or chunky peanut butter (natural or hydrogenated)
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

Topping:

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ cup sugar
1½ cups boiling water

Vanilla ice cream for serving

Directions

1. Coat the slow cooker with butter-flavor nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center, add the milk, oil, and vanilla, and stir until well blended; continue stirring in widening circles, gradually incorporating the dry ingredients, until you have a smooth batter. Stir in the peanut butter (warm it in the microwave if thick and sticky from refrigeration); the batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spread evenly in the cooker.

3. To make the topping, in another medium-size bowl, combine the cocoa and sugar; pour in the boiling water and whisk until smooth. Gently pour over the batter in the cooker; do not stir. Cover and cook on HIGH until puffed and the top layer is set, 2 to 2¼ hours.

4. Turn off the cooker and let stand, covered, for at least 30 minutes before serving.

5. To serve, scoop the cake into individual bowls. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside the cake. Spoon some of the fudgy pudding over the cake and ice cream and serve.