The BEST Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting for Piping & Decorating

Smooth, creamy, and pipeable peanut butter buttercream frosting is your next go-to for topping sugar cookies. This peanut butter frosting tastes amazingly good.

It’s so good, you might just end up eating the spoon of frosting before getting it into a piping bag.

What makes this peanut butter frosting different than others is that it uses peanut butter powder. This is the secret to putting flavor into the frosting without overdoing the sugar or changing the consistency.

Using sugary peanut butter can make a sweet buttercream too sweet. Using a natural peanut butter frosting usually changes the consistency, as it can break from being too oily.

So, our perfect fix is to use powdered peanut butter. Follow along for the recipe & tips for the best peanut butter buttercream frosting.

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What is Peanut Butter Powder?

Since our flavoring ingredient for our peanut butter frosting is peanut butter powder, let’s go over what that is exactly.

Peanut butter powder is ground up peanuts, just like normal peanut butter, but in the powdered form, all of the oil is pressed out. This results in a powder rather than a spread.

Because the oil is pressed out of peanut butter, the peanut butter powder contains less fat. Of course, we are making powdered peanut butter frosting, so there will be plenty of fat for flavor!

What Makes This Frosting the Best Peanut Butter Buttercream for Piping?

This is seriously the best peanut butter icing for piping because of the texture, and, of course, the taste.

The reason we use powdered peanut butter to make our frosting is because we don’t want to add even more fat/oil to the recipe. This will result in a greasy buttercream and has a higher chance of separating or breaking.

Adding powdered peanut butter to the icing also helps retain the consistency. Since the oil is pressed out, the resulting powder will not add extra liquid. This is important when it comes to piping peanut butter icing.

Lastly, the powdered peanut butter helps add extra stability to the frosting. This recipe is already a crusting buttercream, but adding in powdered peanut butter versus traditional spread will keep that frosting nice and “crusting.”

Powdered Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting Recipe

For this amazing peanut butter buttercream frosting, we will start with the buttercream basics: butter, powdered sugar, and milk.

I typically use unsalted butter for my buttercream frosting recipes; however, this peanut butter frosting tastes best with salted butter.

Peanut butter spread typically contains salt, whereas the powdered peanut butter we are using in this recipe does not contain salt. So, we want to add salt into our frosting.

To make peanut butter frosting, we will add in vanilla extract and Naked PB Powder. You can also use PB2 powder or any other powdered peanut butter. I do prefer the Naked PB Powder as it doesn’t have preservatives, additives, or sugar.

First, sift together four cups of powdered sugar with 1/4 cup of Naked PB Powder into a medium sized mixing bowl.

Then, cream one cup of room temperature salted butter in your stand mixer with the paddle attachment.

Next, add in the mixture of powdered sugar and peanut butter powder into the mixer. I like to use my rubber spatula to mix the powered sugar into the butter a bit before turning on the mixer to avoid a mess. Also, throwing a clean towel over the top of the mixer helps, too.

Mix the powered sugar in a bit – it may still be lumpy. Add in one tablespoon of vanilla extract and two to four tablespoons of milk. Turn the mixer on until combined.

At this point, you want to assess both the consistency and flavor of your buttercream. Take a small sample and see how thick it is. It’s funny, I most often go for creamy peanut butter consistency for piping.

So, aim for that consistency when piping onto cookies or cakes. If you prefer a different consistency, add either more powdered sugar or milk, depending on if you want it thicker or thinner.

If there isn’t enough peanut butter taste, add more, a tablespoon at a time.

Once all of the liquids have been added, use the mixer to mix on low until smooth. It should not take very long to do this. Mixing too long will create air bubbles.

If adding color, go ahead and place the peanut butter buttercream into individual bowls & add in desired shades of gel food coloring.

Do keep in mind that the frosting will be tan in color and contain small specks of peanuts showing through. They should not get in the way of piping unless you are using a small tip like a Wilton #1.

By the way, this powdered peanut butter buttercream would be AMAZING with my chocolate sugar cookies! I’m thinking during the Halloween season! Yum!

The Best Peanut Butter Buttercream for Piping & Decorating

Smooth, creamy, and pipeable peanut butter buttercream frosting is your next go-to for topping sugar cookies. This peanut butter frosting tastes amazingly good.

It's so good, you might just end up eating the spoon of frosting before getting it into a piping bag.

The reason it's perfect for piping is because it uses powdered peanut butter, which will keep the consistency firm & still remain a crusting buttercream.

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: All American Buttercream Frosting, Buttercream Frosting for Cookies, Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting Recipe, Powdered Peanut Butter Frosting

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Mixing Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 cups

Author: Leah Buehler

Equipment

• Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
• Measuring Cups & Spoons
• Rubber Spatula
• Sifter or Mesh Strainer
• Medium Sized Mixing Bowl
• Piping Bags & Piping Tips optional

Ingredients

• 1 cup salted butter room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup Naked PB Powder or similar salt-free powdered peanut butter
• 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2-4 tbsp. whole milk

Instructions

• In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift the powdered sugar and powdered peanut butter together.
• In a stand mixer, cream the butter until all lumps are gone using the paddle attachment.
• Add the powdered sugar/powdered peanut butter mixture into the stand mixer bowl and mix on low until combined. Make sure to cover the stand mixer with a towel or add only a cup or so of the mixture at a time. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl as needed.
• Still mixing on low, add in the vanilla extract and two tablespoons of milk. Mix until creamy. If the consistency is too thick, add in up to two more tablespoons of milk.
• Place the peanut butter buttercream into an icing bag to decorate cookies, cakes, or other treats.

Notes

This is a crusting buttercream recipe meaning that a thin crust will form on the outside of the frosting. You can store this peanut butter buttercream frosting recipe on the counter in an air tight container for several days at room temperature. 

If you are not using the frosting within that time, refrigerate for up to a couple weeks or freeze the frosting for several months. Make sure to store the frosting in air tight containers.

Consider topping my chocolate brownie cut out sugar cookies with this recipe for an amazing flavor combination!

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