If I had to choose one food to eat for the rest of my life, it would be peanut butter. No big surprise. I currently have five (yes 5) open jars of peanut butter in my pantry.
When my friend gave me this recipe for Vegan Peanut Butter Frosting I just about died. I usually like straight up peanut butter, no funny business. But this. This frosting is amazing. Even my husband can’t stay away from it when I make it, and he’s not really a peanut butter guy {which at first I thought was his only flaw. However, his dislike for my favorite food means I don’t have to hide it in the back of the pantry share…so it’s just another one of the many reasons he’s perfect for this lady right here}.
Speaking of my husband (it is almost Valentine’s Day, and I do love him like crazy)…we moved into a brand new house this summer, but we opted for an unfinished basement. “I can finish it myself,” he said. “We will save money,” he said. Since he can literally do anything, he was correct on both accounts. We’re about 1 week away from the end and even though he has worked lightening fast, I’m so ready for it to be finished. The poor guy has been burning the candle at both ends. Dude needs a break.
Back to this Vegan Peanut Butter Frosting. It is dairy-free, and if you make your own powdered sugar (recipe here) it can be refined-sugar free too! It’s made with a few ingredients that you probably already have on hand and comes together crazy fast!
Vegan Peanut Butter Frosting: A few notes/substitutions
Method: Seriously this recipe is SO easy! The only trick is to be sure that the coconut oil is room temperature or slightly melted, if it is hard then it will not mix well into the peanut butter and you will be left with chunks of coconut oil in your frosting!
Peanut Butter: I use a firm peanut butter for this recipe, like a natural peanut butter that is no stir or even sometimes Jiff. If you use a super liquidy peanut butter you may need to add more powdered sugar to get it to firm up, or use less almond milk.
Almond milk: Feel free to substitute coconut milk or any other non-dairy milk. I have even used non-dairy creamers with fantastic results!
Salt: I love the sweet/salty flavor of this frosting! You can always add a little at a time and adjust it according to your taste. If you’re using a salty variety of peanut butter you many need to add less.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup peanut butter
- ½ cup coconut oil
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup almond milk
Instructions
- Bring coconut oil to room temperature so it is softened or slightly melted.
- Add coconut oil and peanut butter to the bowl of your standing mixer and beat on medium speed until well combined, scraping down the sides a few times to be sure there are no chunks of coconut oil left.
- Add vanilla and beat until combined.
- Add powdered sugar and salt. Beat on medium/high speed until well combined, scraping sides to ensure it’s mixed evenly.
- Add almond milk and beat until light and fluffy. Serve on top of your favorite bars or brownies…or eat with a spoon!
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature (if you will be eating that day) or in the refrigerator. Just take it out and let it come to room temperature before serving.
Notes
This makes A TON of frosting. I halve this recipe for an 8x8” pan of brownies or if I’m making it just for my family.
Vegan Peanut Butter Frosting: Serving Suggestions
I have a plethora of recipes that are the perfect vehicle for this delicious frosting! Check them out! {Note: the brownies in these pictures are the first ones listed below}!
Black Bean Brownies {gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar free}!
Vegan Peanut Butter Black Bean Brownies {Vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar free}!
Flourless Paleo Brownies {gluten-free, refined sugar free, dairy-free}!
Greek Yogurt Brownies {gluten-free, refined sugar free}!
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies {gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar free}!
Healthy Peanut Butter Blondies {gluten-free, vegan, refined sugar free}!
Question: How do you feel about peanut butter? Love it or leave it?
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This looks wonderful! I’m not a big fan of buttercream (too much dairy and it kind of just tastes like eating butter to me), so I’m always looking for alternatives. I’ve already got all the ingredients for this…now I just have to make something to put it on!
CakePants recently posted…Poppy Seed Blood Orange Bars
I couldn’t agree more! I LOVE frosting but most of it is just butter and shortening and it wreaks havoc on my digestive system! Please let me know if you give it a try! Try out my recipe for black bean brownies…the combination won’t disappoint! 😉
Yum! This looks tasty! While nursing my son I couldn’t have soy or dairy, so this would have been a Godsend! THanks for sharing!
Thanks Morgan! I completely understand the limitations of nursing! 😉 Thanks for stopping by!
The pictures look delicious! It makes me want some now!!! Thanks for linking up with us! Please come back next week! #BloggersSpotlight
Thanks so much Carrie! 🙂
this frosting is the bee’s knees.
What! This looks so amazing! And to think you even topped the brownie with it! Drooling over here lol It looks like you have so many delicious recipes I am going to have to check out. A friend of mine, and fellow blogger, are hosting a Monday link up if you are interested. I can’t wait to read your future posts.
Best,
Tori
Oh yum, definitely going to try this! So glad I saw this post on the link up! I make banana bread muffins with peanut butter frosting but this will make them muuuch healthier!
That sounds like an amazing combo! Let me know if you give it a try! 🙂
This frosting sounds great! I always want to take brownies with PB frosting to potlucks and dessert parties but I am always worried that it may not enjoyed by everyone. The fact that this is vegan makes it a great alternative! Thanks for sharing at Inspiration Thursday!
How could someone not enjoy the chocolate peanut butter combo? They’d have to be crazy! 😉 Thanks for stopping by!
Peanut butter frosting? YES PLEASE! I’d put this on EVERYTHING!
LOL Bethany! I DO put it on everything! Brownies, cookies, animal crackers, a spoon directly into my mouth. I almost always have some of this on hand in the fridge! 🙂
I made this tonight to frost a diary free chocolate cake. It is amazing!! However, does this frosting freeze well? I don’t want an entire cake in the fridge all week haha! Thank you!
Hey Hannah! I’m so {SO} glad you love it!!! I honestly am not sure about freezing the frosting! I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t freeze well…but then again it never lasts long enough in my house to be frozen! If you tried freezing it let me know how it went pretty please!
It freezes fine! I just set out a slice to come to room temperature before eating!
Do you think I can sub coconut milk for the almond milk? It’s what I have on hand.
Hey Tricia! I have not tried using any other milk besides Almond…it will definitely have more of a coconutty taste…however I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! Maybe try adding it slowly (1 TBS at a time) to ensure the perfect consistency!
I made this tonight and while it tastes good, it is very runny – before I even added the almond milk, which I omitted. I tried adding more powdered sugar but it didn’t help. I have it sitting in the fridge hoping it will thicken up a bit. Any idea why it would turn out so soft? Definitely couldn’t get it to pretty like you did in the cup.
Hey Stefanie!! I am SO sorry that this happened! It’s always such a disappointment when a recipe doesn’t turn out the way it is supposed to! A few questions to help troubleshoot….1) What kind of peanut butter did you use? 2) Did you make sure to let the peanut butter and coconut oil mixture cool completely before adding the powdered sugar? 3) Did you use coconut oil (I know, silly question, but I have actually used coconut milk on accident when I should’ve used coconut oil before)! Let’s start there and see! This stuff absolutely hardness in the fridge because of the coconut oil…so that might help get it to firm up.
I used Natural Jif, I did let it cool and I did use coconut oil. I put them decorated in the fridge and it did firm up nicely, I just couldn’t get the icing to look as pretty as I wanted. 🙂 Tasted great though. Put the icing on top of dairy/gluten free chocolate cupcakes so my daughter could have a dessert at a party last night and I barely was able to grab one for her before they were gone!
I had the same problem with the Natural Jif. I think it’s the peanut butter, it needs to be a more natural peanut butter with less or nothing added to it. I was able to thicken it with extra powdered sugar though, and it was delicious regardless!
I’m sorry that this recipe can be a bit temperamental! I’ve used lots of different peanut butters with success….it is important to make sure your peanut butter/coconut oil mixture is at room temperature!
Are you supposed to use natural peanut butter for this recipe? Or a firmer non natural version like skippy?
Either one works! You may need to adjust the amount of powdered sugar to get it to firm up if your peanut butter is super runny!
Yummy! Was concerned the coconut oil flavour may come through ’cause my husband doesn’t like it. It didn’t!
Alterations: I used 3/4 of the sugar amount and used water instead of almond milk. Also added a bit more salt to resemble more the flavour of a Brazilian candy called “passoca”. It was a success!
Hey Veronica! Yes my hubby is crazy about things tasting like coconut too and he loves this stuff! 🙂