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Sure you can fill your cake with frosting, but what you should actually do is fill it with Peanut Butter Cake Filling! This is an easy recipe you can use for cakes, cupcakes, or sandwich cookies!
BEST Peanut Butter Filling for Cake
My recipe for peanut butter cake filling will take your tastebuds to PB heaven. After all, the only thing better than peanut butter straight out of the jar is peanut butter sandwiched between four layers of moist yellow cake! Sweet, salty, creamy, and oh-so-peanut-buttery, this filling makes for the perfect addition to countless cakes.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
With only four ingredients, peanut butter cake filling is as simple as it is delicious. What’s not to love?
4 Ingredients Needed
- Peanut butter – creamy, no-stir peanut butter is best.
- Powdered sugar – For sweetness
- Vanilla extract – Always buy pure vanilla
- Heavy whipping cream – No substitutions
How to Make Peanut Butter Cake Filling
- Combine ingredients: Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat together the peanut butter and one cup of powdered sugar. Mix in the second cup of powdered sugar (yes, it’s supposed to be crumbly!).
- Add vanilla and ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream, mixing until smooth, then adding another ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream. Slowly, add the rest of the heavy whipping cream, beating the mixture as you gradually add to it. It should slowly become smoother and thinner as you mix, turning into that perfect frosting texture.
- Frost cake: On a serving plate, set the bottom cake layer. Top this layer with the peanut butter frosting, repeating with as many layers as you have. You can get as creative or as simple as you’d like with this step!
Expert Tip
- While this cake is served best at room temperature, I recommend that you store it in the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature right before you serve it.
- Any brand of peanut butter can be used for this recipe, as long as it isn’t the kind you have to stir.
FAQs
Yes! In fact, using jam between cake layers can help a cake to retain its moisture.
This filling can be made up to one day ahead. It will stay good for four to five days.
You can freeze cake filling made with heavy whipping cream on it’s own, but once the cake is frosted, it’s not recommended that you freeze it. If you choose to freeze the filling, you’ll likely have to whip it up again with a mixer to get it back to the desired consistency.
Peanut Butter Cake Filling Recipe
Ingredients
- Yellow Cake (baked and cooled)
- 1 cup (268g) creamy peanut butter
- 2 cups (226g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (177ml) heavy whipping cream
- Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Instructions
- This recipe is written to fill a four layer cake, so torte your layers (cut each of the 2 layers in half). If you're only filling a 2 layer cake you can cut the recipe in half.
- Beat peanut butter with 1 cup of powdered sugar (using a hand or a stand mixer). Add the second cup of powdered sugar and mix, the mixture will be crumbly. Add vanilla and 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream. Mix until smooth.
- Add another 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream and mix until smooth. Add the rest of the heavy whipping cream a little bit at a time and beat until the mixture becomes a frosting like texture. (You’ll notice a change – it will go from thick like a peanut butter cup to smooth like frosting during that last addition of the cream.)
- Place the bottom cake layer on serving plate. Divide your filling and fill between each layer. Frost cake as desired.
Recipe Notes
- Use any brand peanut butter as long as it’s a no-stir peanut butter.
- Use any flavor cake – chocolate cake would be good too.
- Use any flavor frosting!
- The cake is best served at room temperature but I would store it in the refrigerator if you make it ahead of time, then let it come to room temperature before serving. Can be made up to 1 day ahead.
I hope you get this… I have a silly question. My work is throwing a baby shower this week for one of the staff members. There are a TON of employees and I am worried a round cake won’t serve enough. Any thoughts on how to make a layered sheet cake with this recipe?! I am NOT a wiz in the kitchen so wouldn’t even know where to begin…
I’ve never used this recipe for a 9×13″ pan. You could double this one: https://www.crazyforcrust.com/2013/09/perfect-vanilla-cupcakes/ and make a 9×13 and a few cupcakes. Looking at this website for pan equivalences, http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html, this round cake recipe will not quite fill a 9×13 pan (but you could make it anyway) or you could make one jelly roll pan and have a little extra. If you doubled it and made two jelly roll pan size cakes (with some cupcakes on the side) you could fill it with the filling, etc. Or you can make the 9×13 and torte it, using this filling and frosting. Does that make sense? In my head it does, lol.
Thanks so much for the reply! I think I will attempt to make two jelly roll pans. His might be the safest for me 🙂 But, just to clarify, I can use the original recipe for the jelly roll pans, but just double the recipe right?
It will probably make 2 pans plus a few cupcakes, but I’m not 100% sure. Just make sure not to fill the pans more than 1/2-2/3 full!
Happy (belated) birthday Dorothy!! I think my boyfriend would die and go to heaven if I made this for him. Looks amazing! Hope you had a wonderful birthday!
Thanks Jessica, it was amazing!
Tnaks for this recipe : I will try it asap
and
Happy Birthday to you and to Crazy for Crust <3
Happy Belated Birthday!! The cake looks amazing especially with the peanut butter filling. Super delicious!!
Thanks Crystal!
I hope you had the happiest of birthdays Dorothy!! And this cake looks absolutely amazing. I’m afraid of cakes, but if I get over it, this is the first cake I will make!
Ha ha, kind of me too! 🙂 And thanks!!
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