Crock pot week: hot fudge peanut butter pudding cake

You didn't think I was going to do a whole week of crock pot recipes without a dessert, did you??  There wasn't a chance I was going to let that happen.  I've had my eye on this chocolate and peanut butter pudding cake recipe on My Kitchen Cafe's blog, and Crock Pot Week was the perfect time to make it.  While this whole dessert screams "sinful indulgence" there is not one ounce of butter in it.  Don't get me wrong, it's loaded with sugar and a handful of chocolate chips, but the fudge sauce is made mostly out of water and the cake only has 2 tablespoons of oil.  That's about as close as you're going to get to a healthy dessert on this blog.  


Baking a pudding cake in the crock pot is the perfect solution to craving a warm and gooey cake straight from the oven but not wanting to deal with making it after dinner.  It can be made a couple of hours before dinner, and then you just shut it off and let it sit for 30 minutes before you want to eat it.  Some people like to wait awhile after dinner to eat dessert but I am not one of those people.  No matter how full I am, I need something sweet after dinner.  Now that I think about it, I pretty much only eat a real dinner so I can have dessert.  So I shut the crock pot off as I was sitting down for dinner and it was ready when I was done eating.  Talk about good timing.  


The cake turned out insanely good.  It was set but still gooey, and the chocolate sauce was pure bliss.  I paired it with a big scoop of Butterfinger ice cream (which should be illegal it's so good) and was in heaven.  Even with how rich and decadent this cake is, I could not stop eating it.  It took some serious self control to cut myself off, especially since there was a whole crock pot of it for just Marc and I to eat.  Now I have a tummy ache.  Maybe I should have waited more than 5 minutes after dinner to have dessert.  


Crock Pot Hot Fudge Peanut Butter Pudding Cake
from My Kitchen Cafe

Cake:
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky is fine)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips


Sauce:
3 tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups boiling water


Directions:


Spray crock pot (I used a 5 quart) with cooking spray.  


In medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and sugar.  Whisk until combined.  Add milk, oil, and vanilla and stir until combined.  Add peanut butter and mix completely, then add chocolate chips.  The batter will be pretty thick.  Dump into greased crock pot and spread out evenly. 


To make the sauce, add the cocoa powder and sugar to the boiling water.  Pour over the batter in the crock pot and DO NOT STIR!  This will seem strange since it is so liquid-y but trust me on this one.  It will be okay!


Turn crock pot on high for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until the top layer is puffed and set.  Turn off and let sit, covered, for 30 minutes.  Serve with ice  cream.