Easy Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Mess Cake

This Easy Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Mess Cake is a fuss-free dessert that everyone will enjoy! 

Also known as a lava cake, serve warm right out of the crock pot. Add vanilla ice cream and impress your dinner guests with this delicious combination.

easy chocolate and peanut butter crock pot cake from cake box mix.

If you enjoy this recipe you may also enjoy Buckeye Cookie Bars, Indoor Smores Cereal Bars and our Boxed Mix Chocolate Cake!

Crock Pot Chocolate Lava Cake

Chocolate lava cake or molten lava cake are popular terms for this crock pot recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Mess Cake. This is the perfect dessert to make while camping or being without an oven!

Chocolate and peanut butter might be our favorite combinations of flavors for dessert.  We love that this cake starts with a boxed mix and is hands off while you prepare the rest of the meal.

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We serve this Easy Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Mess Cake for dessert when we have friends over for dinner, or go to a cookout or barbecue. It only takes 10 minutes to mix up the ingredients and then it cooks and stays moist in the slow cooker until we were ready for dessert. 

I love being able to mix up the cake, toss in the crockpot and have several hours to clean up and prepare the main dish before company arrives.

easy crock pot cake is a simple dessert idea that takes 10 minutes to mix up and cooks on low for 5 hours. Serve warm with ice cream and enjoy!

Similar flavors in a more traditional camping dessert that can be made ahead of time is our Peanut Butter Gooey Smores Cake.

Triple Chocolate Mess Cake

Our aunt’s version features chocolate cake mix, chocolate pudding and chocolate chips making it a triple chocolate mess cake! Even substituting the chocolate chips for peanut butter chips this cake will satisfy your chocolate cravings!

My husband’s aunt shared this recipe with us.  She uses 3/4 cup of chocolate chips, but I substituted those for 1 1/2 cups of peanut butter chips because that’s what I found in the cupboard.  As a big fan of both chocolate and peanut butter, I think either option would be excellent!

Easy chocolate molten lava cake with peanut butter chips in the crock pot

What’s Needed to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Mess Cake

  • Box of chocolate cake mix
  • Instant chocolate pudding mix
  • Vegetable oil
  • Eggs
  • Sour Cream
  • Peanut Butter Chips

Tips for Making Crock Pot Mess Cake

  • This cake has more of a pudding/sour cream/lave like consistency than any cake baked in an oven.
  • Either a 5-quart or 6-quart slow cooker works fine, but don’t use a smaller slow cooker.
  • Cake can be stirred after 3 1/2 hours to help prevent the bottom and edges from burning.
  • I like to serve from the edged first, replace the lid and give the center more time to set up when this cake is being served over a longer period of time.
  • A crock pot liner makes clean-up so much easier. The liner can also be picked up a bit to see how set up the cake is along the edges.
  • With all of the ingredients added to the cake mix this makes a pretty big batch of cake. We’ve made this for 10 people and had plenty of cake leftover which is always a good thing!
  • Just like our Marble Chocolate Cream Cheese Bars a box of German Chocolate cake mix works well, but almost any chocolate cake mix can be used.  Keep testing until you find your favorite flavors!  I like to avoid the double or triple fudge or cocoa because it can get a little too rich when adding peanut butter baking chips which are also extra rich.
Chocolate lava cake with peanut butter chips on a white plate next to vanilla ice cream

How to Make Crock Pot Lava Cake

  1. Apply a generous coat of non-stick cooking spray to the crock or use a liner – I prefer a liner as it makes checking the doneness of the cake much easier
  2. In a seperate bowl, mix all of the ingredients together except the peanut butter chips. Once the other ingredients are mixed well fold in the peanut butter chips and pour into the crock.
  3. Cover and cook on low for 4 – 5 hours. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream for best results!
Slow cooker with liner and pudding like batter for peanut butter mess cake

Other Easy Cake Recipes Using a Box Mix:

We hope you enjoy this easy chocolate and peanut butter mess cake in the slow cooker recipe as much as we do!

Printable Crockpot Chocolate Peanut Butter Mess Cake Recipe

chocolate and peanut butter lava cake

Easy Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Mess Cake

Servings 12 people
Author: Jennifer
Do you need an easy dessert recipe for having friends over for dinner?  This Easy Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Mess Cake is a fuss-free dessert that everyone will enjoy!  The easy cake should be served warm right out of the crock pot and it tastes even better served with vanilla ice cream!
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 5 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 box chocolate cake mix
  • 1 large box instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 1 small box instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 egg
  • 16 ounces sour cream
  • 1 1/2 cups peanut butter chips

Instructions
 

  • Spray crock-pot with non-stick cooking spray or use a liner.  
  • Set aside peanut butter chips.  Mix remaining ingredients thoroughly.  Add peanut butter chips and stir.
  • Cook on low in slow cooker for 4.5 to 5 hours.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. 

Notes

  • This cake has more of a pudding/sour cream/lave like consistency than any cake baked in an oven.
  • Either a 5-quart or 6-quart slow cooker works fine, but don’t use a smaller slow cooker.
  • Cake can be stirred after 3 1/2 hours to help prevent the bottom and edges from burning.
  • I like to serve from the edged first, replace the lid and give the center more time to set up when this cake is being served over a longer period of time.
  • A crock pot liner makes clean-up so much easier. The liner can also be picked up a bit to see how set up the cake is along the edges.
  • With all of the ingredients added to the cake mix this makes a pretty big batch of cake. We’ve made this for 10 people and had plenty of cake leftover which is always a good thing!
  • Just like our Marble Chocolate Cream Cheese Bars a box of German Chocolate cake mix works well, but almost any chocolate cake mix can be used.  Keep testing until you find your favorite flavors!  I like to avoid the double or triple fudge or cocoa because it can get a little too rich when adding peanut butter baking chips which are also extra rich.

Nutrition

Calories: 522kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 9gFat: 30gSaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 78mgSodium: 523mgPotassium: 111mgFiber: 2gSugar: 39gVitamin A: 315IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 73mgIron: 3mg

Nutritional Disclaimer

“Plowing Through Life” is not a dietitian or nutrition professional. Any nutritional information shared is an estimate and can vary greatly depending on specific products are used. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator of your choice.

Tried this recipe?Mention @PlowingThroughLife or tag #PlowingThroughLife!
simple chocolate and peanut butter mess cake in the crock pot or slow cooker

6 Comments

  1. Can you cook on high??

    1. I haven’t tried that yet, but I should! I do know that the bottom and edges can burn if this recipe cooks too long on low.

  2. sylvia :) says:

    i dont have a crock pot 🙁 can i make it in the oven somehow?

  3. Is it really 16oz of sour cream? That seems like a lot.

    1. Yes! There is a lot of sour cream and pudding which make more of a pudding cake consistency. It’s definitely not a traditional cake because it’s made in the crock pot. Hope you enjoy it!

  4. 5 stars
    I gave this a try today since we were craving something sweet and I already had all these ingredients on hand! I was skeptical about making a cake in the crock pot but this came out delicious!!! I added ice cream and berries on top, so delicious… thank you for this awesome recipe.

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