Having grown up with the Tastykakes brand from Philadelphia, there was one treat in their lineup that was my favorite and it was called the Tandy Kake. The name was later changed to Kandy Kakes to avoid confusion with another brand on the market. They’re apparently their number one selling item. They will always be Tandy Cakes to me, but others will fight you as they know them only by their current moniker. Now that you know the history, they’re basically a vanilla sponge cake topped with peanut butter and then chocolate. Making them vegan was always hard due to needing eggs for that spongy lift so we never had success in making them — until now.
My new favorite egg replacement combo for cakes is Just Egg mixed with aquafaba (the liquid from canned chickpeas). You get the best of both faux egg worlds. The yolkiness of Just Egg and the egg white lift of the aquafaba.
Let’s talk peanut butter. You need a sweetened “no stir” variety for this cake. A natural peanut butter is not ideal for this dessert. It will work, but will be difficult to spread and not have the sweetness you need. Also, you must use a salted variety. It will be bland if you do not. Salt is needed.
A half sheet or “jelly roll” pan is ideal for this cake. You want them roughly the height of a brownie. If you use a smaller pan they will be more like a snack cake size, need to bake longer and not what you want for the Tandy cake. If you only have smaller pans, consider making them in two batches. One trick is to also smooth the batter to the edges to make sure you don’t have slanted sides which will be thinner than the center once baked. The edges will also be tougher if thinner. You will be trimming the sides slightly when cutting, but will have to trim off more if you have thinner edges.
This recipe makes quite a few cakes so you can eat them all, give some to friends or you can freeze some to eat at a later time. That never happens in our house, but good for you if you have self control. Slow clap…
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Vegan Copycat Peanut Butter Tandy (Kandy) Cakes
24
servings15
minutes20
minutesA vegan version of a classic snack cake!
Ingredients
1 cup plain plant-based milk (I used unsweetened soy)
2 tablespoons vegan butter
6 tbsp aquafaba (whisked slightly)
6 tablespoons Just vegan egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
2 cups vegan granulated sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup “no stir” sweetened salted peanut butter
10 oz vegan semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon coconut oil
Directions
- Add vegan butter to milk in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup and cook just until butter is
melted about 30-40 seconds depending on your microwave. You don’t want it to boil. If you cook it too long, let it cool slightly before proceeding to the next step. You can also melt them together in a saucepan on the stove. - Add dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk together. Then add aquafaba, Just egg and vanilla and lightly stir to incorporate. Add the milk/butter mixture to the bowl and mix. Don’t over-mix, just make sure everything is combined and the batter isn’t too lumpy.
- Pour batter into a parchment paper lined half sheet or jelly roll pan and bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean with no batter or crumbs on it.
- Immediately after taking cake out of the oven, spread the peanut butter on top of the cake using a small offset spatula or butter knife. If your peanut butter is not melting right away you can pop the pan back in the warm oven for a minute so it melts to make spreading it easier. Place cake in fridge until the peanut butter hardens.
- Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave in 30 second intervals or using a double boiler until just melted, then spread on top of cake. Set in fridge until chocolate hardens.
- Bring to room temperature before slicing with a sharp serrated knife into squares or finger sized pieces. Trim the edges of the entire cake before cutting into individual pieces if desired for a neat and clean square sized treat.
Recipe Video
Notes
- You can cut these smaller if you want finger sized snacks.
- You can use all aquafaba for this recipe. I have not tested flax egg, but it would most likely work, but you might not get the same rise out of the cake.
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Thank you for this amazing recipe. Grew up outside of Philly eating these, and never imagined I’d find a recipe all these years later that exactly replicates them. Even bought Just Egg just to make them (vegan 10+ years but never had a need for the product before). I did use well-blended unsalted/unsweetened “natural” peanut butter and they’re perfect–this might be because I’ve acquired a taste for that over the years. In any event, this recipe turned out SO good that even the corners and edges were perfectly clean for including in the cut squares – no slope or trail-off. I did need about 6 minutes more in the oven than the max suggested here, just to firm up the center. And there was a little “pooling” of PB in the center that I had to clear before refrigeration. Seriously though, thank you, this was amazing. I’m not one to normally leave comments but these are even better than the original.
This made me so happy! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a thoughtful review. This was a labor of love as these were my favorite as well. That’s high praise and I’ll take it! So glad you enjoyed them, they’re pretty great agreed!
Hi!
If I’m only dairy-free and CAN eat egg, do you know what the equivalent would be?
Thanks
Hi there! The replacement should be 4 eggs as there’s 3 tablespoons of egg replacer used for every egg and there’s 12 total in the recipe between the aquafaba and the Just Egg. Hope that helps!
Can this be made with gluten free flour blend?
I’ve not tried it with GF flour but I would use a 1:1 blend if trying to substitute. GF flours can be unpredictable so I would be interested to know if it works well. Good luck and report back if you do try it!
These came out perfectly as written. I grew up eating Tastykake and haven’t found a perfect copycat until now. I can’t say it’s a perfect copycat because these taste better than the original! The spongecat was more moist and flavorful than Tastykake.
Wow thanks for the great review and I agree, they are more moist!