Peanut Butter Frosting should taste like peanut butter first and frosting second. This easy version is thick, fluffy, and full of bold peanut butter flavor. It pipes beautifully, spreads smoothly, and is delicious on cakes, cupcakes, and cookies of all types!

The Best Peanut Butter Frosting

I have a lot of opinions on peanut butter frosting. I want big peanut butter flavor, a creamy, fluffy texture, and a frosting that actually behaves on a cake or cupcake. Too many versions taste mostly like powdered sugar with a hint of peanut butter, or they’re so thick they feel like you’re spreading straight peanut butter from the jar. This recipe hits that sweet spot right in the middle.

• Big Peanut Butter Flavor: Peanut butter is the star, not an afterthought.
• Perfectly Pipeable: Whipped just enough to hold its shape in swirls and rosettes.
• Super Versatile: Frost cupcakes, sheet cakes, layer cakes, bundt cakes, or brownies with one base recipe.
• Make-Ahead: Stores and re-whips beautifully for stress-free party prep.

We start with a generous amount of creamy peanut butter, softened butter, and just enough powdered sugar to sweeten and stabilize without turning the whole bowl into a sugar bomb. Heavy cream whips into the mixture to create that cloud-like texture, while a little salt keeps everything balanced.

You’ll love how versatile this frosting is, too. It’s sturdy enough to pipe tall, pretty swirls on cupcakes, but soft enough to spread over a sheet cake without tearing the crumb. Because it’s peanut butter-forward, it pairs beautifully with chocolate cake, banana cake, vanilla cupcakes, brownies, snack cakes, or even sandwiched between cookies. If you’re a peanut butter person, you’re about to start finding excuses to make cake just to eat this frosting!

Ingredients and Substitutions

Below is what you’ll need to make this creamy, dreamy Peanut Butter Frosting, along with some key ingredient notes and substitutions.

• Creamy Peanut Butter: Stick with commercial creamy peanut butter, like Jif or Skippy. Natural peanut butter that separates can make the frosting grainy or oily.
• Butter: Use unsalted butter at cool room temperature (~65°F). To keep this frosting dairy-free, use a plant-based butter stick (not a spread from a tub) with at least 75-80% fat for the best texture.
• Vanilla Extract
• Salt
• Confectioners’ Sugar: For a homemade version, blend granulated sugar with 1 tablespoon cornstarch per cup of sugar until very fine.
• Heavy Cream: Half-and-half works in a pinch, but it’s thinner than heavy cream, so add a little less. For dairy-free frosting, use full-fat canned coconut milk (well stirred).

Gluten Free Note: This frosting is naturally gluten-free as written. Just double-check that the confectioners’ sugar and peanut butter are certified gluten-free if needed.

How to Make Peanut Butter Frosting

1. Cream the Fats: Beat the peanut butter and softened butter together until completely smooth and creamy. Mix in the vanilla extract and salt until evenly combined.
2. Slowly Add Sugar: With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar in several additions, letting each batch incorporate before adding more.
3. Increase the Speed: Once all the sugar is added, increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture looks thick, smooth, and slightly lighter in color.
4. Add Cream: Pour in the heavy cream and beat on high speed until the frosting looks very light, fluffy, and increased in volume. Stop and scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl to make sure there are no streaks of peanut butter or sugar, then beat again briefly to fully incorporate.
5. Frost: Use immediately to frost cupcakes, sheet cakes, or layer cakes, or store for later.

Fluffiest Peanut Butter Frosting

Peanut butter straight from the jar is thick and dense, not light and fluffy. But after a few minutes in the mixer, this frosting transforms into something that pies into tall swirls and spreads effortlessly over cake. There are no egg whites or gelatin to whip, just butter, peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, and cream. So what is changing inside the bowl to turn a heavy paste into airy frosting?

Kitchen Chemistry

In a butter-based frosting, softened butterfat exists as a partially crystalline solid dispersed in liquid fat. When butter and peanut butter are beaten with powdered sugar and cream, solid fat crystals link into a loose network that traps microscopic air bubbles, which are stabilized by sugar and starch. This converts a dense, high-fat mixture into a lower-density fat-based foam with a much lighter texture, even though the total amount of fat and sugar remains the same.

Because this foam depends on solid fat crystals, temperature matters. Butter that is too cold won’t cream smoothly and traps less air, while butter that is too warm or melted loses its crystalline structure and behaves like liquid oil, which cannot hold a stable foam. Hitting that “softer but still cool” sweet spot is what allows peanut butter frosting to whip up fluffy enough to pie, yet sturdy enough to hold beautiful swirls on cakes and cupcakes.

How Much Frosting to Use

This recipe makes approximately 4 1/2 cups of frosting. That’s enough for:

• 24 cupcakes: Generously frost with swirls, or 18 cupcakes with a sky-high swoop of frosting.
• Sheet Cake: One batch of this recipe is enough for a 9 x 13-inch half sheet cake sized cake with a thick layer of frosting
• Two-layer cake: One batch is enough for an 8-inch or 9-inch cake with extra frosting for decorating.
• Three-layer cake: One batch will just cover a 3-layer 8-inch cake. For a 3-layer 9-inch cake or additional frosting for deocrations, make 1 1/2 times the recipe.
• Bundt Cake or Brownies: To spread frosting across the top of a bundt cake or a batch of brownies, half of this recipe is sufficient.

Frosting amounts are always approximate. If you love extra-thick frosting or decorative piping, make more than you think you’ll need. It’s much easier to have a little extra frosting than to run out mid-cake!

Cake Pairing Ideas

Looking for some ways to use your delicious peanut butter buttercream frosting? Try some of these recipes!

• Best Marble Sheet Cake
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake
• Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
• Best Chocolate Sheet Cake
• Best Chocolate Layer Cake
• Chocolate Oreo Cake
• Candy Cake
• Banana Nutella Cake

Tips and Tricks for the Best Peanut Butter Frosting

1. Use the Right Peanut Butter: For the smoothest texture, stick with shelf-stable commercial creamy peanut butter, not natural brands that separate, which can make the frosting oily or grainy.
2. Beat Well: Let the peanut butter and butter beat together for a few full minutes to build a smooth, airy base.
3. Add Sugar Slowly: Adding the confectioners’ sugar in small additions on low speed helps avoid lumps and keeps the frosting from becoming too dense all at once.
4. Let it Whip: After adding the heavy cream, beat the frosting on high for several minutes, until lighter in color and noticeably fluffier.
5. Adjust Thickness: For piping tall cupcake swirls, keep the frosting a bit thicker by adding less cream; for spreading over a sheet cake, add an extra splash of cream for a softer, more spreadable consistency.
6. Storage: Store frosting in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze for 2-3 months; bring to room temperature and re-whip briefly before using to restore the fluffy texture.