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.
Joni
Looked up PB frosting and checked out your site as there were 5* on here. Grandson wanted PB frosting so I will let you know how he likes it! 💗 Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
I am happy you came across my site, Joni! I hope that the frosting is grandson approved and loved. 🙂
Sucheta Arora
My icing turned a bit thicker how can I make it a bit thin, to cover my cake
Sam
Add a bit more milk as needed until you have the right consistency. Enjoy!
Sucheta Arora
Thank you for a wonderful recipe it tastes yum..😊
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Rebecca
What if you don’t have unsalted butter? Can you use salted butter or will it be too salty?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Rebecca! You can use salted butter but will want to omit the 1/2 teaspoon salt listed. Enjoy! 🙂
Laura Peterka
can I add food coloring to make different colors?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Laura! Unfortunately, the colors will be muted since the icing is a light peanut brown. You can add coloring to my buttercream frosting recipe if you’d like to try that instead. 🙂
Mary
Hi does this icing need to be refrigerated?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Mary! No, it does not. 🙂
Tammy
Does left over icing freeze well?
Sam
Hi Tammy! That should work just fine. 🙂
fiona
Can this recipe be used on a cake?
Sam
Absolutely! Enjoy 🙂
Sabrina
I thought it was great! I did cut the recipe in half and it was a little salty for my liking so I added more peanut butter and it was great. I was wondering if instead of using regular milk can you use almond?
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Sabrina! Yes you could use almond milk instead, but since it’s a bit thinner you might need a splash less. Use half the amount and add more as needed 🙂
Miranda Mercer
So Yummy!!! I’m not a huge fan of peanut butter like my husband and in laws but I could eat this by itself!!!! Definitely a keeper recipe!!!!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Miranda! 🙂
Dana
Strawberry, please?! (Without strawberry extract, if possible) No matter what I do, mine always turns out a runny mess! Awesome job on the PB frosting!!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed the peanut butter frosting Dana! I will put a strawberry frosting on my list (hopefully I can get it done when strawberry season comes back around) It is going to be a little tricky because of all of the moisture in the strawberries but I’ll see what I can work up. 🙂
Beth
Can I make this ahead ?
Sam
You sure can! 🙂
Elizabeth
Can you just refrigerate and sit out before using ?
Sam
That will work. Maybe give it another quick stir before you use it. 🙂
Sam
Can this be piped in the center of a cupcake?
Sam
Definitely! It sounds great! 🙂
Harriet
I love peanut butter everything, and this was so delicious. I used it for the frosting on a lion cake for my son’s birthday party – it was perfect! I’ll be making this frosting many times over.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Harriet! 🙂
Deborah Sollazzo
To make it thicker do u add additional powder sugar
1/2 to 1 cup ?
My boyfriend likes it really thick !
Sam
Hi Deborah! You can just keep adding powdered sugar until you get your desired consistency. 🙂
Rob Gerstmyer
I used this recipe for my wife’s birthday cake and she loved it. That’s probably because she loves peanut butter…and because this recipe is so good! Thank you!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it, Rob! 🙂