This Cake Recipe Is the Perfect Potluck Dessert That’ll Disappear in Minutes

We love a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich here at Allrecipes. From cupcakes to chicken wings, we’ve found a way to PB&J-ify just about everything—or so we thought. When senior culinary producer Nicole McLaughlin saw content creator @holmescooking making a peanut butter and jelly poke cake on TikTok, she said exactly what we were all thinking: “How have we never thought of this one before?”

How to Make Peanut Butter and Jelly Poke Cake

“There’s no one who will not like this cake,” she said. The incredibly easy dessert features nostalgic flavors and shortcut ingredients, such as boxed vanilla cake mix and whipped topping.

To make it, stir up a simple batter of cake mix, peanut butter, butter, and eggs in a bowl (@holmescooking recommends tossing your egg shells onto the butter wrapper to keep things hygienic). Don’t fret if it’s slightly lumpy—that means you’re on the right track.

Bake in a 9×13-inch pan until a toothpick comes out clean, then let stand for about 10 minutes. 

Here’s where the magic starts: Use a wooden spoon handle to poke holes in the cake, then cover it with slightly melted jelly (make sure to work the jelly into the holes—@holmescooking says strawberry jam or grape jelly are both great options). Once the cake has completely cooled, top it with whipped topping and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Poke Cake Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 (15.25-ounce) box vanilla cake mix
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 1/4 cups peanut butter, divided
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cups grape jelly, divided
• 8 ounces whipped topping
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.
2. Add cake mix, milk, 1 cup peanut butter, eggs, and melted butter to a large bowl; stir until well combined. Batter may be slightly lumpy. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes. 
4. Use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke holes into the cake. Melt 1 cup jelly in the microwave until pourable, 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Spread jelly over warm cake with a spatula and work jelly down into the holes. Let cake cool completely.  
5. Spread whipped topping over cake; refrigerate until ready to serve.
6. Microwave remaining 1/4 cup peanut butter and 1/4 cup jelly until just pourable; drizzle cake with peanut butter and jelly and sprinkle with peanuts to serve.