Peanut Butter Icing: What you Need to Know

What Is Peanut Butter Icing?

Peanut butter is a delicious staple in many households. From cookies to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut butter noodles, peanut butter banana bread, or pancakes, peanut butter is something that everyone knows and loves. You can also use peanut butter to make the most delicious peanut butter icing. Our thick, fluffy, and creamy peanut butter frosting is an ideal topping for chocolate cakes or cupcakes or just eating it with a spoon. When the peanut butter icing is paired with a chocolate cupcake or brownie, it tastes just like a heavenly homemade peanut butter cup. Peanut butter icing is perfect since it is not overly sweet and is smooth, making it easy to spread on cupcakes or cake.

What Kind Of Peanut Butter Should You Use?

You can easily interchange creamy peanut butter or crunchy peanut butter in most recipes, depending on your preference. However, when you are making peanut butter frosting, you want to use creamy peanut butter. Otherwise, your frosting will be chunky, won’t spread easily, and may even tear whatever you are trying to spread it on. If you use creamy peanut butter, you will end up with a creamy frosting that is pipable and spreads easily.

Peanut Butter Icing Recipe

Some peanut butter icing recipes out there are oily or overly sweet. Here is a delicious creamy peanut butter icing recipe that we love that actually tastes like peanut butter. It pairs perfectly with chocolate cake or yummy chocolate cupcakes. This particular recipe makes enough icing to ice twenty-four cupcakes or one 9X13 cake. This easy frosting recipe only takes 10 minutes to prep and uses a few staple ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen cupboards.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
½ cup creamy peanut butter, or more, to taste
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt
4 cups confectioners’ or powdered sugar
¼ cup milk, or more as needed

Directions

Beat softened butter in a bowl using an electric mixer, so your hand won’t get tired. Mix until fluffy. Another benefit of using a hand mixer or stand mixer instead of your hand is getting the ideal smooth consistency. Using an electric mixer will whip air into your peanut butter icing so it can be as light and airy as possible.

Add peanut butter, vanilla extract, and salt and beat everything until it is evenly mixed. Slowly add the powdered sugar into the peanut butter mixture and beat it into the mix. Slowly pour in the milk and stir until your desired thickness is reached. Scoop the mixture into a piping bag, and you’re ready to decorate your cake or chocolate cupcakes with the best creamy peanut butter icing you’ve ever tasted.

How Do You Thicken Or Thin Peanut Butter Icing?

Peanut butter icing can vary in thickness, depending on how smooth your peanut butter is. Leaving your peanut butter out on the counter so it stays at room temperature can help your peanut butter be softer and easier to stir. Here are some tips for making it thicker or thinner.

If you need your peanut butter to be thinner, you can add some heavy cream or milk to your icing mixture. To achieve your desired consistency, make sure you gradually add the heavy whipping cream or milk to your peanut butter buttercream frosting while whipping it with a stand mixer or hand mixer until smooth.

You probably won’t need it to be thicker since this frosting recipe is intended to be thicker, but if you want your fluffy peanut butter to be thicker, you have several options.

Refrigerate it. Since the main ingredients are peanut butter and butter, both naturally thicken when they’re chilled. So, you only need to throw your icing mix in the refrigerator for a few hours to reach your desired consistency.
Add more confectioners’ sugar. A few spoonfuls of confectioners’ sugar can quickly thicken your frosting mix. However, be careful not to add too much extra powdered sugar since it can change the flavor from a nutty peanut butter flavor to an overbearingly sweet sugar taste.

The nice thing about this recipe is it is pretty versatile. So, it is entirely up to your personal preferences, how thick or thin your icing is. If you want it to be a little thicker, you can chill your icing or add a bit more powdered sugar. If you’re going to thin out the icing, you can add a bit of extra milk or whipping cream. If you want your icing to have a stronger peanut butter flavor, simply add a bit more peanut butter. Feel free to play around with the recipe a little to achieve your personal icing perfection.

On a side note, the technical difference between icing and frosting is that frosting is typically thick and fluffy. It is used to coat the outside, as well as the inner layers of a cake. On the other hand, icing is usually thinner and glossier than frosting, and it is typically used as a glaze or for decorating. Most people, however, use the terms interchangeably in their recipes. So, if you find that your icing/frosting is a little too thin for your liking, simply thicken the recipe, and you have a sweet, fluffy, and delicious frosting that will go with anything.

Do You Have To Refrigerate Peanut Butter Icing?

Since the peanut butter icing contains some milk, you will need to refrigerate it. If you are using the frosting the same day, you can leave it out on the counter for an hour or two while you frost your desserts. If it is too hot in your house, then the butter and peanut butter can become runny in the heat, making your icing too soft.

If you wish to decorate your sheet cake or cupcakes later, you can refrigerate the icing to use later. Pull it out of the fridge 30 minutes before you want to use it so it can be soft enough to frost your treats.

Is Peanut Butter Icing Gluten Free?

Crazy Richard’s creamy peanut butter only uses one ingredient; peanuts. That means you don’t have to worry about unhealthy additives as you do with big brand companies. Our all-natural peanut butter is non-GMO and has no extra palm oil, salt, hydrogenated oil, or sugar added, so you can rest easy that it’s 100% healthy.

That means that your peanut butter icing is not only gluten free but relatively healthy as well. You can easily make your peanut butter icing keto-friendly by exchanging the confectioners’ sugar for homemade powdered sugar using erythritol or monk fruit sweetener that is low carb and keto-friendly.

If you also want to make this peanut butter icing vegan friendly, you can replace the cow milk with nut milk, like almond milk, as an excellent alternative. Keep in mind that the milk adds creaminess to your icing, so you may need to adjust how much milk you add. You can rest easy knowing that your peanut butter icing is healthy and delicious at the same time.

Be sure to pick up some of Crazy Richard’s all-natural creamy peanut butter today from Walmart or order it from Amazon! With its delicious nutty flavor and smooth creaminess, this healthy one-ingredient peanut butter is an essential item in your kitchen and to put in your heavenly tasting peanut butter icing! Interested in trying other peanut butter recipes? Check out our website for more ideas.