Peanut-Buttercream Frosting

Frosting Recipe

For the BBQ on Saturday, I decided to make another batch of the Peanut-Butter Filled Chocolate Cupcakes I made last weekend (I realize it’s only been a week… clearly, I have a problem).

The only difference is that this time I didn’t drop my frosting bowl and get powdered sugar all over the floor.  The result? I was finally able to make the Peanut-Buttercream Frosting that I had wanted to try on the cupcakes.

One word: Delicious.

Now, if you’re not a peanut-butter fan – clearly – you won’t like this frosting.  Everyone else is sure to enjoy on pretty much any type of cupcake (barring Red Velvet, Carrot Cake, or Lemon cake).   You might have to finesse the amount of peanut butter you use depending on how you want to apply the frosting and what consistency you’re looking for (more PB makes a denser frosting).

Interesting Frosting Anecdote: As usual, I was running WAY behind getting ready for the BBQ and -more importantly – the requisite commute to Jersey City (thank GOD my friend Lianne drove). By “running late” I mean I was supposed to arrive at 1:30 and STARTED making the cupcake batter at 12:30, which clearly meant we arrived at 3* (traffic in the tunnel… I swear).  Obviously, this meant I did not have time to cool and frost the cupcakes at home, so I brought my handy frosting knife and my freshly made frosting and did a little “on site frosting demonstration” – margarita in one hand cupcake in the other.

In my somewhat tipsy state, I came up with the phrase “press and swirl” to describe how to adequately frost a cupcake a la Magnolia or Billy’s.  I had a small crowd watching and even had a couple “first timers” try their hand at frosting their own cupcake.  So Fun!  Press and Swirl – remember that. 🙂

*Fortunately they “fake timed us” (the party didn’t start until 3 anyway) so we were fine.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup smooth (not chunky) peanut butter – I used Skippy
• 1 1/4 lb of powdered sugar (1 1/4 boxes – the conversions of this are tricky, it’s going to be around 3 1/2 cups if you pour the sugar into the measuring cup and don’t pack)
• 4-6 tablespoons of milk (depending on desired consistency)
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

What you’ll need to clean up afterward

• 1 Mixing bowl
• 1 wooden spoon (if you’re going hard core… if not, a hand mixer)
• Measuring cup, tablespoon and teaspoon
• *hopefully not* the floor 🙂

Step One: Combine the peanut-butter and powdered sugar and one tablespoon of milk in the mixing bowl.  Using your hands (or mixer, but honestly hands are easier at this point) mash the sugar and peanut-butter together into one large lump (if you feel like there’s too much sugar to combine everything, add a little more peanut butter – 1/8 cup at a time).

Step Two: Start stirring (or mixing on medium speed) and adding milk it one tablespoon at a time.  If, after adding the remaining 3 tablespoons of milk, the frosting is too thick, add additional milk one teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.

Step Three: Apply frosting to your cake, cupcake… or eat with a spoon 🙂

-Eat Hearty!

Tags: buttercream frosting, dessert, frosting, peanut-butter