Smooth and creamy peanut butter buttercream frosting topped on moist and flavorful chocolate cupcakes.

Creamy Peanut Buttercream Frosting

Traditional buttercream is absolutely delicious but adding creamy peanut butter to the mixture makes this frosting a peanut butter lover’s dream.

It only takes a small tweak to add big flavors of peanut butter to this frosting.

When adding milk to this frosting it’s important not to pour all of the milk in at once. I find that I usually don’t need to add the full amount. If you want the frosting to be pipable you will want this frosting to be on the stiffer side. To pipe cupcakes, a piping bag and a piping tip are needed.

Ingredients in Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

• Unsalted butter, softened
• Shortening
• Vanilla Extract
• Confectioner’s Sugar
• Peanut Butter, creamy
• Milk – to use as needed to make creamy and pipable

RELATED: Vanilla Cinnamon Sugar Swirl Cupcakes

Moist and Rich Chocolate Cupcakes

These chocolate cupcakes pair perfectly with this frosting and the addition of chopped peanut butter cups throws the flavors of chocolate and peanut butter over the top.

These cupcakes are a favorite of mine to make. They’re perfect to make for birthdays and for parties.

They are light, moist, and rich in flavor. Adding instant coffee really bumps up the chocolate flavor and the use of buttermilk makes these cupcakes light and velvety.

If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, it’s easy to make a substitute! An easy and effective substitute is to use milk (in this case 1/4 cup) and add 1 tsp of lemon juice to the milk.

After letting the milk sit for 5 minutes, then it is added to the other ingredients before baking.

This rich and chocolatey cupcake recipe is the perfect match for this peanut butter buttercream frosting.

RELATED: Butterscotch Cupcakes

Ingredients in Chocolate Cupcakes

• All Purpose flour – spooned & leveled
• Cocoa Powder – unsweetened
• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Salt
• Eggs
• Granulated sugar
• Brown sugar
• Vegetable oil – helps make the chocolate cupcakes moist
• Vanilla Extract
• Buttermilk – creates lift and moistness in the chocolate cupcakes
• Instant Coffee – to increase the chocolate flavor
• Water

How To Make Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

It’s quite easy to make these cupcakes and the trick to preparing the cupcake batter is not overmix the ingredients.

In a large bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a different bowl, beat together room temperature eggs, sugar, brown sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients slowly, careful not to overmix.

Combine the hot water with the instant coffee and stir to dissolve. Add the coffee to the ingredients and stir to combine.

Add in the buttermilk until combined.

TIP: A great substitute for buttermilk is to add 1 tsp of lemon juice to 1/4 cup of regular milk.  Allow the milk to sit for about 5 minutes before adding it to the other ingredients. 

Fill the cupcakes 3/4 of the way full and bake in the preheated oven. Check with a toothpick for doneness – the center will come out clean when the chocolate cupcakes are done baking. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

When making the peanut butter buttercream frosting, it is incredibly simple!

Start with softened butter and beat the shortening in until nice and creamy.

Add in the vanilla and the creamy peanut butter.

Slowly add in the confectioner’s sugar. It will be hard to mix and using a hand mixer or stand mixer is preferred when making this frosting.

Add 1-2 tablespoons of milk at a time and beat until you get the creamy texture you desire.

When frosting cupcakes with this frosting it should not be too thick because it will be hard to pipe. It also should not be too thin as it will not stand firm when piping.