Perfect Peanut Butter Icing

Perfect Peanut Butter Icing
When I was a kid, I used to love going to our high school basketball games.  I loved watching the game, seeing my friends . . . and, I probably shouldn’t admit this, but one of the things I looked forward to most was Mrs. Zitterbart’s peanut butter pie.
Mrs. Zitterbart is a sweet, amazing woman who also happens to be a phenomenal cook.  And, if I was lucky, I would come to games on the night that she volunteered to make dessert for the concession stand.  Her peanut butter pie was amazing . . . light and fluffy, with just a kiss of peanut butter.  Even as a kid, I desperately wanted to know how to make it.  She chuckled the first time I, a weird little kid, asked for the recipe.  But eventually she realized I really did want to try to make it, and so she wrote out the recipe for me.
I still have her handwritten recipe in my recipe file. I smile every time I remember her kindness and mentally thank her for helping out a child, and listening to me, rather than ignoring me.  Because, no matter what people say, kids really do remember.
So thanks, Mrs. Z.  I used your recipe as the brain child for some killer peanut butter icing.  And I dedicate this recipe to you– a person as sweet as her signature pie.
What are we waiting for?  Let’s do this!


Perfect Peanut Butter Icing

(adapted from Mrs. Zitterbart 🙂



Ingredients:


1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 8 oz. container of Cool Whip, thawed

Directions:

Cream cream cheese and peanut butter on medium high speed until light and fluffy.  Add in powdered sugar and slowly mix until combined.  Add in cool whip and slowly mix until light and fluffy.  Chill until ready to use.

Now, in pictures! 🙂

This icing is so simple and so delicious.  If it were a girl, you’d ask for its number– that’s how beautiful and amazing it is.
To start with, cream your cream cheese and peanut butter, together, on medium high speed until they combine and get nice and fluffy.
Add in your powdered sugar and start the mixer on the lowest setting.  If you start out at high speed when you’re dealing with powdered sugar, you may find yourself experiencing your very own inside blizzard.  Once the sugar has mixed in a little bit, turn up the speed and cream the sugar and peanut butter mixture together.  Mmmmm . . . looking smooth, baby.
Place your cool whip into the bowl.  Ideally, your “frozen” whipped topping should sit in the fridge, overnight, so it’s nice and thawed.  Don’t try to microwave it if you forgot to thaw it.  (*Shakes head in shame and pretends she has never done this . . .)
On the lowest mixer speed, start to blend in your whipped topping.  Once everything is fairly mixed, turn up your speed a little bit and whip everything together.
Chocolate Cupcakes with Perfect Peanut Butter Icing
(Whispers . . .) Can you believe that’s it?  Yep.  The best things really do come in small packages.
This peanut butter icing goes amazingly well with chocolate cupcakes.  You can fill the cupcakes with some extra peanut butter filling, if you like.  If you want to know how to make cupcakes with filling in the center, check out our Coconut Cream Cupcake tutorial here.
Chocolate Cupcakes with Perfect Peanut Butter Icing
Garnish with some chocolate curls and refrigerate until ready to serve.  For once, you can take it as a compliment when people say that you’re nuts.
Because you did it.  And I’m just so proud of you.

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5 Comments

  1. Patricia Haynes

    Can you make this without the cream cheese? I’m wanting it for a filling not a thick frosting. I make a filling with butter powdered sugar and cool whip can I just add the peanut butter?

    1. Emilie (Post author)

      Hmmm. I’m not sure. I’ve never tried that. I think just whipped cream, powdered sugar and cool whip with added peanut butter would make kind of a peanut butter flavored whipped cream. I’m not sure how it would hold up in a cake– it might bleed a bit into the layers. Experiment a bit and let me know what you find 🙂

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  3. Diane

    What size container of Cool Whip?

    1. Emilie (Post author)

      It is a standard, 8 oz. container of Cool Whip. Thanks for pointing out that I hadn’t mentioned size– I will go back and update the recipe. Thanks 🙂

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