Copycat Tastykake Tandy Cake
Living in Pennsylvania most of my life I have inhaled my fair share of Tastykakes in all forms. For those of you who’ve never heard of Tastykakes, they’re a prepackaged sweet treat on the order of let’s say… Dolly Madison. They’re sold everywhere in Pa., just like Middlesworth Chips, but that’s another story.
We all have our favorite Tastykakes. There are hand held pies, Little Juniors, Butterscotch Krimpets, Donuts, Creme Filled Coffee Cakes, Tandy Cakes and much much more. Tandy Cakes are sold two to a package. These little round treats are made of white cake, topped with a layer of peanut butter and covered in chocolate.
I’ve had this homemade recipe for Copycat Tastykake Tandy Cakes since my kids , who are now in their late 30’s, were in elementary school. It was THE dessert to make for school holiday parties. I’m sure there are many copycat variations floating around the internet. This is the one I’m sticking with, Enjoy!
Copycat Tastykake Tandy Cake
Ingredients
Cake batter
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 Tablespoons softened butter
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
Frosting
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 6 tablespoons butter softened
- 4 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a jelly roll pan.
- In a large bowl. beat the eggs until they are a lemon color and thick. Add the vanilla, sugar and softened butter to the bowl, beat until well combined.
- Combine the flour and baking powder together in a medium bowl. Add the flour mixture in thirds to the batter mixture alternately with the milk. Example: (Add 1/3 cup of the flour, beat until just incorporated. Add half of the milk, beat until just incorporated. Add another third of flour, mix until just incorporated. Add the remaining milk, mix until just incorporated and finally the last 1/3 of the flour. Mixing until just incorporated.
- Place the batter in the prepared jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes until top is golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Place the cake on a cooling rack. While the cake is hot, place dollops of peanut butter over the entire surface of the cake. Allow to sit about ten minutes so the peanut butter warms up and is easier to spread over the cake. Use an icing spatula to spread the warmed up peanut butter over the entire cake. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting with Chocolate frosting.
Chocolate Frosting Directions
- Place all the frosting ingredients in a large bowl, beat until smooth and creamy. If necessary, add additional milk in small increments until frosting is smooth and to your spreading consistency. Frost the cake after it has cooled completely.
If you enjoyed this recipe, you may like these a s well.
Cream Cheese Topped Apple Cake
Banana Cake with Browned Butter Glaze
I am so sorry for your loss. Cancer is a horrible thing.
May GOD give you comfort and peace at this time.
Sorry so for your loss.
I am so sorry for the loss of your sister
Dear Bunny, You have my deepest sympathy on the loss of your sister. May God bless and comfort you and your family at this difficult time.
This looks delicious. I am pinning this and sharing this with my facebook page.
You posted baking powder in the ingredients and then baking soda when mixing it altogether. Which one?
It’s baking powder Suezie, I just fixed it!
Hi Bunny! I just wanted to let you know that I made this cake for the Super Bowl tonight (we are Pennsylvanians and my husband is from Philly) and it tastes JUST. LIKE. a Tandy Cake (and we are well versed in all things Tastykake 🙂 Thank you for the delicious recipe and for making our evening a little more special as we cheer on our Eagles!!
Oh Krista thank you so much for coming back to tell me! I LOVE IT! GO EAGLES!!
I was looking for the tandy cake recipe and found you. When I saw your picture, I realized I know who you are. My parents were good friends with yours. I did your Mom’s hair for a couple years.
Oh my gosh how wonderful!I don’t know if you know this but mom passed away in July.Hardest day of my life. And I still miss dad like crazy. He was such a rock, always there for each of the eight of us. Thank you for commenting Linda. Have a Merry Christmas.
This was a great recipe! I was low on butter, so this was perfect, ingredient wise. HIghly reccomend this recipe?
Thanks Bunny!
Thank you Jennifer!
Just made this today. It is SO good! Thank you for sharing the recipe!😀
Thank you Gena
OMG I am originally from Pennsylvania I move back here a couple years ago absolutely have always loved the Tandy cakes I made this this morning it is spot on thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Thank you Brandie.
I am also from PA, West Chester is home town, and I remember when there were 3 to a pack in my childhood days!! I have made tandykakes many times for my kids, now grown, but the difference is after the peanut butter put on warm cake, then frig to harden, I melt milk choc chips and smear on top. you get that cracked choc like the real ones. Have also used a large Hershey bar melted. I hope you try!
Thank you Christine
The cake part was dry and dense. The PB/chocolate frosting part was good. I served it for dessert to my family and none of us gave it good reviews. Sorry. This is not a keeper to me.
Thank you for your opinion Helen. I’m sorry it wasn’t to your liking, if you ever come across a recipe for Tandy Cake that you do like, I’d love to try the recipe.
I’ve made numerous tandykakes but I don’t have my mom’s recipe at the moment so I did a quick search. This popped up and wow, what a small world! To see Tastykakes AND Middleswarth in the same sentence?! I grew up (and still live) near the factory and even went to school with one of the grandsons. Love Middleswarth chips!!!