Copycat Friendly’s Peanut Butter Sauce

Everyone who knows me teases me about our family obsession with peanut butter.  Seriously, I have a two-pound jar in my cabinet. It’s one item I definitely buy in bulk! It could be because that the baby is allergic to so many items, but if you hand her a spoon, she thinks it should be covered in peanut butter.  With that in mind, we have a lot of peanut butter treats around our house. Lately, I had been craving a Peanut Butter Sundae like the one I had at Friendly’s restaurant.  Unfortunately for me, the closest Friendly’s to my home is around 200 miles away.  I tried to find a similar peanut butter sundae at various restaurants and fast food joints around town, but I couldn’t.  I decided to do the next best thing;  make my own Copycat Friendly’s Peanut Butter Sauce.  It’s also naturally gluten free.
Copycat Friendlys Peanut Butter Sauce

Copycat Friendly’s Peanut Butter Sauce

But how? I began scouring the internet for recipes I could adapt to make my own.  Some recipes were easy but I didn’t have the ingredients. I needed a recipe that had ingredients I already had in stock. Finally, I found one I thought was close. After a few adjustments, I decided if I couldn’t make it to Friendly’s, this was the next best thing. The best part about this sauce is how it creates a firm topping on top of the ice cream.
peanut butter sauce

If you want an authentic ice cream sundae, place a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream into a bowl.  Top the ice cream with the peanut butter sauce. Sprinkle  Reese’s Pieces over the sauce, then top with whipped cream and a cherry. I never have to buy an ice cream sundae again. Unless I don’t feel like cooking, of course!
Tip: Be sure to store the leftover sauce in the fridge. Heat the sauce in the microwave for a few seconds before using.

Printable Recipe:

Peanut Butter Sauce – Copycat Recipe from Friendly’s
Recipe Type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Author: Pam
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
A basic peanut butter sauce to make an Ice Cream Sundae just like Friendly’s.
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter (adjust to taste-use more or less depending on how much peanut butter you like)
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • Optional: Reeses Peanut Butter Pieces
Instructions
  1. Combine the butter, corn syrup and peanut butter in a medium saucepan. Heat the ingredients over low heat until melted and the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, pour over ice cream and top with Reeses Peanut butter pieces, whipped cream, and a cherry, if desired. Store the leftover sauce in the fridge. To reheat the sauce, warm briefly in the microwave- around 10 to 15 seconds- before serving.

copycat friendlys peanut butter sauce recipe

Have you tried Friendly’s Peanut Butter Sundaes? What is your favorite summertime dessert?

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26 Comments

  1. I’ve never hard their sauce but it looks delicious. I’m a peanut butter nut so I need to give this a try.

  2. Friendly’s is old school spot in my area. We had them growing up, but they all closed many years ago. They had amazing desserts, this is a great taste of memory lane.

  3. Peanut butter sauce on a sunday, never heard of that before. I am sure peanut butter lovers must love this sauce

  4. I’ve heard many good things about Friendly’s! Can’t wait to try this!

  5. OMG! This is one of my very favorite things from Friendly’s! Sadly, most of them have recently closed around where I live – I don’t know WHY but it’s awful haha! I have to try this out! It looks amazing!

  6. Oh, my! That looks really good. Perfect for ice cream topping and what not. Thanks for sharing!
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  7. I love everything peanut butter. This looks so delicious great with icecream?

  8. The Peanut butter sauce looks really tempting, Would love to try this out with some of the Indian snacks that the kids love.

  9. Peanut butter sauce sounds fantastic over ice cream or even over an apple crumble. YUM!! I haven’t made a peanut butter sauce before but it sounds like it would be a great touch for many desserts.

  10. I’ve actually never had this peanut butter sauce before, but I DO love peanut butter! I’m excited to try this out!

  11. Oooh, we went to Friendly’s recently and had this sauce on a sundae. It was divine, and now I can’t wait to try your recipe!!!

  12. I love peanut butter too! I stopped eating it because it is so high in calories. But, I still love it. This PB sauce looks delicious.

  13. Oh wow. This is the yummiest sauce I have ever seen in weeks! Thank you for sharing your recipe. This peanut butter sauce would be drizzled on everything once I’ve made some. It will be on pancakes, on sundaes, on ice cream… oh my. The list could go on forever!

  14. This is a great idea I have made peanut butter sauce but savory for asian style dishes. Must try this one soon =)

  15. Oh cool! I definitely have to try this. It would be awesome to start using this on some sundaes and other ice cream desserts.

  16. This looks heavenly! I am a die hard peanut butter lover, so this is right up my alley!

  17. That looks so yummy and decadent…I usually do hot fudge, but this looks so good

  18. I need this peanut butter sauce in my life! Perfect for topping ice cream. I would change out the corn syrup for agave, because my daughter has a corn allergy.

  19. This would be awesome on top of ice cream! And I have all of this in my pantry, now! When I have ice cream, it has to have chunks of chocolate, nuts or something and some type of topping. I will have to save this!

  20. I’ve actually never seen a peanut butter sauce. I love how simple it is to make. Hubby would really like this.

  21. Have never been to that restaurant or knew anything about this peanut butter. Easy enough to make and enjoy.

  22. Oh now I would never have thought of making a peanut butter sauce but what an interesting idea, I bet it goes with so many different things.

  23. I make a similar sauce for my chicken satay BUT I add red pepper flakes. This sauce would be ideal for ice cream but trust me it’s so good as a marinade for grilled chicken. Thanks for sharing.

  24. I love all things peanut butter. This sounds amazing to me. I would pour peanut butter sauce over everything!

  25. jmanandmillerbug

    Oh my goodness that looks delicious! I have never been to that restaurant but they have stuff like this I definitely need to check them out. In the meanwhile I’m glad I can make something like this at home.