This Peanut Butter Buttercream Recipe is one of my all-time FAVORITE frosting recipes. It makes the most wonderful filling and frosting for chocolate cakes and cupcakes. You will love the peanut buttery flavor, the light and fluffy consistency, and how easily it pipes!
Not only does this peanut butter frosting taste fantastic, but the recipe is incredibly easy to throw together. Really, you’re just minutes away from this deliciousness!!
Chocolate cake pairs amazingly well with so many frostings, but this peanut butter buttercream is definitely in my top three. For me, it’s a three-way tie between Chocolate & Peanut Butter, Chocolate & Mint, and Chocolate & Coconut. I could never pick a favorite, but I highly recommend making each combo as often as possible (for comparison & research purposes of course!)
Okay, let’s get back to the star of our post. There are countless reasons to love this recipe. This peanut butter frosting is perfectly peanut buttery, has a delightfully silky texture, and if you are a fan of the Viva Paper Towel Method of smoothing, it smooths exceptionally well.
There’s no better match for peanut butter frosting than a delicious chocolate cake, is there? You have the sweet and salty flavors from the peanut butter buttercream, and the rich decadence of the chocolate cake. Perfection!
I absolutely love peanut butter buttercream swirled high onto cupcakes, sandwiched in between layers of rich chocolate cake, or injected into the centers of chocolate cupcakes to make them even more irresistible.
You can frost entire cakes with this recipe also, as we did in our AMAZING Peanut Butter Cake Recipe!
(To inject into cupcakes as a filling, simply load a disposable piping bag with peanut butter frosting, snip away the tip, and insert right into the center of the unfrosted cupcake.)
For a little variation (especially when using this as a filling for a chocolate layer cake) I love to stir in mini chocolate chips!
I will warn you that this frosting is HIGHLY addictive…and you may have to hide the bowl immediately after mixing up a batch.
The frosting is a lighter consistency than straight peanut butter, so you can easily get carried away with sampling. Haha! I know that I always do. Make it once and it’ll be your go-to peanut butter buttercream frosting for life! YUM.
*One important thing to remember when choosing your Peanut Butter is that “natural” peanut butter does not work as well with this recipe. You can still use it if you must, but the consistency is not going to be as smooth and creamy. I recommend peanut butter brands like JIF, Peter Pan, etc.
Looking for the BEST chocolate cake or cupcake recipe? Make sure to save these tried and true favorites! We love our Scratch Classic Chocolate Cake recipe, our Scratch Chocolate Cupcake recipe, as well as our doctored cake mix recipes for Chocolate Sour Cream Cake and Chocolate (Doctored) Cake.
Enjoy!
**In October 2017, we revamped this Peanut Butter Buttercream recipe to create a lighter, more spreadable consistency. We have fallen in love with this new version, but if you’d like the Original Peanut Butter Buttercream which has been on our site for years, you can find it here!: Original Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting Recipe
Peanut Butter Buttercream
Ingredients
Directions
Here is the cake version of our peanut butter cupcakes pictured above! Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cake is ALWAYS a crowd pleaser!
If you like Peanut Butter recipes, you MUST try our amazing Peanut Butter Cake recipe! Moist and flavorful peanut butter cake layers with this amazing peanut butter frosting (and ganache drip). It’s one of our favorites!: Peanut Butter Cake Recipe
Don’t miss our full roundup of our popular cake and frosting recipes in our Recipes Section! Also, if you love simple and creative cake decorating ideas, check out our Free Cake Tutorials Section!
Finally, if you are interested in learning even more cake decorating techniques, you should consider becoming a member of My Cake School! Members have full access to our entire collection of cake decorating video tutorials! For more information, check out our Join Page! We’d love to have you!
Peanut Butter Buttercream (Printable version is above)
2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 cup (255g) creamy peanut butter ( do not use natural or reduced fat or it will not have the right consistency for spreading)
4 cups (460g) powdered sugar
1/4 cup (60g) milk plus 2 Tablespoon – more if needed to reach the consistency you like
2 teaspoon (8g) vanilla extract
In the bowl of your mixer add the butter and mix on medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth. Add the peanut butter and mix until blended.
Gradually add the powdered sugar alternately with the milk. Add vanilla. Mix on medium speed 4 to 5 minutes until smooth.
Someone should turn you in to the police. Because this is so good it should be ILLEGAL! Oh my gosh. What a great filling for chocolate cake. It’s amazing. Thanks so much for sharing!!!!
Thanks Kia—I know–I LOVVVVE pb buttercream!!! :0)
I made this today! It was so good I could just eat it with a spoon!!!!
Will this frosting crust or keep it’s shape on cupcakes?
Hi Suzan–it does crust over slightly. You should be able to smooth it with a Viva paper towel or roller. You can use it for swirls with no trouble.
Sorry, but does the T stand for tablespoon, or…?
I’m just new here :)
Hello-Yes, I’m sorry that we didn’t spell that out. T is tablespoon, and t is teaspoon. :0)
So good! HOw long will this last in frig? Just made a batch, and need to do a cake in 2 weeks? Love this website!!!!!
Hi Lizzy, it will be good in the refrigerator for 2 weeks as long as the perishable ingredients (milk, butter) don’t reach their expiration date. If that is a worry, you can freeze then bring to room temperature when you are ready to use and stir.
Made this frosting and it is DELICIOUS! After filling and crumb coating a 2-layer chocolate cake, I worried I might have to skimp on the frosting in order to cover my cake. So…I quickly made another batch and generously frosted my cake and still had a good bit of it left over. Getting ready to make some brownies and top with this peanut-buttery goodness! The cake was for a customer but the brownies will be for us to enjoy. YUM!! I’d suggest making a double batch if you plan to frost and decorate a cake with it. It crusted nicely and I was able to smooth with the Viva method. Also worked well for piping borders.
Karen–thanks so much for the feedback! So glad that you liked it–I love it too! I’ve never frosted the outside of a cake with pb buttercream (I always use as a filling or maybe just the top of a cake) and so it is great to hear your tips!
I recently made this…I am in love!! This is my new favourite filling. Thank you so much for the very simple, yet unbelievably yummy recipe!
Do you use a stiff buttercream dam when using this PB buttercream as filling? If so, do you use a stiff plain buttercream or do you make some of the PB buttercream stiff to use as a dam? Would this filling stay inside the cake and not ooze out from underneath the fondant?
Yes, we do use a dam with this and you can stiffen up the PB buttercream or use stiff plain buttercream. Yes, it would be fine as a filling if covering your cake with fondant. Just treat this as you would your other buttercreams…….if you usually don’t make a dam for your fillings it would be fine not to use one with this…..personal preference. Hope this helps.
In the past I’ve used my own PB buttercream (I adapted from a regular buttercream, no exact recipe)and got bumps and lumps under the fondant. I pricked the fondant with a pin, already in the cake, and worked it thinking it was an air bubble but oil came out. It tasted like peanut oil. I stopped filling my chocolate cakes with that and stopped offering it to my friends as a flavor option on big cakes. Everyone loved eating that cake and I called it my Reese’s Cup Cake. (from Bake Me Joy)
I made this for the first time at the weekend, but im not sure it came out right? Although it tasted good, the texture didnt seem right. It didnt seem very smooth in the mixing bowl, and the peanut butter and butter didnt really seem to fluff much in the beginning; it was quite runny, and when i added the sugar, it looked really grainy and dry (even though it wasnt to the touch). The final outcome looked alomost as if it was curdled, if that makes sense? I wish i had taken a picture now to try and explain it better. I’m not sure what I did wrong? I did try to convert the recipe to grams, perhaps I shouldnt have? But im not used to working with american measurements (cups etc) as Im in the uk. Any advice?
Did you use a Creamy peanut butter? You will not have the same result if you use a peanut butter with Natural on the label. We usually use Jif or Peter Pan. It does have a different look in texture from buttercream…..just not sure without seeing yours. I’ll add gram weight to the recipe for you.
I made this today and it is truly wonderful! I filled chocolate cupcakes with it and put it in my pastry bag along side chocolate buttercream for a soft serve yogurt swirl effect. Then topped off with half of a reeses peanut butter cup. Holy Moly!! I want to try these two buttercreams together like on the exterior of a 6″ 3-4 layer cake where you “stripe” them horizontally and then use a spatula to smooth them around and together while the cake is on a wheel…like a watercolor effect…we shall see..:-)
Melissa, I made this for filling a chocolate cake this week, adding mini chocolate chips, and it was fantastic! Everyone said it was the best chocolate peanut butter cake they’d ever had. It was delicious! Thank you so much for the recipes!
Thank you Desiree & Paula M!!! This is one of my favorites too! Completely addictive ;0)
Hi, What brand of peanut butter do you usually use in this recipe?
Hi Anny–I guess that JIF is what I usually go with! That’s the brand of PB I normally buy anyway ;0)
Hello!
I have a very big cake coming up, and the client requested a chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream filling. The catch is that they want it decorated as a green brontosaurus, which means that I need to cover it with vanilla buttercream. Is that way too many flavors in one bite? Any opinions would be hugely appreciated!!
Hi Kate–No, I think that will be fine! I’ve done many cakes with this same combination. ;0)
Hi Melissa, I am planning on making the PB buttercream within the next week. This may be a silly question, but, what type of milk are you using? We drink skim and 1%. Should I be using something else? Thank you
Hi Anne, We use whole milk and 2% when we make this……I think it would still be fine using 1% . The peanut butter buttercream does not become as smooth as typical buttercream. We most often use it as a filling or to frost the top of a cake with chocolate frosting being on the outside of the cake. Be sure to use a Creamy peanut butter, we usually use Jif brand.
Hope you like it.
Hi. Just wondering if you have a hazelnut filling recipe. For some reason I cannot find one. Thx :)
I’m sorry, we do not have one
Hi Nadeen, I would just replace the peanut butter in this recipe with Nutella and follow the same directions for the peanut butter buttercream to make the hazelnut flavor buttercream. Hope this helps.
Melissa this really is to die for! I’m new to the site and just now trying your recipes. I also made the Chocolate Buttercream and it is the best I’ve ever had. Thank you for sharing!!
What is Viva/viva method?
Hi Shona, Viva is the brand name for a paper towel that is very smooth without impressions. It is used to give a smooth look to buttercream.
Here is a link to a video showing Melissa using the Viva towel method, link to mycakeschool.com
Looking forward to making this. I usually use Jif or Skippy Natural PB. Do you think this would change the recipe outcome at all? Peanuts, sugar, palm oil and salt. That’s it.
Hi, The Natural peanut butter will not work as well. Use the standard peanut butter, it usually says Creamy on the container. We most often use Jif brand.
Has anyone made the this recipe, wrapping the cake in modeling chocolate? What do you think? Would it be just too much or…..mmmmm perfect combination.
Thank you.
Never tried it, but sounds perfect to me ;0)
Hi Melissa, I made this last night and it was delicious, but very thick and dense. I’d love to make it fluffier for my chocolate cake,t hat I will wrap with chocolate. Can I use whipping cream of heavy cream to make it a fluffier filling? If so, can you suggest how I would do this? Thanks.
I figured it out and made the PB buttercream substituting whipping cream for the 3 Tbsp of milk- it is heavenly and will be perfect for my cake. I was afraid that the thickness do the other recipe would make my chocolate wrapped cake too rich like a PB cup. Also, I do think that it may have been thicker the 1st time because I used Jif Natural PB. So I switched to regular Jif PB instead. Since I just made 2 changes at the same time not sure, but I do think it had something to do with it. Yummy.
Hi “paintmycake”! I’m so sorry that I did not get back to your question in time– it was on my list and somehow I missed it. So glad that you were happy with the consistency with the whipping cream added (and the different brand of pb) — I bet that it was the whipping cream that had the most to do with the consistency change. You are making me crave pb buttercream now! haha ;0) –Thanks for the update!
I have a customer who wants peanut butter buttercream vertical ruffles and rosettes. Do you think this recipe will hold up as ruffles/roses? I am afraid of ruffles keeling over and rosettes falling or sliding…help!
Hi Paula– I actually just made some peanut butter buttercream & experimented with piping the vertical ruffles on the side of a glass. Seems to hold it’s shape just fine! :0) Good luck, let us know how it goes!
I love this recipe and have received rave reviews on it. I think next I will make brownies, then layer this peanut butter buttercream over the brownies, then layer with ganache for the final layer…maybe some crushed peanut butter cups on top of the peanut butter buttercream..or on top of the ganache. Oh man, I need a glass of milk just thinking about it!
I need a glass of milk too!! Sounds SO good! Love anything pb & chocolate.
Super idea !! Is the confectionary sugar just regular white sugar ?
Thank you xxx
I have left over fluffy vanilla buttercream and am wondering if I could mix peanut butter into that versus making a whole new batch of pb buttercream?
Hi Barbara, Confectioners’ sugar is also known as powdered sugar in the US. In some countries it is called icing sugar. Regular white sugar is granulated sugar.
Hi Kim, We have not tried that but it might work. I would experiment by taking out about 1 cup of the Fluffy and mixing in peanut butter to see if when the taste is what you want, the consistency will be good for spreading and piping…
Thanks f the recipe, can y send me eggless red velvet cake…., please…. I need this as soon as possible. ?.
Hi All.. I have a question about this pb frosting recipe. Will it be stable enough and crust enough to use under fondant? I am making a carved chocolate cake and customer is requesting peanut butter (either ganache, if there is such a thing, or pb frosting) and the cake needs to be covered in white fondant. Will this recipe work for this? Any help would be greatly appreciated! :)
Hi Denise, It does have a light crust. We have not used it under fondant, but I think it would work….chilling the cake before you lay on the fondant. I’m sorry that we don’t have a peanut butter ganache, that does sound delicious.
Thank you BeBe! :)
Since this recipe does not contain shortening, should it be refrigerated prior to transportING in a car?
Hi Jenny, It is not necessary , but whenever possible it is a good idea to refrigerate this and other cakes that are going to be transported.
Will the cake need to be refrigerated using this filling or as frosting for cupcakes?
Hi kakelover, You will not need to refrigerate the peanut butter frosting. We think all butter creams are best when eaten by the third day when they are not refrigerated.
Great for whoopie pie filling too!
Hi Melissa, in the recipe, it only states” 256 grans” of peanut butter…Is that close to 1 cup? Thanks+ : )
Hi Terri! Thanks for pointing that out, I’ve made this correction! I actually just copied and pasted the recipe from an older format last night and must have accidentally cut off that 1c. in the process. I hope you’ll try this recipe- we love it! ;0)
OMG! Thanks for answering so quickly Melissa! I asked you a question yesterday as well, and you got right back to me! I have to post my picture of the cake on the site! But yes, I now am going to make cupcakes with this peanut butter buttercream also for the Superbowl! Go Panthers!!!! Again, thanks for getting back so quickly!!!!!! Love you guys!!!!!
Hi everyone! I made this frosting as a filling for cupcakes 2 days ago and I have got to tell you…IT IS AWESOME!! EVERYONE loved the cupcakes! THAT frosting is everything! I received phone calls from a few friends yesterday asking if I had extras. So I had a small sugar reunion at my house yesterday!! Thanks Melissa and BeBe!!! You guys rock…all day every day!!!!!!
Hi Terri!!! I’m so glad that you loved the recipe! Too funny that you had a little cupcake reunion yesterday, lol! ;0) xoxo
Hi I wondering why the cupcake is little dry ? I don’t know why need help please thank you
Hi Lori- What chocolate cake recipe are you using? If it’s one of ours, it could be from over-baking. If it’s not one of ours, here are my two favorite chocolate cake recipes. The first is a scratch recipe, the second is a doctored mix. Both are very moist! Hope this helps :0)
Scratch Recipe:
link to mycakeschool.com
Doctored Mix:
link to mycakeschool.com
I’ve never made any icing from scratch before but, I saw all of the wonderful comments and thought I have to try this. So I had to, of course, make brownies to try it on first. It is AMAZING!!!! I will be making/using this for all of my chocolate-peanut butter dessert combos. Thank you so much for such an easy, wonderful, absolutely delicious recipe! My family loves it!!
@Sherry– Yay! I’m so happy to hear it!! Thanks so much for your feedback xoxo
I don’t have jif or peterpan here, is it okay to use skippy peanut butter instead? i would live to try this soon!! thanks for sharing!
*love
I think you could use Skippy. Do not choose one that says Natural or Reduced Fat. It should have full fat content.
Yes! Peanut butter frosting goes really well with chocolate cupcakes n so is orangey frosting.
Hi there…
I have someone requesting a banana cake (i will be using your recipe) with pb buttercream filling and iced same with a chocolate drip…
My question is…can i ice the cake with this pb recipe…will it smooth well???
Any and all advice is appreciated ☺
Thank you
Hi Sandi, I haven’t tried frosting a cake with this frosting for a smooth finish, but I think that it should be fine! You can always additional milk if it is too thick. Just make sure to use creamy peanut butter…the “natural” version doesn’t come together as nicely.
This frosting sounds heavenly!! I have excess heavy whipping cream from a chocolate ganache recipe that I need to use up, so I was thinking of substituting it for the milk in this recipe. Do you think this would be ok or would it change the consistency of the frosting so that it would no longer hold a shape when piped? Also, would this be an equal amounts substitution or should I use slightly less/more cream than milk? Thanks!
Hi MBM, I think you will still need 3 Tablespoon when using heavy cream. The frosting will not crust quite as much as when using milk, but it should still be fine for piping. Begin with 2 Tablespoons and depending on the consistency you like for piping, you can add a bit more. Make sure you are using the right type of peanut butter. The recipe will not work with reduced fat or natural peanut butter. We have used the brands Jif and Peter Pan creamy.
Thank you for getting back to me. Good to know that I can use the heavy cream in lieu of the milk, this way I feel like I’m getting the most out of the ingredients. I will absolutely start with 2 tablespoons and go from there. I had just planned on using the peanut butter that I use for everything else (Peter Pan creamy), so good to know that will work too.