And yes, this truly is the creamiest peanut butter frosting you’ll ever taste.
This peanut butter frosting delivers BIG flavor. The base of the recipe is just a little bit of butter and a massive amount of peanut butter. Heavy cream adds to its creamy texture. And unlike most frostings, it’s not loaded with confectioners’ sugar. There’s only 1 cup, so don’t expect a cloyingly sweet frosting. All you taste is peanut butter. Pure peanut butter with a creamier, silkier texture.
Despite the creamy texture, this peanut butter frosting pipes beautifully onto cakes and cupcakes. It won’t keep any super intricate piped designs, but a simple swirl from the Wilton 1M piping tip stays intact!
You’ll LOVE this stuff and find any excuse to whip it up.
Need some pairing inspiration? Try this peanut butter frosting with:
Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting
Ingredients:
- 5 Tablespoons (75g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (250g) creamy peanut butter*
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners' sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Directions:
- With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the peanut butter, confectioners' sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Add up to 1/4 cup more confectioners' sugar if frosting is too thin or another Tablespoon of cream if frosting is too thick.
- Cover tightly and store for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
Recipe Notes:
*Use a commercial brand peanut butter such Skippy or Jif. Avoid natural, oily, or homemade peanut butters as the consistency will cause this frosting to separate and curdle.
This recipe is enough to frost 12-16 cupcakes or one 9x13 quarter sheet cake. Follow this peanut butter frosting recipe for any cake larger than that. Just as rich and creamy!
Did you make a recipe?
Tag @sallysbakeblog on Instagram and hashtag it #sallysbakingaddiction.
Oh this frosting looks gorgeous !
This frosting. Oh my goodness. So amazing. I made it following the recipe to the T, and frosted regular chocolate cupcakes with it. It was so good! Everyone loved how fluffy the frosting was. It reminds me of the fluffy PB filling in rocky mountain chocolate factory’s PB bars. Soooo unbelievable. Thank you so much for sharing!
Can I use whole milk instead of the heavy cream?
Absolutely. But keep in mind that the peanut butter frosting will not be as creamy without the thickness of heavy cream.
If it separates, what’s could be the cause? And how can I save it?
I find a little more confectioners’ sugar and a few more minutes of beating helps bring it back together.
I made this recipe with Trader Joes creamy peanut butter with a little more confection sugar (1/3cup) it was perfect….I just whipped it a little longer to form the perfect peaks. Very creamy and smooth Frosting. Thank you!
You are welcome! I love Trader Joe’s peanut butter – glad it worked here!
Hi Sally! Love this blog! Does this frosting sometimes separate during the beating and then come back together? My first batch separated badly after about 1.5 minutes and I’m wondering if I gave up on it too soon. If this is unusual, what do you think may have caused this? Temperature? It was a very hot day. Or use of milk instead of heavy cream? Sorry for the long question and thank you for your help and for sharing your delicious recipes!
Hi Mandy! It sounds like the butter was too warm. You want it cool to touch. Continue beating– it should come together.
I read the whole recipe beforehand but, I was using the heavy cream it called for not milk and used the appropriate peanut butter (in the back of my mind I knew it mattered).
Can I use this recipe to bake a 6 inch, by 3inch deep cake? and also be able to frost this cake?
It depends how many layers. This is enough frosting to frost a 2 layer 9-inch cake, so if your 6 inch cake isn’t too tall, this amount of peanut butter frosting should be fine.
Hi Sally, I tried to make this frosting but it split and ended up grainy. I tried adding more sugar and mixing it for longer but it could not be salvaged. I’m just wondering if it was the cream I used. I used thickened cream (the Australian version of heavy cream) which I used for all of your frostings but I’m wondering if it could of been the gelatin in the cream that reacted with the peanut butter causing it to split? Do you think this could of been the issue? And would you suggest using pure cream that can be whipped next time? Thanks
Hi Natasha! It’s usually the liquid or the butter. The butter may have been too soft and warm or the cream could have been too thick or cold. If you decide to try this frosting again, my recommendation is to use milk instead. Sorry you had trouble!
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Do you recommend full fat or is any milk fine?
Any milk is OK 🙂
After making the icing and frosting my cake, must I refrigerate the iced cake (because frosting contains heavy cream)?
1-2 days at room temperature would be OK. After that, I recommend the refrigerator.
Didn’t have heavy cream so I used vanilla nut liquid creamer minus the vanilla and the frosting was DEVINE!!! Absolutely did it for me with the very peanut butter flavor but not too sweet. Try it, you’ll like it!!
That sounds so good!