Every bite of this vegan peanut butter and jelly cake is like taking a bite of your favorite childhood sandwich – but even better because it’s cake. Streaks of raspberry jam swirled into the cake batter make this loaf cake extra special. Jump to Recipe
This easy vegan peanut butter and jelly cake is the kind of indulgence that is simple but still special! A nostalgic cake that brings back childhood memories and will put a smile on your face as soon as the first bite hits your tongue.
You could easily call this a peanut butter and jelly cake, due to its richness. Or a swirly pb&j loaf cake or peanut butter and jelly bread? Whatever name you want to give this, it is very much like the super-moist and dense raspberry swirl loaf cake goodness you sometimes get from a coffee shop. Just better because it has peanut butter and jelly going for it.
It has a very moist crumb, and each tender, peanut buttery bite has just the right amount of sweetness that works just perfectly with the sweet and tart fruit preserves.
Streaks of raspberry jam swirled into the peanut butter cake batter give the peanut butter and jelly cake not only a stunning appearance but also make every bite oh so jammy and perfectly sweet.
Vegan Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup (236.59 ml) non dairy milk such as almond, soy, oat or light coconut
- 1/3 cup (66.67 g) cane sugar or coconut sugar other vegan sugar - 2 tbsp more for sweeter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract optional
- 1/4 cup (64.5 g) smooth peanut butter or use almond or cashew butter, - heaping 1/4 cup
- 1 tbsp oil optional add if using natural Pb or omit for Oilfree
- 1.5 cups (187.5 g) flour , I use all purpose
- 1/4 cup (28 g) almond flour (or use 2 tbsp more all purpose and don’t skip the oil)
- 1/4 tsp (¼ tsp) salt
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup (113.33 g) raspberry preserves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 365°F.(185 c ). Line a 9 x 5 inch Loaf pan with parchment.
- Warm the non-dairy milk until warm-hot. Add the sugar, peanut butter, and oil and mix well until combined.
- In another bowl mix the flours with the salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Combine the wet and dry until you get a nice thick batter. Depending on your nut butter and flours the batter might be muffin-like or thicker. If it is too thick, add in a few tsp non dairy milk and mix.
- Warm the raspberry preserves until they are more liquidy.
- Add half of the batter to the pan, add half of the preserves in and swirl into the batter using a toothpick. Add the remaining batter and even it out. Add remaining preserves in the same swirling method.
- Bake for 50 to 55 minutes. (For muffin check at 25 mins). Check with a toothpick from the center. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then take it out and let the cake cool completely before slicing. Serve as is or with some peanut butter or preserves. Store covered on the counter for up to three days or refrigerate for up to two weeks.
Notes
- Glutenfree: use the following blend and bake into muffins for 25 mins. Mix 3/4 cup white rice flour Or oat flour, 1 1/4 cup almond flour, 1/3 cup potato starch, 1/2 tsp citric acid or eno and 1 tbsp chia seeds/flax seed meal. Use 1 3/4 cup of the flour mix and add more as needed.
- If using natural peanut butter, add 1 tbsp of oil to the wet mix. Omit the oil for oil-free.
- You can also use a mix of strawberry and raspberry jam, but any variety will work nicely. Red currant would also taste amazing.
- Commercial berry jams tend to be on the thicker side, so heat it up just slightly so it loosens a little before dolloping it over the cake batter.
- As for the swirling part, just have at it with the swirls. You can make a mess with the jam—as it baked it'll look great regardless of how haphazardly you do it.
- You could also bake the batter into muffins.
Nutrition
Ingredients for Peanut Butter & Jelly Cake
- non-dairy milk such as almond, soy, oat, or light coconut milk and some oil make up the wet ingredients that add moisture to the pb and j cake. You can skip the oil or sub with some applesauce or non-dairy yogurt.
- cane sugar or coconut sugar add that perfect nutty-caramelly sweetness that goes so well with the peanut butter flavor. You can use any other vegan sugar, and add 2 tbsp more for a sweeter loaf cake.
- smooth peanut butter is the obvious choice here. But you can also use almond or cashew butter.
- all-purpose flour mixed with almond flour provides the perfect moist crumb and tender texture.
- baking powder and a tiny amount of baking soda make for that perfect rise and fluffy texture.
- It would not be a pb&j bread without that j! For the jelly part, I used raspberry preserves. I suggest using the best jam or preserves you can find. If you make your own, that is awesome.
Tips & Variations:
- If using natural peanut butter, add 1 tbsp of oil to the wet mix.
- Omit the oil for oil-free.
- You can also use a mix of strawberry and raspberry jam, but any variety will work nicely. Red currant would also taste amazing.
- Commercial berry jams tend to be on the thicker side, so heat it up just slightly so it loosens a little before dolloping it over the cake batter.
- As for the swirling part, just have at it with the swirls. You can make a mess with the jam—as it baked it’ll look great regardless of how haphazardly you do it.
- You could also bake the batter into muffins.
How to make Peanut Butter & Jelly Cake
Preheat the oven to 365°F.(185 c ). Line a 9 x 9” Loaf pan with parchment.
Warm the non-dairy milk until warm hot. Add the sugar, peanut butter and oil and mix well until combined.
In another bowl mix the flours with the salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Combine the wet and dry until you get a nice thick batter. Depending on your nut butter and flours the batter might be muffin-like or thicker.
Warm the raspberry preserves until they are more liquidy. Add half of the batter to the pan, add half the preserves in and swirl it into the batter with a toothpick. Add the remaining batter and even it all out. Add remaining preserves in and swirl.
Bake the peanut butter and jelly cake for 50 to 55 minutes. Check with a toothpick from the center. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then take it out and let the cake cool completely before slicing.
I really can’t even put into words how moist and tender this vegan peanut butter and jelly cake is!
How to store this cake:
This vegan loaf cake is perfectly fine at room temperature for a few days. Refrigeration is only necessary if your kitchen gets very hot during the day.
Wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap; making sure to secure the top, sides, and bottom. Place in a zip-top bag and store on the kitchen counter at room temperature for up to 3 days. A word of caution: wrapping a warm cake will lead to condensation, so make sure to wait until it is completely cool before applying the wrap.
You could also freeze individual slices.
MORE VEGAN CAKE RECIPES:
- Eggless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf Cake
- Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Ganache
- Vegan Coffee Cake
- Marbled Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread
Would self-raising flour be okay to use?
This was a little bland for me. I was hoping for a more pronounced peanut butter flavor. Not sure if using natural pb would’ve helped with that? Probably should have used the extra sugar too. Am I correct that coconut sugar seems less sweet than regular sugar? Not bad but not one I’d make again.
Yes coconut sugar is less sweet. You can swirl in a lot more PB. The right amount of sweet along with that will bring out more of the flavor
I didn’t, although I would think that the extra oil would affect the richness and not the rise. I used a fresh jar of peanut butter so it was already very thin and oily (as compared to something like Jif’s Creamy), so I was hesitant to add any more. What do you think?
I tried this last week and my family couldn’t make it through the cake. The peanut butter flavor just wasn’t there, even though when I tasted the batter it was perfect. Could the 1.5 tsp pf powder be a mistake? I think the bread may have risen quickly and then fell, making it very short and dense. I have a lot of peanut butter on my hands, so if you have any suggestions I would definitely give this recipe another try. The smell was heavenly… but the flavor and texture just weren’t as pictured.
For extra peanut butter flavor, Drizzle softened peanut butter on top of the jam layer both between the batter and on top of the batter.
If the cake rose and then fell that means there was a bit too much moisture in the batter/ it needed more flour. That explains the texture as well because it would be more gummy because it fell. There could be measuring error here and there. What flour did you use? What was ten consistency of the batter?
I followed this recipe to a T, but my loaf came out sooo flat (maybe 1.5 inches high).
Any idea what could have gone wrong? I’m pretty sure that my leaveners are fresh. I used a natural peanut butter, but other than that I didn’t change any ingredients.
sorry that it didn’t turn out!! Did you add 1 tbsp of oil to the wet mix??
Hmm. Did it rise at all? I.e. did the battery increase in size during baking.
It looks the same height as when it went in the oven. Although I didn’t watch it constantly, I don’t think that it ever rose to a right where I could see it over the pan in the oven.
Then it’s either the baking powder or there was too much moisture. How was the consistency of the better
Hi Richa,
Can we also use crunchy peanut butter as that is what i have on hand?
Yes
Knowing how to store the cake was not necessary, it was gone within on evening. Neither my husband nor my kid are very fond of peanut butter (I am the addict in this family) but they devoured the cake in a couple of hours. It was sheer luck, that I myself got two peaces! I love this recipe!
hopefully you’ll be that lucky next time ! thank you
made muffins and they didnt ise much.. jam hockey pucks
suggestions? will try as bread
That seems like the baking powder is old or was accidentally not added ?
We love this recipe! It’s perfectly moist, not too sweet, great for breakfast or a snack any time. Since the batter was a bit sticky to spread, I found the easiest way was with my hands, after wetting them in cool water. We went through the first loaf in one day, so I made two loaves this morning!
Just took this out of the oven. Made a quick jam with frozen blueberries, sugar, and cornstarch since I was out of jam. Can’t wait to have it for breakfast!
wow! perfect – look at you go
Great recipe! I made it according to your recipe and the taste is great! Everyone in the family likes it, it makes me happy. Thank you
This is the very best recipe of Cake
Thanks a lot mam
thanks!
Made it. Love it! Thank you!
thanks Pam – it’s my pleasure – thanks for commenting
Do you think it would work to substitute whole wheat pastry flour for all purpose flour, or would sticking with the latter be recommended?
You will need a bit less flour with whole grain flours and the cake will be slightly denser
This peanut butter jelly bread look perfect to have ready for busy weekdays. Yum!
If I don’t have almond flour can I sub something else? I have besan flour, wheat flour, or oats (could make some quick oat flour). If it really is better with almond flour, I’ll wait till my next grocery order to get some. Thanks!
Just more flour
Thank you!
This looks beautiful enough for a birthday cake! I might make it for my hubby’s bday cake next month.
Thank you very much for the recipe, and for making notes for oil free/gluten free/every other option. I am not gluten free, but I am oil free, and I do appreciate it. I know it takes you extra effort to do all those notes, so thank you.
Can you make this gluten free?
Yes Glutenfree: use the following blend and bake into muffins for 25 mins. Mix 3/4 cup white rice flour Or oat flour, 1 1/4 cup almond flour, 1/3 cup potato starch, 1/2 tsp citric acid or eno and 1 tbsp chia seeds/flax seed meal. Use 1 3/4 cup of the flour mix and add more as needed
If muffins, needs less oven time.
Yes 25 mins