Peanut Butter Frosting

Why You’ll Love This Homemade Frosting

Fluffy frosting infused with peanut butter and just enough sweetness? Oh, it’s so good. Here’s why you’re going to love this easy peanut butter frosting:

• Loads of peanut flavor. I love using peanut butter in baking recipes as it’s one of my favorite flavors and ingredients. This frosting recipe is bursting with peanut butter flavor – I love it!
• Goes perfectly with many cakes and cupcakes. I’ve linked up a lot of my favorite cupcake and cake recipes below that would be wonderful topped with this peanut butter frosting. Choose your favorite and experiment with some new ones!
• Easy and quick. This frosting takes just minutes to put together, and it’s not at all complicated. It’s so easy to whip up a batch when you need frosting for a chocolate cake.
• Foolproof method. My method outlined below is sure to give you solid results every time. I’ve also included some tips that will help you make this peanut butter frosting without any stress.

What Peanut Butter Is Best For Making Frosting?

Creamy peanut butter is the best peanut butter for this peanut butter frosting recipe because it will create a wonderfully smooth frosting. I have used natural peanut butter, freshly ground peanut butter, and more commercial peanut butter in this recipe with good success. If you are using natural peanut butter, make sure that the oil is fully incorporated before you add it into the frosting.

How To Make Peanut Butter Frosting

Here’s my method for making easy peanut butter frosting:

• Cream the peanut butter and butter. Using the beaters of a hand mixer or whisk attachment on a stand mixer, beat together the peanut butter and butter at medium speed for at least 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar.

• Add the milk. Once the sugar is incorporated, increase the mixer speed back to medium and add 2 tablespoons of the milk, adding an additional 1 tablespoon at a time as needed to achieve the desired consistency.
• Continue beating. Increase the speed to high and beat until light and fluffy.

• Frost or store. Immediately frost your cooled cakes or cupcakes, or store them in an airtight container for later use.

Tips for Success

Here are a few tips to help you make great homemade frosting. These can be applied to any frosting recipe you make, so definitely use them when you make peanut butter frosting as well!

• Bring the butter to room temperature. You want the butter to be warm enough so that it can be lightly pressed, but not so warm that it is starting to melt. The key here is to not use butter straight from the fridge because it’s too cold to cream well and will result in lumpy frosting.
• Be careful adding the milk. Slowly add in the milk a tablespoon at a time. You don’t want to add too much milk because the frosting will become too loose and won’t spread well. At the same time, milk can help keep the frosting from getting too thick. So you’ll want to go slowly to achieve that perfect balance.
• Sift the powdered sugar. Another way to make lump-free frosting is to sift your powdered sugar! This is such an important step to take when you’re making frosting, so don’t skip it.
• Make it dairy-free. If you wish to make dairy-free peanut butter frosting, substitute your favorite non-dairy milk for the milk and use your favorite non-dairy butter for the butter.
• Use salted butter or add a little salt. Sometimes I want to make this more of a salted peanut butter frosting, so I will use salted butter rather than unsalted butter. You could also sprinkle in a little fine sea salt to taste when you’re mixing the frosting.

Ways To Use Homemade Peanut Butter Frosting

There are so many ways to use this easy peanut butter frosting! My first choice is for chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, but it’s equally great on chocolate cake, vanilla cake, or brownies! Here are some suggestions for how to use this frosting:

• On cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes are my first choice for peanut butter frosting! My Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes recipe is so good when you finish it with fluffy peanut butter icing. Or try it on top of Gluten Free Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes or Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcakes.
• To frost cake. A cake is also a perfect vehicle for peanut butter frosting. My Gluten Free Chocolate Cake topped with peanut butter frosting gives you that perfect combination of peanut butter and chocolate. You could also swap the cream cheese frosting in my Nutella Chocolate Chip Cake for peanut butter frosting!
• For cookies: You can spread it on Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars or pipe it onto Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups. Those who can’t get enough peanut butter can sandwich it between Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies.
• Spread on brownies. Yes, brownies are another perfect match for peanut butter frosting! My Easy Gluten Free Brownies or Gluten Free Brownie in a Mug are amazing finished with a little peanut-infused icing.