Rich peanut butter and chocolate flavor. Smooth, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth texture. And you don't even need to turn on the oven! This chocolate peanut butter icebox cake is a summer dessert staple that you'll want to enjoy all year long!
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And now about this chocolate peanut butter icebox cake...
The idea for this cake came from my goal to add more peanut butter-centric recipes to this site. For someone who loves peanut butter as much as I do, there are an embarrassingly small number of recipes on ALWAYS EAT DESSERT that include peanut butter, and I'm on a mission to change that! So... I set out to create a dessert that highlights the delicious flavor of peanut butter.
And because peanut butter and chocolate's match-made-in-heaven status is simply one of the greatest love stories of all time, I added some rich, chocolatey flavor to the dessert.
And since I love the peanut butter's smooth, creamy texture and the creamy texture of chocolate, I decided to highlight those smooth, creamy textures in the dessert.
And because it's July, I wanted to keep it simple so that I can spend more time enjoying the summer and less time in the kitchen. Better yet, I decided to not even turn on the oven to make this dessert!
And that's how chocolate peanut butter icebox cake came to be! A simple desire to create an easy chocolate peanut butter dessert led me to create an icebox cake that's out-of-this-world delicious.Once you taste the first bite of this chocolate peanut butter icebox cake, you really won't be able to believe how simple it is to make! This no-bake dessert is made by layering classic whipped cream, chocolate peanut butter whipped cream, and chocolate wafer cookies in a loaf pan and chilling the "cake" in the fridge. As it chills, the whipped cream becomes more firm while also softening the chocolate wafer cookies. The result is a luxuriously rich "cake" with creamy, melt-in-your-mouth texture, and you'll surely be craving another slice of this cake all summer long!
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾ cup creamy peanut butter (not natural)
3 ¾ cups heavy whipping cream, chilled and divided
½ cup confectioners' sugar, divided
about 42 chocolate wafer cookies*
DIRECTIONS:
prep the chocolate peanut butter whipped cream:
Add chocolate chips and peanut butter to a large bowl. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, heat 3 cups of the cream until hot but not yet simmering.
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and peanut butter. Let sit without stirring for 5 minutes, then gently whisk the mixture until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours until well chilled.
make the whipped cream:
While the chocolate peanut butter cream chills, make the whipped cream. Add the remaining ¾ cup cream to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the stand mixer (with the whisk attachment) or an electric handheld mixer, beat the cream on low speed until frothy. Add 2 T confectioners' sugar and continue to beat on high speed until you've reached stiff peaks.
assemble the icebox cake:
Line a 10"x5" (or similarly sized) loaf pan with plastic wrap so that all sides are covered and the wrap hangs over the edges. Spread the whipped cream into an even layer in the bottom of the pan. Cover with a layer of chocolate wafer cookies. (NOTE: I chose to fill the gaps between the cookies with broken cookie pieces, but this isn't necessary.)
Cover the loaf pan with aluminum foil and place in the freezer. (This will allow the whipped cream to firm up, making it easier to spread the layers of chocolate peanut butter whipped cream on top.)
Once the chocolate peanut butter cream has chilled, remove the bowl from the fridge and add the remaining ⅜ cup (6 T) confectioners' sugar. Using an electric handheld mixer, beat the mixture on high speed until fluffy (it will become lighter in color).
Remove the loaf pan from the freezer and uncover. Spread ⅓ of the chocolate peanut butter whipped cream on top of the cookie layer, then top with another layer of cookies. Repeat this step 2 more times. You will now have 1 layer of whipped cream and 3 layers of chocolate peanut butter whipped cream, each separated by a layer of chocolate wafer cookies (and with a final layer of chocolate wafer cookies on the top of the loaf pan).
Cover the loaf pan once again with foil and place it in the fridge for at least 8 hours or overnight.
serve the icebox cake:
When you're ready to serve the icebox cake, invert the loaf pan onto a cutting board. The cake should pop out of the pan, and the whipped cream layer will now be on top. Sprinkle broken bits of chocolate wafer cookies over the cake for garnish. Slice the cake into 10 slices and serve immediately.
Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. The cake does not thaw and re-chill well, so refrigerate any leftovers as quickly as possible.
*I used Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafer Cookies for this recipe (one 9 oz. sleeve of cookies was plenty). You could also use Oreos, just separate each sandwich cookie into two wafer cookies (and it's up to you whether or not to remove the creme). [/recipe]
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