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.
Liana
Do I need to refrigerate these if I’m serving them tomorrow?
Sam
Hi Liana! There’s no need to refrigerate the frosting overnight. 🙂
Rita
Hands down best frosting ever
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Rita! 🙂
Laura
LOVE THIS ICING! I was wondering if it can be made a day or two in advance. Would it rewhip nicely?
Sam
Hi Laura! This can be made a couple of days in advance. I like to store it by placing some plastic wrap against the surface of the frosting then storing in an air tight container. It may need to be whipped again briefly before you can use it. 🙂
Leah
Hi, I just finished making this recipe. If you want a lighter more creamy recipe I highly recommend this one. Especially on spice cake!
All my love to this recipe❤️
-leah
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Leah! 🙂
Angela
Do you know how this freezes on cupcakes?
Sam
Hi Angela! I haven’t tried freezing it on a cupcake, but I think it will do just fine. 🙂
baker lover
My family loved the flavour of the penutbutter icing excpecially on cakes!!👍❤️️😃❤️️
Shannon
Hi Sam!
I was thinking of putting this between layers of a chocolate cake, (going to do the outer frosting with chocolate buttercream). Estimating I need 1/2-2/3c of PB buttercream, do you have a sense of how many cups this recipe makes? Not sure whether to make 50% or 25% of your recipe!
Sam
Hi Shannon! I haven’t measured it out, but I think it makes about 4 cups of frosting. 🙂
Celina
Made this frosting for my husband’s birthday cake that he brought to work to share. Coworkers loved it much, they want me to make this exact for their birthdays lol! Thank you so much for sharing!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Celina! 🙂
Kathleen
Love this recipe! 2nd time Ive made it and I frosted chocolate cupcakes that I put a peanut butter cup in- Devine! As an FYI- I used natural peanut butter and it came out great! The trick is to stir it up well to incorporate the natural peanut oil.
😋
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Kathleen! Thank you for your feedback using natural peanut butter. I’m glad it turned out. 🙂
Sarah
Absolutely perfect! Great taste and great consistency. I used it on a chocolate peanut butter ice cream cake and it was amazing!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed ti so much, Sarah! 🙂
Jamie
Can iced cupcakes be stored at room temperature? I wasn’t sure because of the milk. Thanks!
Sam
Hi Jamie! They will be fine to leave at room temperature. 🙂
Katie
Oh my, this frosting is yummy and creamy. I used this to top your Marble cake recipe. Taste amazing all together.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Katie! 🙂
Autumnsun76
This came out delicious!
Tami
Amazing taste and consistency!
Highly recommend!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Tami! 🙂
Tammie
This tastes delicious and is light and fluffy and not too thick!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Tammie, thank you so much for commenting! 🙂
Jules
I want to make this for my dad but I’m nervous it may be too sweet, What is a way to make a little less sweet but still fluffy abs creamy?
Sam
Hi Jules! You can reduce the sugar, but unfortunately it won’t be quite as fluffy.
Sara
So yummy! Piped it onto banana cupcakes. Thank you 😁
Sam
Ooo that sounds tasty! I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Sara! 🙂
Kim Naus
Came out delicious! Topped my brownies with it.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Kim! 🙂
Michelle
This icing is so light and delicious! I will be making it again.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Michelle! 🙂