This Vegan Buttercream Frosting is sweet, creamy, fluffy, and can be served on any of your favorite vegan baked goods! Just 5 ingredients required!
This vegan buttercream rivals any non-vegan frosting I’ve ever made. It’s seriously so freaking good. Vegans rejoice! There’s finally a homemade frosting that contains NO animal by-products! Wahoo!
Ingredients
This delicious vegan frosting recipe requires just 5 simple ingredients!
- Vegan Butter – softened to room temperature to create a light, airy, and smooth vegan frosting! I used Country Crock Dairy Free Plant Butter Made with Avocado Oil, but any plant-based stick butter should work. Whatever “butter” you use, make sure you enjoy the taste of it. Not all plant based butters are made equally.
- Vanilla Extract – gives flavor depth and a touch of warm sweetness. Vanilla is like the salt for sweet recipes…without it, desserts will often taste very bland. Typically in baked goods, you can use imitation or pure vanilla extract, but because this recipe isn’t cooked, I recommend using pure vanilla extract for the best vanilla flavor.
- Non-Dairy Milk – any non-dairy milk will be fine. I recommend a plain, unsweetened variety to keep the frosting truly vanilla flavored. Milks like coconut milk or chocolate almond milk will alter the taste.
- Powdered Sugar – sweetens and thickens the frosting. Make sure the powdered sugar used is organic; non-organic sugar is often processed using animal by-products.
- Salt – cuts the sweetness of the sugar and enhances the butter and vanilla flavors.
How to make
This frosting recipe really couldn’t be easier to whip up.
- Place softened butter, vanilla extract, and room temperature milk in a large bowl and beat using a hand mixer until smooth.
- Add in powdered sugar and salt and beat until fluffy.
- Serve as desired and enjoy!
Do you have to use organic powdered sugar?
To be sure that this buttercream is 100% vegan, you need to use organic powdered sugar (or do your research on what brand you’re using). Some refined sugars are filtered through bone char, but organic powdered sugar is never processed using any animal products, so it is considered vegan.
If potential cross contamination doesn’t bother you, use whatever powdered sugar you like!
Can you use regular butter?
Absolutely! This recipe works if you’re not vegan as well. Follow the instructions as listed but swap the vegan butter for “regular” and don’t worry about using organic powdered sugar.
Tips
- Soften the butter. Bring your vegan butter to room temp before beating it into the frosting so you end up with a smooth, creamy frosting.
- Adjust if needed. If your frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add more milk.
- Let baked goods cool. Whether you’re frosting cake, cookies, brownies, etc., make sure you let them cool before you frost them. If they’re warm, the frosting will become runny.
How to serve vegan buttercream frosting
- Cookies. Slather it on vegan pumpkin cookies, vegan sugar cookies (recipe coming soon!), or sandwich it between two vegan oatmeal cookies to make an oatmeal cream pie.
- Cake. Try it on vegan flourless chocolate cake, healthy zucchini cake, vegan lemon pound cake cupcakes, you name it.
- Brownies and Bars. Layer it onto zucchini oat bars, fudgy vegan banana brownies or black bean brownies.
- Muffins. Serve it on vegan banana chocolate chip muffins, vegan pumpkin muffins, or healthy chocolate banana muffins.
How to store
Leftover frosting will last up to 3 weeks in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer.
To use from the fridge, let soften at room temperature for 10-15 minutes or until spreadable.
To use from the freezer, let thaw overnight in the fridge, then let sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes or until spreadable.
– Jennifer
Vegan Buttercream Frosting
Equipment for this recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegan butter softened to room temperature (I used Country Crock Dairy Free Plant Butter Made With Avocado Oil)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons non dairy milk room temperature
- 1 (1 pound) bag organic powdered sugar read label to ensure it’s vegan
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place butter, vanilla extract, and milk in a large bowl and beat until smooth.
- Add in powdered sugar and salt and beat until well combined and fluffy.
- Use as a frosting for cake, cupcakes, cookies, and more!
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Notes
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Nutrition Information
*Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on products used.