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Dessert

Peanut Butter Chip Carrot Cake

A carrot cake baked with peanut butter chips, walnuts, and cream cheese frosting.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,287 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Peanut Butter Chip Carrot Cake

Oven350°F
Time35 to 40 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the batter

  1. Heat oven to 350°F.

  2. Grease and flour a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

  3. Stir together flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.

  4. In a small bowl, stir together eggs, oil, and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients, blending well.

  5. Stir in carrot, peanut butter chips, and 1/2 cup walnuts.

Bake and cool

  1. Pour batter into prepared pan.

  2. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

  3. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Make the frosting and finish

  1. Beat 1 package (3 oz.) softened cream cheese and 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) softened butter or margarine in a small bowl until well blended.

  2. Gradually add 2 cups powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, beating to spreading consistency.

  3. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

  4. Garnish with walnuts, if desired.

Variations

  1. Substitute 1 cup raisins for the chopped walnuts.

  2. Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups.

  3. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full with batter.

  4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1185Calories
31 gProtein
55 gFat
140 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Peanut1 oz (28g)161
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Cream Cheese1 oz (28g)99
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cinnamon + vanillatop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  2. Cinnamon + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together981 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Carrot + peanuttop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together354 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  5. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Eggs
Bind the batter and set during baking to give the cake its structure.
Vegetable oil
Keeps the crumb moist and tender by adding fat instead of solid butter.
Baking soda
Reacts with acidity in the batter to produce gas that lifts the cake.
Shredded carrot
Adds moisture and body, keeping the cake soft over several days.
Granulated sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps it brown and stay tender.

The step that matters

Bake until a wooden pick comes out clean. Baking soda and eggs set the batter during baking. Pulling the cake early leaves a wet, sunken centre, while overbaking dries the crumb and makes it crumbly.

Swap the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, cinnamon, egg, vanilla, peanut, butter):

  1. Sweet potatofits better
  2. Arrowrootfits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, cinnamon, egg, vanilla, peanut, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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