A Tastykake Tandy Cake is an iconic east coast treat. The great thing is with this recipe you can make this tasty dessert in your own kitchen!
Whether you call them Kandy Kakes, Tandy Cakes, or Tandy Kakes, this will be a household favorite. Try more Cake recipes like my Easy Vanilla Cake or a Chocolate Cake when you are craving something yummy!
Sabrina’s Tastykake Peanut Butter Tandy Cake (Copycat) Recipe
Tastykakes, part of the Tasty Baking Company, has been a Philly favorite for snack cakes for over a century! They are slowly making their mark across the rest of the country, but those who grew up on the East Coast have been loving their treats since childhood. One of the things that sets Tastykakes apart from other brands is their commitment to real ingredients. This makes recreating their signature snacks, like Peanut Butter Tandy Kakes, a wee bit easier. Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes were originally introduced in 1931, as Tandy Takes, and almost 90 years later they are the best selling Tastykake treat. One bite and you’ll understand why! Perfect for dessert trays, lunchbox treats, or special occasions, they’re a fun homemade take on a beloved childhood favorite.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons shortening
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10×15 baking dish.
- In stand mixer, combine eggs, sugar and vanilla. Beat on high speed until light.
- Sift together flour and baking powder and add to the stand mixer in increments on low speed.
- In a microwave safe bowl, heat milk and 2 tablespoons butter about 2 minutes, until it begins to bubble. Fold milk butter mixture into cake batter until combined.
- Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool to room temperature before spreading peanut butter evenly over entire top of the cake.
- Refrigerate to set, about 1 hour.
- Add the chocolate chips and shortening to a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, then stir and microwave for additional 15 seconds until fully melted.
- Spread melted chocolate evenly over peanut butter layer. Allow chocolate to harden and set before cutting and serving.
Nutrition
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Sabrina’s Tip
To make this cake, you’ll need a few hours of time, but it’s not because it’s a hard cake to make. There are three layers to a Tandy Cake, and you need to chill each layer so they stick together. While it might be easier to spread peanut butter on a hot cake, not chilling first will cause the chocolate layer to not meld properly.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
These homemade versions are especially popular because they bring back a sense of nostalgia while letting you enjoy that classic convenience store dessert flavor in your own home. Instead of a round disk completely covered in chocolate, these sheet cake bars are more like Scotcheroos (a no-bake classic) with just a thin layer of Chocolate Ganache on top. If you want to make them look more like Kandy Kakes, check out the Variations section for instructions to get that iconic look.
Pairing Suggestions
This easy sheet pan Tandy Cake recipe is great for parties and potlucks, and is sure to be a crowd pleaser! The tasty cake doesn’t need any extra topping, but you can always serve with Whipped Cream or Vanilla Ice Cream on the side. Check out the variations below for more ways to easily change up this recipe to match other Tastykake flavors!
How to Store
- Serve: You can keep this cake at room temperature for up to 5 days covered with plastic wrap. If it’s hot out, refrigerate so the chocolate doesn’t melt.
- Store: Cover the cake pan tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil (or transfer to an airtight container) and refrigerate up to 1 week.
- Freeze: This cake can be frozen up to 6 months. Place in a sealed container with parchment paper between layers. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving at room temperature.
Variations
- Coconut Kandy Kake: Use Coconut Cake batter with 1 cup shredded coconut flakes folded in and make the chocolate topping with melted dark chocolate chips.
- Salted Caramel Kandy Kake: Instead of peanut butter, cover the cooled cake with a thin layer of Salted Caramel Sauce and freeze until hard.
- Chocolate Kandy Kake: Make a Chocolate Cake mix instead of the white sponge cake. After it is cool, top with a layer of Stabilized Whipped Cream (it will hold shape better). Make a dark chocolate ganache.
- Cake Mix Tastykake Tandy Cake: Substitute 1 box of white or yellow cake mix, along with ingredients called for on the box cake mix recipe plus 1 extra egg.
- Chocolate Chips: You can make the chocolate topping with dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, or milk chocolate chips. Melt two kinds of chocolate (separately) to make a decorative swirl.
Kandy Kake Look-a-Likes
- With a little extra time, you can make your Tandy Cakes look just like Kandy Kakes.
- Bake cake and then cool cake, top with peanut butter layer, and chill a second time as usual.
- Using a 2-3 inch round cookie cutter, cut cake into rounds.
- Add about 1 teaspoon of peanut butter to the center of each cake round, making a small mound.
- Freeze cake for 15-20 minutes.
- Melt chocolate as usual and dip each cake round completely into the melted chocolate. Allow to cool and harden on a cooling rack.
Related Recipes
More Tasty Desserts
Photos Used In Previous Posts
Hi Sabrina! I’m curious as to why you choose semi-sweet chocolate vs milk chocolate as I’m assuming the OG Tasty Kake is milk chocolate. I know they’re interchangeable, but just interested in your reasoning.
I enjoy the taste of semi-sweet chocolate with peanut butter! Let us know if you try the recipe and what you thought about it!
I want to thank you so much for sharing this recipe! Tastycakes were my absolute favorite treat as a kid and the thing I miss almost most (second only to real pizza) about living on the west coast. For the naysayers – yea, this is real food so it’s not going to taste 100% exactly like processed/packaged candy cakes, but it’s close enough to get this east coast gal super excited and wanting to eat the whole thing! Thanks again!
Aww…loved your story and your sweet comments. Made my day! And Kelly, thanks so much for your 5 star rating.
This Tandy Cake is the best! The batter is easy to make and has a nice bite! With the textures of the peanut butter and the ganache, the bite is perfect! Yes. I said ganache! Mmmm! I did add some heavy cream to the Sabrinas chocolate topping recipe so it had a better bite and sheen to it. This will be my go to Tandy recipe. Thanks Sabrina!
Thank you for the yummy cake the mixture is so good?
I would 100% recommend cutting the cakes into slices before topping with the chocolate!!! Learned this the hard way.
Has anyone made this using milk chocolate chips instigated semi-sweet? That seems more like the original peanut butter tandykakes (they do make dark chocolate now but the classic ones have milk chocolate).
Hi Kim, let us know how milk chocolate chips work for you! Our research for this copycat recipe used semi-sweet chocolate chips but milk chocolate sounds amazing as well!
This Philly gal had been making a different copycat recipe for TastyKake Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes for years but decided to try yours last night and it’s simply perfect! My son loved it, too, so it’s definitely a keeper!
High praise indeed! Thank you Donna!
Thank you for this recipe. The one I used before called for 2 tsp baking
I love this cake. It’s easy to make and delicious to eat ?. I only have salted butter can I still use or can this replace the salt.?
I love this cake. It’s easy to make and delicious to eat! I only have salted butter can I still use or can this replace the salt?
There’s no salt in the recipe, but if all you have is salted then you can still make it but the flavors might be a little saltier but hopefully still delicious!
My cake came out fantastic. Tasted like the real TastyKake Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes. Everyone in my family loved it.
could you use a chocolate frosting instead of what’s there
Have you tried this in cupcake form? If so, how long should the cupcakes bake? Thank you!
I love this recipe- and I love tasty cakes! I used wow-butter (it’s the smoothest peanut butter alternative I’ve found) and microwaved it to soften so it pours and spreads- I can imagine trying to spread peanut butter on this without softening it. Also takes me 30 mins to bake m.
From Philly area. This does not taste like the tasty cake. Just a plain peanut butter chocolate cake. None of the distinct flavor of a tasty cake. texture on peanut butter layer wrong. No wonder – there isn’t even a step to add anything to soft jar peanut butter. Made this for a themed party of copycat recipes. Majorly disappointed. My dish tasted least like it’s original.
I’m from Philadelphia also and I totally disagree with you. You must have done something wrong.
Should you wait till cake is not warm to spread peanut butter?
There are three layers to a Tandy Cake, and you need to chill each layer so they stick together. While it might be easier to spread peanut butter on a hot cake, not chilling first will cause the chocolate layer to not meld properly.
Do you use a cookie sheet?
You need to use a baking dish, something that has sides to it.
I am thinking about making these tonight, but have no shortening. Is there a substitute that works?
Love your recipes!
You could use butter as a substitute, Debbie. Hope you enjoy it.
There’s no shortening in the ingredient list but it’s called for in step 8. How much?
You’ll want to use 2 tablespoons of shortening.
Hi, how much shortening? I did not see shortening in the list of ingredients.
Thanks for catching that. You’ll want to use 2 tablespoons of shortening. Enjoy!
You call for 4tblsp butter divided 2tbls in milk where do you put the other 2
So sorry about that. You only need 2 tablespoons for this recipe. I originally was going to use butter to mix in with the chocolate at the end but ended up using shortening. I hope you enjoy it!
Perfectly delicious and super easy to make. The best recipe I have tried. Made about 7 different posted recipes and this one has “taken the cake”!!!
I’m so glad it was a hit!
You cannot go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate in my book! So fun to crack into the hard shell and hit a creamy layer of peanut butter. 🙂
Definitely!
this is so good! The peanut butter is the perfect amount. love it
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Rachael. Thanks for the 5 stars.
I’ve never had anything like this before! It’s DELICIOUS. Thanks always for your tried and true classics as well as new recipes to try. I LOVE your website and easy to follow instructions.
Thanks, Lisalia! It’s fun trying new dishes.
Thanks for this recipe. The last one I used called for 2 tsp. of baking soda and a 9×13″ pan. It would rise too much and not bake flat. This one is perfect!