Perfect Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting Recipe

This bakery-style peanut butter buttercream frosting is light and creamy with a delicious melt-in-your-mouth texture. Use it to frost your favorite chocolate cake recipes or fudgy chocolate cupcakes for an explosion of peanut butter flavor. It is hands-down the best!

We've been making this fluffy peanut butter frosting for years and it's one of our most beloved recipes. If you're a peanut butter lover, you'll love it too!

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Where other recipes may be too thick or too sweet, this one is just right. That's all thanks to the special ingredients, which make it ultra creamy and light. 

Of course, peanut butter is a match made in heaven with chocolate, like our Moist and Fudgy Chocolate Cupcakes.

Together, they make the most deliciously light and moist Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes. It's also the star of my Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake!

Equipment Checklist

When it comes to making the best peanut butter frosting, there are a few tools that will elevate your buttercream from basic to bakery-style. The ingredients are key, but you'll want these, too:

Why you'll love this creamy peanut butter buttercream frosting

• Ultra creamy and fluffy - This creamy peanut butter frosting is just right. It starts like my Vanilla Bakery Buttercream, but we'll be adding creamy peanut butter and some heavy cream to balance the texture of the peanut butter and create a light and fluffy frosting.

• Perfectly balanced - This recipe has just the right amount of cream cheese, which gives this frosting a super smooth and creamy texture, but the cream cheese flavor doesn't overpower the peanut butter flavor.  Plus, it's not too sweet, like most American-style buttercream frosting recipes. It's just right!

• Holds its shape -   With the cream cheese and shortening, this buttercream will hold its shape and is strong enough to decorate everything from peanut butter cookies to layer cakes!

Ingredient Breakdown

To get the fluffiest, creamiest homemade peanut butter frosting, you do need a specific set of ingredients including some you may not normally have. These include: 

• Cream Cheese 
• Salted Butter 
• Butter Flavored Shortening
• Powdered Sugar
• Creamy Peanut Butter
• Pure Vanilla Extract
• Heavy Cream
• Instant Clearjel - This is a magical bakery ingredient that takes this homemade frosting over the top!

How to Serve

This easy peanut butter frosting is the perfect complement to chocolate, banana, and more.

In the bakery, we used it specifically to frost our dark chocolate cake and cupcakes, but it's also a key ingredient in our Elvis Cake!

The combination of banana cake, fudgy chocolate ganache, and peanut butter frosting was one of our most beloved bakery cakes.

You could also use it to pipe swirls on our Chocolate Chip Cookies or even our Cinnamon Peanut Butter Cookies for an over-the-top peanut butter experience!

Storage

If serving within 24 hours, feel free to keep your homemade buttercream at room temperature. Otherwise, you'll want to store any leftover frosting in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. 

The texture is best at room temperature though, so you'll want to let it sit on the counter and soften before using again. 

Key Recipe Notes

• I always use salted butter for maximum flavor; leave the unsalted butter behind.
• Although this is technically a peanut butter cream cheese frosting, the cream cheese is there for texture and to help offset the sweetness. It's a subtle undernote instead of a main flavor.

Want to learn more bakery secrets? Come follow along on social media or subscribe to get all of our recipes and tips right in your inbox. Happy Baking!

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📖 Recipe & Step-by-Step Instructions

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Fluffy Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

5 from 19 votes

This melt-in-your-mouth "bakery-style" peanut butter cream cheese frosting from Amycakes Bakery is light, creamy and delicious. Use it to frost your favorite cake or cupcakes.

A 1x batch will make enough frosting to frost and fill one 6" three-layer cake or about 14 cupcakes generously and a 2x batch will frost and fill one 8" three-layer cake or about 28 cupcakes generously.

👩‍🍳 For the most accurate baking results, use the grams measurements with a kitchen scale.

Servings 3 cups

1x2x

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Total Time10 minutes mins

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Equipment

Mixer

kitchen scale

18 inch Disposable Frosting Bag

offset icing spatula

1M Star Tip

Turntable

Ingredients

1x2x

• ▢ 4 ounces Cream Cheese
• ▢ 1 ½ sticks (6 ounces) Salted Butter (at room temperature)
• ▢ 48 grams (¼ cup) butter flavored shortening (you may also use regular or substitute with equal parts butter)
• ▢ 455 grams (3 ½ cups) powdered sugar
• ▢ 128 grams (½ cup) Creamy Peanut Butter
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• ▢ ¼ cup Heavy Cream
• ▢ (optional) 1 Tablespoon Instant Clearjel (You can add this if you would like a thicker, more stabilized frosting. See notes section.)

Instructions

• Whisk the powdered sugar and Instant Clearjel (if using) together until well-blended. Set aside.
• Using a stand mixer (preferred) or handheld mixer and a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until broken up and softened.
• Add the room temperature salted butter and continue to beat until there are no lumps, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Add the shortening and beat and scrape the sides until the mixture is smooth without lumps.
• While the mixer is on low, slowly add the powdered sugar mixture. It will be thick, but continue to beat on low until it is well incorporated.
• Add the peanut butter and pure vanilla and mix on medium speed until well-blended, scraping the sides of the bow as needed. Then while the mixer is on low, pour in the heavy cream.
• Beat the peanut butter buttercream on high for two-three minutes. This will add air into the buttercream and make it light and fluffy.
• This buttercream is best served at room temperature. If you aren't serving it within 24 hours, refrigerate it, but remove it from the fridge a couple of hours before using so that it may come back to room temperature before frosting cakes, cupcakes, or serving.

Notes

Read my article Instant Clearjel: a Magical Little-Known Bakery Ingredient to see why I think this ingredient is worth having in your pantry.  Instant Clearjel must always be whisked thoroughly with other dry ingredients before being added to wet ingredients to avoid clumping.  If you don't have Instant Clearjel you can simply leave it out completely, this frosting is delicious without it and has a light silky texture.  If you need a thicker frosting, you can add a little bit more powdered sugar.

Author: Amy

Calories: 1502kcal

Calories are estimated using a nutrition calculator. This recipe may link to additional recipes, which contain calories that are not included in this recipe.

Tried this recipe?Mention @amycakesbakes or comment below! I'd love to hear from you!

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