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.
Sarah
I loved this frosting, i added a few liberties and used Salted butter instead of Unsalted to add more flavor then substituted the milk with Whiskey . My god it was so good, i spread it all over some nice and fudgy brownies i made <3 Thanks so much!
Sugar Spun Run
I love your choice of substitutions, Sarah! This paired with a brownie sounds incredible! I am so glad that you enjoyed the peanut butter frosting. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Danielle
I just made this recipe to go with a Vegan Chocolate Cake. I tested the recipe after adding 2 cups of the powdered sugar and felt it was sweet enough with just that amount. I than doubled the peanut butter to 2 cups I order to give it a stronger peanut butter flavor. Also, in the end I ended up adding 1-2 extra tablespoons of almond milk in order to get a more fluffy frosting. It came out INCREDIBLE!!! I had to quickly cover the cake with it because my family (as well as myself🤪) could not stop taking spoonfuls of it while it was still in the mixing bowl.
Sugar Spun Run
That is wonderful to hear, Danielle! I am so glad that everyone enjoyed it. 🙂
LS
I’ve used this recipe 3 times and my husband and I love it on a Hershey’s Cocoa Cake (recipe on can). Tastes like a peanut butter cup! Yum!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the peanut butter frosting, LS! Enjoy! 🙂
Aster
I tried this with natural peanut butter, and it worked pretty well! The only thing was I had to add an extra tablespoon of milk. Next time I’ll probably cut the butter by a tablespoon or two, because it was just a smidge oily. Overall it worked great though, with great flavor!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that it worked out for you, Aster! Natural peanut butter contains more oil so the cookies will tend to be on the oily side. I am glad that they tasted delicious! 🙂
Jordan
This was delicious, I used it in between peanut butter cookies amazing and will definitely be using this recipe again.
Sugar Spun Run
I love that you used the frosting to create peanut butter cookie sandwiches, Jordan! They sound delicious! I am so glad that it paired perfectly! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Lydia
Great recipe! I adapt all the ingredients to make it vegan. Super easy! Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy to hear that you have been able to adjust this recipe easily to your needs and that you enjoyed the outcome, Lydia! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
L Branham
Perfect!!!!! Delicious, fluffy, beautiful!! Thank you for your wonderfully decadent recipe!!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much for trying the peanut butter frosting! I am so glad that you enjoyed it! 🙂
Jessica
I usually use 1/2C shortening and 1/2C butter for my buttercream frostings so that I don’t worry about it melting.
Would it be still ok to use shortening in this recipe? Thanks!! 🙂
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Jessica! I haven’t tried it with shortening but don’t think that would be a problem. I would love to hear how it works out for you if you try it! 🙂
Kristine
My husband of 17 years said this was absolutely perfect peanut butter icing and that it was the best I have ever made. This recipe was simple and perfect. Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy to hear how much he loved it, Kristine! Thank you for trying my recipe. 🙂
Cristine
Wow yes, my husband of 18 years loves it as well, perhaps even more than your husband! Great stuff am I right? hehe
Steph
This frosting is amazing! Its so delicious and peanut buttery, but not too sweet. I used it to frost brownies and it was SO GOOD!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the peanut butter frosting, Steph! Thank you for commenting! 🙂
Shar
This frosting is delicious! Not too sweet and compliments dark chocolate cake perfectly. My family loved it!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the peanut butter frosting, Shar! Thank you for commenting. 🙂
TONI
WHAT IS THE BEST STORAGE FOR THIS PB ICING ? CAN IT STAY AT ROOM TEMP ? I PLAN TO USE IT AS OUTLINE PIPING WITH MY YOUNG GRANDSON TO SURPRISE HIS MOM. BUT WHAT WE WILL BE DECORATING IS BEST AT ROOM TEMP.
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Toni! I recommend storing the peanut butter icing in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use. I hope that you enjoy decorating the cake with your grandson. 🙂
Liz Polanzke
My husband requested chocolate cake with pb icing for his birthday. I have had consistent success with recipes from Sugar Spun Run (Fruitcake, PB Blossoms), and no luck with other recipes for PB icing. So, I decided to try this and the chocolate cake recipe from this site for his birthday. Total risk…untried recipe with limited time + birthday cake=white knuckles
The icing was flawless, light, fluffy, delectable. The cake? Moist and chocolatey. I will never do another. Thank you for saving my face for my husband’s birthday! I have a picture if you want it. 🙂
Tammy Vaughn
Was delicious. I put it on chocolate cake with Reese cups crushed on top. Was a big hit. Thank you
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that the peanut butter frosting paired perfectly with your chocolate cake, Tammy! I love the addition of crushed Reese cups. YUM! Thank you so much for commenting! 🙂
Wendy
I am trying to make this frosting but I am afraid it might turn out to be grainy in its texture, just like what I have made in the past for buttercream frosting. Any advice why my frosting is always having grainy texture even though I have beat it long enough?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Wendy! This peanut butter frosting should be really creamy. You really want to make sure your butter is room temperature when making icing, it helps when combining the sugar with it. By any chance did you use granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar listed?
Diane
It may be your adding your powdered sugar to fast