Peanut Butter Frosting {4 Ingredients}

Quick and easy peanut butter frosting recipe, homemade with 4 simple ingredients. Rich, creamy, fudgy, stable and holds its shape. Great for spreading and piping on cakes, cupcakes, brownies and bars.

After many requests, I can finally add this icing recipe to my growing collection of Frostings and Fillings. However, first, let me be very clear: This is not a 3 ingredient icing. That one requires only peanut butter, sugar and heavy cream. The problem with that recipe is that since it uses no butter, the peanut flavor is overwhelming and the texture is not as smooth and creamy.

I have made this recipe countless times and it never fails and tastes like Reese's candy bars, which if you are a fan on I highly recommend also making these Easy Reese's Cookies (With Cake Mix) and Peanut Butter Eggs (4 ingredients).

Jump to:

• Key ingredients
• Variations
• How to make peanut butter frosting?
• Tips and techniques
• Recipe FAQs
• Storage
• More peanut butter desserts
• Recipe

Key ingredients

• Butter- Be sure it is unsalted for best results.
• Peanut butter- I recommend using your favorite creamy kind.
• Powdered sugar- This prevents a grainy frosting like you'd get using granulated sugar.
• Heavy cream- This adds to the overall creaminess of the frosting.
  

Variations

• Try a cream cheese version-Reduce the amount of butter by ½ cup and replace that with ½ cup cream cheese instead.
• Give it a chocolate twist- Mix in some unsweetened cocoa powder in this recipe. Chocolate and peanut butter together are a favorite pairing of mine as manifested by my many recipes, including Peanut Butter Chocolate Bark (4 ingredients) and Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge (Tiger Fudge).
• Make it crunchy- Use crunchy peanut butter instead of the smooth one. You can even add some chopped peanuts.
• Heavy cream substitute- You can use whole milk or 2% milk but heavy cream yields the best results since it has a higher fat content.
• Make a sweet, salty flavor- By using half salted butter or adding ½ teaspoon of salt.
• Add a bit of color- Since it already has a light brown/beige color, you can't really change the color that much. You cannot make any light colors like white, yellow, or pink, but if you want to make darker shades like navy blue or dark brown, use gel coloring. Don't use liquid food coloring since it can thin out the frosting consistency.

How to make peanut butter frosting?

Tips and techniques

• All ingredients should be at room temperature- Because they blend together smoothy.
• Use smooth peanut butter- For the best creamy texture. It's also easier to pipe, which is hard to do if yo use chunky peanut butter.
• Use unsalted butter- Because that prevents this icing from becoming too salty.
• Thicken the icing- Add more powdered sugar and mix until you are satisfied with the consistency.
• Thin out the icing- Add more heavy cream or milk and mix until icing thins enough to your liking.
• Quantity- This recipe is enough to frost 24 cupcakes (as long as your are making small swirls or just spreading it on top with a spatula). It's also enough to fill and frost an 8 inch round cake or 9 inch sheet cake.
• Sift powdered sugar- Because this gets rid of any lumps in the sugar, yielding the smoothest frosting ever.
• For smooth icing- Be sure the butter is not too cold and the powdered sugar has been mixed in long enough to smoothly integrate with the butter.

Recipe FAQs

Storage

• Make a head- Follow instructions then place in the fridge for future use.
• Room temperature- This needs to be refrigerated, because it has some heavy cream in it which can go bad if it sits out at room temperature for long period of time. However, it is okay for an hour or two.
• Refrigerate- Keep in a sealed container for up to 1 week.
• Freeze- Not recommended, because the dairy separates upon thawing.

More peanut butter desserts

• Chocolate Peanut Butter pie (No Bake)
• Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies (Thumbprint)
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Bark
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Soft and Chewy)
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge (Tiger Fudge)

Recipe