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vegan buttercream frosting in the bowl of a stand mixer

Quick & Easy Vegan Buttercream Frosting (4 Ingredients!)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.6 from 8 reviews
  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 5
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 7 cups 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Stand mixer
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

Want to know how to make the best vegan buttercream frosting that even dairy lovers will obsess over? This 4 ingredient quick vegan vanilla frosting is so easy to make and perfect for stacking, decorating, and piping onto layer cakes, cupcakes, brownies, and more!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups (432 g) vegan butter, room temperature*
  • 8 cups (1120 g) powdered sugar, sifted*
  • 23 tbsp dairy free milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. In a bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment or a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the vegan butter until light and fluffy. The color will begin to lighten. This should be about 2-3 minutes.
  2. Sift in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time, creaming the mixture together between every cup. Start with the lower speed, and increase as the powdered sugar becomes incorporated into the vegan butter. The mixture should be smooth yet thick at this point. You can add in a tablespoon of dairy free milk here to help if the powdered sugar isn’t integrating.
  3. Add in the remaining tablespoons of dairy free milk, along with the vanilla extract, and cream together again until fluffy and light.
  4. Apply to your cake, cupcakes, or macarons! This amount of frosting will frost an 8″ cake, or generously frost a 6″ cake, with extra for decorating.
  5. Store any leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to use again, allow the buttercream to come to room temperature again lightly cream together again for 2-3 minutes (see blog post for thawing buttercream from the freezer).

Notes

Vegan butter: I always use salted vegan butter for my frostings. I know that sounds gross, but then you don’t need to add any additional salt to the recipe to help balance out the sweetness! I also think this is what makes my vegan buttercream appeal so much to non-vegan eaters. It’s not overwhelmingly sweet, and has a bit more complexity to it!

For refined sugar free: you can use your favorite granulated monk fruit or allulose sweetener, and pulse it in the food processor to further refine it. You can also use coconut sugar and turn it into powdered coconut sugar the same way. Just keep in mind that your frosting will be caramel colored! Still beautiful and delicious!

For keto frosting: use allulose or monk fruit, and pulse in a food processor. Or swap in your favorite powdered keto-friendly sugar.

Please read blog post for which vegan butter brands I recommend! Not all will work here!