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Our Peanut Butter Cup Buttercream Frosting is yummy homemade buttercream frosting chocked full of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup pieces. So delicious! This one is for the true Peanut Butter Cups lover.

Closeup on three chocolate cupcakes frosted with Peanut Butter Cup Buttercream Frosting sitting by a glass bowl filled with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate. Two great tastes that go great together.  So how about Buttercream Frosting and Peanut Butter Frosting? Do we have another classic flavor combination on our hands? You bet!  Our Peanut Butter Cup Buttercream Frosting has just the right amount of peanut butter and chocolate taste in one creamy buttercream frosting.  This one would be great as a filling layer in a cake or as the topping for chocolate cupcakes! If you love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, you are going to love this frosting.

How to Make

Collage image showing how to cream together the butter and the vanilla to make the perfect base for the frosting.

Step 1: Add the butter and the vanilla extract to a mixing bowl. The butter needs to be what we call “slightly softened” which is somewhere between straight out of the refrigerator and room temperature. If the butter is too cold it will be hard to mix with the vanilla.  If it is too soft, it will start melting during the mixing process and your frosting consistency will be off. 
Step 2: Mix the butter and the vanilla together on medium speed until thoroughly combined (about 2 minutes.)  You really want the vanilla to meld with the butter to enhance the flavor of the frosting.
Step 3: Use a spatula to scrape the butter and vanilla mixture down from the sides of the bowl.  

Collage image showing how to add the powdered sugar into the butter/vanilla mixture.

Step 4: Measure 1 Pound of Powdered Sugar on a food scale.  If you don’t have a food scale, the equivalent would be 4 cups. We normally do not sift the powdered sugar and instead rely on the mixer to do that work for us.
Step 5: Add the powdered sugar to the butter/vanilla mixture in the mixing bowl.
Step 6: Two Sisters Tip – cover the mixer with a towel during this part of the mixing process to keep the powdered sugar from flying out of the mixer.
Step 7: Start your mixer (or electric beater) on the lowest setting and keep it on low until the butter and sugar are incorporated (about 30 seconds). Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and then increase the speed to medium-high and mix for another 30-45 seconds so the frosting gets light and fluffy. If the frosting is dry, add 1 teaspoon of milk and mix again. Repeat this process until the frosting is the correct consistency.

Collage image showing how to prepare the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and add them to the frosting.

Step 8: Now get the Peanut Butter Cups ready. We used mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups but regular sized will work too. Give them a rough chop. You will need 1/2 cup of chopped Peanut Butter Cups which for us was 10 mini peanut butter cups. If you are going to use a decorating bag with the frosting, make sure the peanut butter cup pieces are small or they will stick in the decorating tip.
Step 9: Add the Peanut Butter Cup pieces to the frosting.
Step 10: Gently fold the chopped Peanut Butter Cups into the frosting with a spoon and you are done!

How to Serve

Closeup on a decorating bag filled with Peanut Butter Cup Frosting sitting in front of a batch of unfrosted chocolate cupcakes.

How much frosting will you need?  That always depends on how thick or thin you apply the frosting or how much decorating you do but here are a couple of guidelines. Our recipe should make enough Peanut Butter Cup Frosting to cover a 9″ x 13″ sheet cake or a two-layer 8″ cake.  If you are making cupcakes, you should be able to frost 24 cupcakes if you apply the frosting with a knife. If you swirl on the frosting with a pastry bag and a decorating tip you should be able to frost 15-18 cupcakes depending on the size of the swirl.

Expert Tips and FAQ’s

Does the frosting need to be refrigerated?

No, the frosting does not need to be refrigerated. For example, a sheet cake frosted with this frosting would be fine left out on the counter for 2-3 days if the pan was tightly covered with aluminum foil. That said, we usually refrigerate our frosted desserts to keep the baked good from going stale even if the frosting would be fine. We think frosting tastes best at room temperature so we will then remove the item from the refrigerator a couple of hours before we will serve them.

How do I store any leftover frosting?

Frosting stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator should be good for up to a week. If you carefully wrap the frosting in order to avoid freezer burn, the frosting should be fine in the freezer for 3-4 months.

What should I do if my frosting is too sweet?

Buttercream is a sweet frosting and the addition of the Peanut Butter Cups also ups the sweetness level. One thing you can do if it seems too sweet for your palette is to add a pinch of salt to the frosting. But please note that a little salt goes a long way. We cannot stress enough that a pinch (10-15 granules of regular table salt) is all you usually need. Even 1/4 a teaspoon of salt would probably ruin the frosting. Add the salt and mix again and see if that has cut down on the sweetness level.

Closeup on a chocolate cupcakes topped with Peanut Butter Cup Buttercream Frosting surrounded by Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

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Peanut Butter Cup Buttercream FrostingPrint

Peanut Butter Cup Buttercream Frosting

Yield 2 1/2 cups
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Our Peanut Butter Cup Buttercream Frosting is yummy homemade buttercream frosting chocked full of Peanut Butter Cup pieces. So delicious! This one is for the true Peanut Butter Cups lover.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Butter, slightly softened (We use Salted Sweet Cream Butter)
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1 pound Powdered Sugar ( or 4 cups)
  • 1-2 teaspoons Milk
  • 1/2 cup Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (chopped)

Instructions

  1. Add the butter and the vanilla extract to a mixing bowl. The butter needs to be what we call "slightly softened" which is somewhere between straight out of the refrigerator and room temperature. 
  2. Mix the butter and the vanilla together on medium speed until thoroughly combined (about 2 minutes.)  
  3. Use a spatula to scrape the butter and vanilla mixture down from the sides of the bowl.  
  4. Add 1 pound of Powdered Sugar (or 4 cups) to the butter/vanilla mixture in the mixing bowl.
  5. Start your mixer (or electric beater) on the lowest setting and keep it on low until the butter and sugar are incorporated (about 30 seconds). Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and then increase the speed to medium-high and mix for another 30-45 seconds so the frosting gets light and fluffy.
  6. If the frosting is dry, add 1 teaspoon of milk and mix again. Repeat this process until the frosting is the correct consistency.
  7. Chop 1/2 cup of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (which for us was 10 mini peanut butter cups.) If you are going to use a decorating bag with the frosting, make sure the peanut butter cup pieces are small or they will stick in the decorating tip.
  8. Gently fold the chopped Peanut Butter Cups into the frosting with a spoon.

Did you Make this Recipe? Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @twosisterscrafting on Instagram so we can see it!

© Two Sisters Crafting
Cuisine: American / Category: Frosting