This Easy Peanut Butter Dessert Sauce Is a Dream on Ice Cream and Other Treats (2024)

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  • Southern Food
  • Southern Desserts

Try this easy peanut butter sauce on ice cream, cheesecake, pound cake, and so much more.

By

Diana Rattray

This Easy Peanut Butter Dessert Sauce Is a Dream on Ice Cream and Other Treats (1)

Diana Rattray

Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.

Learn about The Spruce Eats'Editorial Process

Updated on 02/26/24

Tested by

Danielle Centoni

This Easy Peanut Butter Dessert Sauce Is a Dream on Ice Cream and Other Treats (2)

Tested byDanielle Centoni

Danielle is a James Beard Award-winning food writer and editor based in Portland, Oregon.

Learn about The Spruce Eats'Editorial Process

Prep: 5 mins

Cook: 5 mins

Total: 10 mins

Servings: 6 servings

Yield: 1 1/4 cups

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This peanut butter sauce is super easy to make—it requires just four ingredients and takes about five minutes to whip together on the stove. It is a fantastic warm dessert topping when drizzled over ice cream, pound cake,cheesecake, bread pudding, and more. You can even serve it withpancakes, waffles, or biscuits for a decadent twist on an everyday breakfast. And a little spread on a brownie will make any chocolate and peanut butter fan jump with joy.

The 4 Simple Ingredients You Need to Make Outrageously Delicious Peanut Butter Sauce

Here's everything you need for this simple, sensational dessert sauce:

  • Peanut butter—Be sure to choose a creamy, no-stir peanut butter for the smoothest sauce.
  • Heavy whipping cream—Heavy cream gives this sauce a wonderful richness.
  • Corn syrup—The corn syrup in this recipe helps to create a smooth sauce by preventing the sugar from crystallizing, while it helps add moisture and sweetness to the sauce as well. You can substitute dark corn syrup for the light; however, the more robust flavor of the dark corn syrup—versus the delicate sweetness of the light corn syrup—will affect the final taste of the sauce.
  • Light brown sugar—This recipe calls for light brown sugar, which has a lighter taste and color because it has less molasses than dark brown sugar. If all you have on hand is dark brown sugar, feel free to sub it in this recipe if you don't mind its bolder flavor.

How Do You Thin Peanut Butter Sauce to Drizzle?

If your peanut butter sauce is too thick to drizzle, simply add water a little bit at a time (no more than a tablespoon at once) and stir to incorporate. Keep adding water until the sauce reaches the consistency you like, keeping in mind that it will likely thicken a bit once you remove it from the heat. Fortunately unlike chocolate sauce, peanut butter sauce won't seize, separate, or get lumpy when you add water.

Delicious Ways to Use Your Homemade Peanut Butter Sauce

This sauce tastes great on just about any dessert, sweet breakfast, or snack. Here are some of our favorite ways to use it to turn anything it touches from ordinary to extraordinary.

  • Drizzled over homemade or store-bought vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream
  • Spooned over pound cake or cheesecake
  • Atop pancakes, waffles or biscuits for breakfast
  • Poured over bread pudding
  • Spread on a brownie
  • As a dipping sauce for bananas, apple slices and other fruit

What You'll Need to Make This Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe

A Good Small Saucepan
A Nice Set of Measuring Cups
A Container to Store Leftovers

This Easy Peanut Butter Dessert Sauce Is a Dream on Ice Cream and Other Treats (6)

"Peanut butter lovers will go crazy for this sauce. I used natural creamy peanut butter, and the texture of the sauce was a bit less cohesive looking than if I had used a no-stir variety. Still, the natural peanut butter worked well even if the sauce didn't look as pretty, and it tasted great." —Danielle Centoni

This Easy Peanut Butter Dessert Sauce Is a Dream on Ice Cream and Other Treats (7)

A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup smooth no-stir peanut butter

  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup

  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

  • Ice cream, pound cake, cheesecake, or another dessert, for serving

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    This Easy Peanut Butter Dessert Sauce Is a Dream on Ice Cream and Other Treats (8)

  2. Combine 1/2 cup smooth no-stir peanut butter, 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, 2 tablespoons corn syrup, and 1/4 cup light brown sugar in a small saucepan.Heat over low heat, stirring, until smooth and the ingredients are well incorporated—about 4 minutes.

    This Easy Peanut Butter Dessert Sauce Is a Dream on Ice Cream and Other Treats (9)

  3. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved and the sauce is smooth. Do not overcook or the sauce will become too thick. Add a bit of water if it is too thick.

    This Easy Peanut Butter Dessert Sauce Is a Dream on Ice Cream and Other Treats (10)

  4. Remove from the heat and cool slightly before serving.

    This Easy Peanut Butter Dessert Sauce Is a Dream on Ice Cream and Other Treats (11)

  5. Serve over ice cream, pound cake, cheesecake, or your favorite dessert, and enjoy.

How to Store Peanut Butter Sauce

  • The peanut butter sauce will last for up to two weeks covered well in the refrigerator. Before serving, warm over low heat, adding a tablespoon or so of heavy whipping cream to thin if necessary.

20-Minute Homemade Chocolate Sauce

  • Southern Desserts
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
243Calories
18g Fat
19g Carbs
5g Protein

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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories243
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 18g23%
Saturated Fat 7g33%
Cholesterol 22mg7%
Sodium 114mg5%
Total Carbohydrate 19g7%
Dietary Fiber 1g4%
Total Sugars 15g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 0mg1%
Calcium 32mg2%
Iron 1mg3%
Potassium 156mg3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Recipe Tags:

  • sauce
  • peanut butter sauce
  • dessert
  • american

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This Easy Peanut Butter Dessert Sauce Is a Dream on Ice Cream and Other Treats (2024)

FAQs

How to melt peanut butter to drizzle? ›

When using peanut butter only, the key is heat. Peanut butter is naturally high in fat, but that fat is nearly solid at room temperature. In order to soften it up, you need some heat. In my case, I heated two tablespoons in a heat-proof bowl and then stirred like crazy.

What is peanut butter ice cream made of? ›

Combine sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, whole milk, peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla extract in an ice cream maker. Stir until sugar dissolves. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions until it reaches soft-serve consistency, adding peanut butter cups halfway through freezing cycle.

How to thin peanut butter for dipping? ›

Applying heat is the easiest way to thin peanut butter, but if your PB still looks grainy or is so thick that it's prone to burning, a little liquid can help. Try whisking in a few drops of water as you heat the peanut butter, slowly adding more until the butter reaches the right consistency.

How do you make peanut butter stay runny? ›

Either way, keeping your natural peanut butter in the fridge will help keep the oil incorporated after stirring. If you prefer a runny, drippy consistency, keep your peanut butter unrefrigerated.

Can you put melted peanut butter on ice cream? ›

As you remove the ice cream to a freezer-safe container, drop dollops of the melted peanut butter over each layer of ice cream. Once all of the ice cream and peanut butter has been placed in the container, use a butter knife to gently swirl the mixture. Store the ice cream in the freezer.

What is in a peanut butter blizzard? ›

Artificially Flavored Vanilla Reduced Fat Ice Cream: Milkfat And Nonfat Milk, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Whey, Mono And Diglycerides, Artificial Flavor, Guar Gum, Polysorbate 80, Carrageenan, Vitamin A Palmitate, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups: Milk Chocolate [Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Chocolate, Skim Milk, Milk Fat, Lactose, Soy ...

What is McDonald's ice cream made? ›

Ingredients: Milk, Sugar, Cream, Corn Syrup, Natural Flavor, Mono And Diglycerides, Cellulose Gum, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Vitamin A Palmitate.

How to thin out peanut butter to make a sauce? ›

Warm water is best because it helps to loosen the nut butter more quickly, and generally equal parts nut butter to liquid is the best ratio. Start with a little less than equal parts warm water to nut butter and add more water as needed, until the sauce is your desired consistency.

What is Chinese peanut sauce made of? ›

Peanut Sauce Recipe Instructions

Add all of the ingredients (garlic, ginger, peanut butter, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil) and any optional add-ins into a small bowl. Add the hot water, and stir to combine until you have a smooth sauce. Alternatively, you can make this in a food processor for a smoother texture.

Can you melt peanut butter to make it runny? ›

Stir the peanut butter, then return the bowl to the microwave for 30-second increments until it reaches the desired consistency. Be careful not to heat it for too long, or the peanut butter may liquify X Research source . When it's done, remove from the microwave and enjoy.

How do you thin peanut butter into sauce? ›

Warm water is best because it helps to loosen the nut butter more quickly, and generally equal parts nut butter to liquid is the best ratio. Start with a little less than equal parts warm water to nut butter and add more water as needed, until the sauce is your desired consistency.

How do you solidify liquid peanut butter? ›

Stir the peanut butter continuously for a couple of minutes until it becomes creamy and then keep it refrigerated. If still not thickened, grind some more peanuts and add to the peanut butter and mix till both, butter and peanuts, nicely blends with each other and then refrigerate. Keep it in refrigerator only.

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