A silky smooth but perfectly pipeable peanut butter frosting that’s the perfect complement to any cake or cupcake. Also great for just eating by the spoonful!
Maybe you guys haven’t noticed, but I’ve been working on bulking up my “Frostings” section on the blog.
In the past, I would share cake or cupcake recipes and tag on my preferred complementary frosting, but I’m a big believer in choices. Maybe you’d rather frost your funfetti cake with chocolate frosting (or even peanut butter frosting) instead of buttercream, right? Well I wanted to have a good variety of options for you to choose from.
So far I’ve shared my favorites of the following:
- Cream cheese frosting (<—- possibly my favorite frosting of all-time)
- Chocolate frosting
- Vanilla buttercream frosting
And today I’m adding peanut butter frosting to the list.
This recipe is super easy to make, and on Monday I’ll be sharing a very complementary and very dark chocolate cupcake recipe with you, but of course you can put it on whatever you want. You can even just eat it by the spoonful, I know I did.
And yet it remains a mystery to me why my cardio sessions aren’t paying off 😭
Anyway, Peanut Butter Frosting requires just 6 ingredients to make. It’s smooth, creamy, and is great for piping on top of cupcakes or decorating a cake.
Tips for Making Peanut Butter Frosting
- While chunky or creamy peanut butter can work in this peanut butter frosting recipe, I don’t recommend using chunky unless you don’t intend to pipe the frosting. The little peanut pieces will clog up your frosting tips in a second.
- I don’t recommend using natural peanut butter (the kind that separates, you know the one that you usually need to stir before using). I haven’t tried it myself but I’m pretty certain that it wouldn’t work too nicely work with this recipe (it would be too oily).
- This peanut butter frosting pipes very nicely as written. However, for a stiffer frosting, you can add an additional ½-1 cup (65-125g) of powdered sugar.
How Many Cupcakes/How Much Cake Will this Peanut Butter Frosting Cover?
- If you’re generously frosting your cupcakes (as seen in my cupcake photo below), then this frosting will handily cover 12-15 cupcakes. If you’re being a bit more modest, it will cover 24 (I covered 24 cupcakes with peanut butter frosting rosettes using the 1M tip).
- This frosting will also cover a 9×13 sheet cake or a round 2-layer 8″ or 9″ cake. Now I’m just thinking about how I want to make a cake with this frosting and then cover it with ganache… Yum!
Enjoy!
Oh, and do you have any requests for other frosting recipes you’d like to see? I’m currently working on caramel but would love any suggestions that you have!
How to Make Peanut Butter Frosting
Peanut Butter Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (245 g) creamy peanut butter
- 3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Combine butter and peanut butter in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until creamy and well-combined.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (245 g) creamy peanut butter
- Gradually (about ⅓ cup at a time), with mixer on low speed add powdered sugar until completely combined. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl so all ingredients are well-combined.3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar
- Stir in vanilla extract and salt.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon salt
- With mixer on low-speed, add milk and stir until well-combined. Gradually increase speed to high and beat for 30 seconds.2 Tablespoons milk
- Spread or pipe frosting onto completely cooled cupcakes or cake.
Notes
Natural Peanut Butter
Since first sharing the recipe I have now tested this recipe with natural peanut butter and it worked just fine, though was a bit gritty.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Jamie
I’m excited to try this for my husbands birthday cake! 🙂 he’s allergic to dairy though, have you tried it DF? Coconut melt spread? (for butter) and coconut milk or almond milk? Would that work?
Sam
Hi Jamie! I haven’t tried making it dairy free so I can’t make any good recommendations. If you do try it I would love to know how it turns out. 🙂
Katia
May be a silly question, but will cutting the recipe in half affect the taste at all? I only need to ice 12 cupcakes 🙂
Sam
Hi Katia! It won’t be an issue at all, enjoy! 🙂
Janet Thomas
Looking forward to trying this recipe. Does the cake/cupcakes need to be refrigerated after frosting with this?
Thank you.
Sam
Hi Janet! This frosting does not need to be refrigerated, but I’m not sure about the cupcakes as I don’t know what recipe you’d be using. Enjoy! 🙂
Sonica54
This frosting was marvelous. I made it just like the recipe said and it turned out perfectly. It generously frosted a 9×13 inch chocolate cake. I highly recommend it!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Debra Ortiz
Silly question of the day – once i frost my cake, does it have to be refrigerated if I am serving it tomorrow?
Sam
Hi Debra! It will be ok at room temperature for a few days. Try to cover it up so it doesn’t dry out. 🙂
Esther
How long will this recipe keep in the fridge? Will it last overnight?
Sam
Hi Esther! It should last at least a week in the refrigerator. 🙂
Karen
Absolutely delicious!!
Could just eat the whole bowl by myself!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Karen! I could definitely do the same. Luckily for me my husband normally steps in and takes care of a large portion of it so I don’t eat it all. 🤣
M
Will this recipe frost a 2 layer cake?
Sam
Yes it will. 🙂
AJ
This turned out amazing! For anyone wondering if this frosting works well with non dairy or plant based options, it absolutely does. I used the Country Crock avocado oil plant based butter and for the milk I used oat milk. Same measurements as listed in the recipe. New favorite frosting recipe ever!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much! Thank you for your feedback using non-dairy ingredients! 🙂
Jan
I’m making a ‘shark cake’ for a five year olds birthday and he wants peanut butter cream frosting. Your recipe sounds delicious. I’m wondering if it will ‘dye’ blue to look like water?
Sam
Hi Jan! I’m not quite sure how coloring this frosting will go. The brown color of the peanut butter will definitely be a challenge to turn blue.
Brandon
This icing is heaven on earth. Made it tonight for my wives birthday cake.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Brandon! 🙂
Audrey
Would like to hear about your caramel frostings
Sam
Hi Audrey! I have a caramel frosting on my caramel cake and one on my salted caramel dark chocolate cupcakes. 🙂
Margaret
This frosting was easy to make and so good! I frosted cupcakes with it.
Imaan
Hi! I love this is so good. However I want to make it a day in advance could I just fridge it and take out before using it as normal? Thanks!
Sam
Absolutely! Just make sure to store it in an air tight container. 🙂
Jewels
I did this and it was super hard the next day! Any suggestions?
Sam
It will crust on the outside which is normal. Is this what you are referring to?
Jewels Chreene
no, i set the air tight container in the fridge over night and it hardened like butter would harden. I left it out the next day so i could rewhip it and frost the cake. but it was way too hard to do anything with after refrigeration. :/
Sam
Typically once refrigerated it needs to come to room temperature to really be workable again.
Ashley Rosario
First time ever making my own frosting! It’s my sons 2nd birthday. I had no way to get to the store and wanted to have cake for him but we had no frosting. Thankfully I had all ingredients for this. It turned out so good! I have been wanting to try one of your recipes because they always look so amazing. I went to high school with your husband which is how I found your page. ☺️💕
Sam
That is so awesome! Happy birthday to your son! Kids are such a joy. Zach says hi and hopes you are doing well.
Vic
How long can this recipe be refrigerated for ahead of use?
Sam
Hi Vic! It should last up to a week in the refrigerator. 🙂
Vic
Cannot wait to try it! Thanks for the speedy response
Kate
Fabulous!
Kim
Absolutely delicious and perfectly easy to make! I frosted a chocolate cake with this and then poured chocolate ganache (also your recipe and my first ever attempt), piped frosting disks and place peanut butter balls on the disks. It looked gorgeous and tasted even better. I made it for my son’s birthday who loves peanut butter. Thanks so much for the recipes and your excellent tips!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Kim! Happy birthday to your son! 🙂
Toni Grondin
Omg it is so good and super easy to make I am only 10 and have an obession with baking and it came out amazing making it for a birthday.
Sam
I am so happy to hear it was such a success! Thank you for the comment, Toni! 🙂