This rich, versatile Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache has only 3 ingredients and 2 easy microwave steps (with customizable chocolate options!). Make it as a perfectly smooth topping for an ice cream sundae. Use it as a luscious classic peanut butter or chocolate filling for macarons, cakes, or cupcakes. Or, even turn it into a whipped, spreadable topping for your favorite brownies!
Whether you're looking for a classic pure peanut butter taste, or want to add in an extra layer of flavor using milk or dark chocolate, this recipe will undoubtedly become a go-to for all your peanut butter filling needs.
Even better, you can whip it after it has cooled and thickened for a beautifully fluffy frosting. The whipped variation makes a delicious as a frosting to put on top of your favorite sheet cake or cupcakes, or even to sandwich between two peanut cookies as well. (I certainly wouldn't mind it spread on my Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats either!)
And if you're looking for more delicious sauce and filling recipes, check out my Homemade Hot Fudge, White Chocolate Sauce, French Raspberry Jam, and Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting!
Jump to (scroll for more!):
Why You'll Love This Ganache
- Only 3 ingredients: this recipe needs only 3 simple ingredients - a chocolate of your choice, peanut butter, and heavy cream.
- Only 15 minutes of prep: this ganache will be ready in under 15 minutes. It can then chill for as little or as much time as you like, until it reaches the perfect consistency for your needs. When warm right after making, it'll be fairly thin like chocolate milk. After a short chill time, 15-20 minutes, you'll get a little thicker pour like a chocolate syrup. After the full chill time of 60-90 minutes, you'll have a thick, spreadable, pipe-able, or whip-able texture. All these different options make this recipe a really versatile component for many tasty treats.
- Re-heatable: if you want to make this recipe ahead of time, you can store it in the fridge for up to a week. Then just briefly reheat it in the microwave to thin it back out. This works great if you want to use it as a side drip glaze on a layer cake for example.
- It works with any chocolate: because this recipe is very stable, you can use any chocolate to adjust the flavor to your personal preference. The original white chocolate in the recipe will give you a mostly peanut butter flavor (you don't notice a "white chocolate" flavor much here by design). However if you like the darker chocolate-peanut butter combo, just replace the white chocolate chips with milk or dark chocolate instead.
Ingredient Tips + Variations
- Peanut Butter: you're going to want to use smooth peanut butter, preferably similar to JIF or Skippy brand ingredients. Natural and organic peanut butters separate, and won't incorporate well into your ganache. Similarly, chunky peanut butters will hinder your ability to get a nice smooth end product as well.
- White Chocolate: as mentioned above, white chocolate will leave you with a mostly just straight peanut butter flavor. However, you're welcome to swap in milk or dark chocolate to fit your flavor preference.
- Heavy Cream: because fat content is important here, you do want to use heavy cream specifically (not light cream, whipping cream, or half & half). Any alternative with a higher water content may be difficult to fully incorporate and negatively effect the texture and smoothness of your ganache.
For a full detailed list of all ingredients and measurements, just head down to the recipe card below!
Please note, that any additional substitutions haven't been tested so I can not guarantee the results. However, if you do experiment and find a variation you love, please let me know in the comments below!
How to Make Peanut Butter Ganache
To make classic ganache:
Step 1: add all ingredients to a microwave-safe bowl.
Step 2: microwave for 1 minute on 50% power, and stir briefly.
Step 3: microwave for an additional 30 seconds on 50% power. Stir vigorously from the center, moving out, to create a smooth shiny glaze. (Microwave again as needed for additional melting).
Step 4: store and chill for up to 1 ½ hours, or as long as needed to reach desired consistency.
To make whipped ganache:
Step 5: allow ganache to cool fully in mixing bowl, then whip on medium-high until light and fluffy.
For a more detailed list of all these steps, just head down to the recipe card below!
Storage + Freezing
- Making ahead of time: you can make this ganache ahead of time and keep it for up to 1 week in the fridge, or 1 month in the freezer.
- Storage: to store, press plastic wrap down to contact the full top of the surface if storing in a wide bowl to prevent a skin from forming. If storing in a jar, simply use a lid to prevent drying out.
- Freezing: freeze for up to 1 month, preferably in a microwave safe container so you could microwave it to bring it to temp quickly from the freezer. To do this, keep power at 50%, use 1 minute intervals to start, and then 30 second intervals once the ganache has started to melt, being sure to stir well between each microwave round. You could also thaw it overnight in the fridge.
Pro Baker Tips
- Bake by weight if possible: baking by weight is always the most accurate way to bake. It will give you the most consistent results that look like what you see in these photos. If using cups, be sure to use dry measuring cups for the dry ingredients and a liquid measuring cup for the cream (like a pyrex pitcher).
- Stir really well, from the center outward: ganache comes together with ease in this magical way as long as you use a good technique. So start just with small circles in the middle of the bowl, and continue mixing vigorously. Only start to widen the circle once you see the mixture fully combining in the center.
- Use high quality chocolate: use whatever chocolate you enjoy the taste of, of course, but note that a higher quality chocolate, without the waxy stabilizers you'll find in cheaper chocolates, will yield a smoother, more fluid ganache.
- Smooth peanut butter: per the ingredient tips above, make sure to use smooth peanut butter, and not anything natural or organic that separates in the jar.
- Store with contacting plastic wrap: to store, press plastic wrap down to contact the full top of the ganache surface if storing in a wide bowl to prevent a skin from forming. If storing in a jar, simply use a lid to prevent drying out.
Recipe FAQs
Ganache, in it's most simple form, is melted chocolate + heavy cream. Sometimes there are additional ingredients like butter, peanut butter, alcohol or other flavorings added, but those are all optional.
Frostings, however, like an American buttercream, are typically powdered sugar based with a fat, like butter, and some liquid usually, like milk. Other buttercreams (like French, Swiss, and Italian), are egg and granulated sugar based, with a good deal of butter in there as well. Both are then often flavored with extracts, and if you want a chocolate frosting, you often use cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate.
The texture of a ganache is determined by the ratio of ingredients. So if you'd like a runnier sauce at room temperature, you'll use a higher amount of cream for a given amount of chocolate. If you'd like it to be thicker at room temperature, you'll use a lower amount of cream for a given amount of chocolate.
You may be wondering, which is better? The short answer is neither! They have different flavors, and different textures as well, so it really just all comes down to personal flavor preference and what your intended use is.
As stated above, a ganache is most simply made up of chocolate and cream. So the 3 types of ganache are white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate.
Depending on the ratio of chocolate to cream, you'll get a wide range of different consistencies at room temperature from a pourable sauce, to a spreadable filling.
Yes! This recipe scales well, so just use the toggle at the top of the ingredient list in the recipe card below to make a half batch or a double batch.
While I would love for you to try my recipes and be able to meet your dietary needs as well, unfortunately any substitution of primary ingredients, like cream, will drastically alter the baking chemistry here and likely compromise the results.
So while you are always welcome to experiment, and I love to hear how it goes when you do, I have not been able to test non-diary substitutions so I can't recommend them.
I find you will always have better results when mixing up treats designed with a non-dairy liquid from the start. And luckily, Google can help you find many of my fellow bloggers with delicious recipes in those specialty diet niches!
Yes! I recommend using high quality chocolate if possible for the smoothest texture. But white, milk or dark chocolate flavors all work - so feel free to pick your favorite!
My first instinct here is you may just need a bit more melting or stirring. Keep the power level at 50%, and use only 10 second intervals, with vigorous stirring in between using either a fork or whisk to see if the lumps will incorporate between each round.
Another possibility is you burnt the chocolate, which will make it grainy and very thick. Unfortunately, there's no coming back from that. In this case, stirring or more microwaving will just make it worse, so unfortunately, you'll need to start over.
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📖 Full Recipe
Easy Peanut Butter Ganache
Ingredients
- 1 cup white chocolate chips or chopped bars (see notes)
- ½ cup smooth peanut butter (see notes)
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
To make ganache:
- Add ingredients to a microwave-safe bowl: pour cream into a microwave-safe glass pitcher or bowl with plenty of room to stir. Add peanut butter and chocolate chips.
- Microwave Round 1: microwave bowl for 1 minute on 50% power. Stir briefly to blend with a fork (chocolate will only be a little melted).
- Microwave Round 2: microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power. Stir vigorously for at least 30 seconds with a fork or whisk until all the ingredients come together into a smooth, shiny, uniform glaze. It works best to stir only in the center of the bowl first, and then as you see the ingredients combining, start widening your stirs out torwards the edge of the bowl.
- Microwave Round 3 (optional): if any chocolate chunks still remain after a really good mixing, continue microwaving in 15-second intervals at 50% power, stirring well after each round until all chocolate has fully melted.
- Transfer and store: once your mixture is fully blended, smooth, and uniform, transfer to a storage container. Feel free to use as a runnier warm sauce right away, or to let it thicken up in the fridge until fully cooled (about 1 - 1 ½ hours to fully set up). Sauce will last for a week in the fridge.
For whipped ganache:
- Whip using a hand mixer: allow the ganache to cool fully in the fridge, leaving it in the mixing bowl with plastic wrap contacting the full surface to keep a skin from forming. Once fully chilled and spreadable, whip using a hand mixer on medium-high for 20-30 seconds until lightened in color and fluffy.
Test Kitchen Tips
- Want a dark or milk chocolate ganache? Simply swap your favorite flavor of chocolate in for the white chocolate chips and continue with the recipe as written.
- Can I use natural peanut butter? You're going to want to use smooth peanut butter, preferably like those from JIF or Skippy. Peanut butters that separate in the jar, or have pieces in them won't incorporate well into your ganache.
- Microwave strength: the times listed in this recipe were what worked for my microwave, which is 1150 watts. If your microwave has a higher wattage, your sauce may be fully melted faster, and if it has lower wattage, you may need a few of those extra 15 second intervals to finish up your sauce.
- Don’t combine cook times! I know it's tempting to just add all the times together for the few microwave rounds, but you must resist! If you blast your chocolate for too long in one round, or use it at full power, the chocolate will burn, and then you'll have to throw away that batch and start over.
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