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Home / Latest Posts / Recipes / Course / Dessert / How to Make Buttercream Frosting

How to Make Buttercream Frosting

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By: Leigh Anne WilkesPosted: 1/12/20Updated: 6/15/22

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see disclosure policy here.

bowl of buttercream frosting

Learning how to make buttercream frosting is an important life skill! It is perfect on cakes cupcakes, brownies or cookies.  Nothing beats a delicious homemade  frosting.

buttercream frosting on a whisk

Why You’ll Love This Recipe!

I love frosting, in fact I eat cake so I can have frosting. The trick to the best buttercream frosting is the right ratio of butter to sugar and this recipe has that perfect ratio.

There is NO reason to use canned frosting from the store when homemade buttercream is so easy to make and there is no comparison in taste.  I remember as a little girl one of my favorite things to do with leftover buttercream frosting was to make a graham cracker sandwich, just spread a layer of frosting on a graham cracker and then top it with another cracker.  It is especially good with chocolate buttercream.buttercream frosting in a bowl.

Ingredients Needed

  • Butter. Use salted butter, if using unsalted butter add in 1/8 tsp salt
  • Powdered Sugar or confectioners sugar
  • Pure Vanilla Extract. Can use any flavor extract or flavorings you prefer.
  • Whipping Cream. You can also use half and half or milk. If using milk, try and use whole milk for the best results.
  • Food coloring. This is optional. I prefer a gel food coloring for the best color. If using a liquid food coloring you may need to add in a bit more powdered sugar as the food coloring adds addition liquid.

Tip from Leigh Anne

  1. Use room temperature butter.  The butter will give a little when you press your finger into it but it will still hold its shape.  You don’t want your butter too soft or melted.
  2. Sift your powdered sugar with a fine mesh sifter If your powdered sugar is lumpy.

How to Make Buttercream Frosting

  • Cream butter using the whisk attachment in the bowl of a stand mixer or a hand mixer. Mix on medium high for 2-3 minutes or until pale and creamy
  • Reduce speed to medium and add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time
  • Beat well after each addition increasing speed to high after all sugar is added
  • Add vanilla and food coloring if desired
  • Beat until buttercream is smooth

Frosting Flavor Variations

  1. Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. Add in 1/2-3/4 cup of cocoa powder, depending on how chocolate you want it. You may need a little additional liquid because of the powder.
  2. Strawberry Buttercream Frosting. Add in 1/4-1/3 cup of crushed freeze dried strawberries. Use a blender or food process to crush them into a fine powder. Mix the freeze dried strawberry powder into the frosting until well combined.
buttercream frosting in a mixer

How Much Frosting Do I Need?

This recipe makes about 3 cups of frosting which is plenty to frost 24 cupcakes or a 3 layer cake.  I like to pipe the frosting on my cupcakes so I use more frosting than if you were just going to use a knife to spread it on the cupcake. If you are going to use a knife you will have enough frosting for 48 cupcakes.

frosting a cupcake

How to Fill a Piping or Decorating Bag

The easiest way to fill your piping bag is to place it in a glass and spread the top open over the glass and just spoon the frosting into the bag.

buttercream frosting in a piping bag

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to refrigerate buttercream frosting?

Buttercream frosting is safe to leave at room temperature unlike cream cheese frosting which you want to keep refrigerated.  That said, I usually keep my leftover frosting or leftover cake in the refrigerator.  I usually don’t refrigerate any leftover cookies or brownies with buttercream frosting though. I like my cake chilled better than room temperature. After refrigerating allow frosting to sit at room temperature for about an hour before using it to frost a cake or cupcakes.

How long will buttercream frosting last?

Refrigerator: Stored in an airtight container it will last up to a month in the refrigerator.
Room temperature: It will last 2-3 days when kept at room temperature.
Freezer: It will last up to 3 months in the freezer. Allow to thaw in the refrigerator.

frosting in a bowl

More Frosting Recipes!

  • Maple Frosting
  • Cream Cheese Frosting
  • Brown Butter Frosting
  • Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

Things to Put Frosting On:

  • Yellow Cake
  • Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
  • Best Chocolate Cake
  • Soft Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
  • Chocolate Cake for Two
  • Giant Sugar Cookie

Try these other frostings:

  • Brown Butter Frosting
  • Maple Frosting
  • Cream Cheese Frosting
  • Sugar Cookie Frosting
  • Caramel Frosting

Be sure and follow me over on You Tube for weekly cooking demos.

5 from 1 vote

Buttercream Frosting

Recipe From: Leigh Anne Wilkes
This is our family's favorite buttercream frosting and it is perfect on cakes cupcakes, brownies or cookies.  Nothing beats a delicious homemade buttercream frosting.

serves: 24 servings
Prep:5 minutes
Cook:5 minutes
Total:10 minutes
Rate Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 2 lbs. powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 3 Tbsp whipping cream, 1/2 and 1/2 or whole milk use 2-3 Tbs to get frosting to desired consistency

Instructions

  • Beat butter in mixer on medium high for 2-3 minutes or until pale and creamy
  • Reduce speed to medium and add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time
  • Beat well after each addition increasing speed to high after all sugar is added
  • Add vanilla and food coloring if desired
  • Beat until buttercream is smooth
  • Can be refrigerated for several days if covered
  • If refrigerating, bring to room temperature before using and beat on low until smooth

Tips & Notes:

Makes approximately  3 cups
  • Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. Add in 1/2-3/4 cup of cocoa powder, depending on how chocolate you want it. You may need a little additional liquid because of the powder.
  • Strawberry Buttercream Frosting. Add in 1/4-1/3 cup of crushed freeze dried strawberries. Use a blender or food process to crush them into a fine powder. Mix the freeze dried strawberry powder into the frosting until well combined.

Nutrition Facts:

Calories: 220kcal (11%) Carbohydrates: 38g (13%) Protein: 1g (2%) Fat: 8g (12%) Saturated Fat: 5g (31%) Cholesterol: 22mg (7%) Sodium: 69mg (3%) Potassium: 2mg Sugar: 37g (41%) Vitamin A: 255IU (5%) Calcium: 3mg Iron: 1mg (6%)
* Disclaimer: All nutrition information are estimates only. Read full disclosure here.
Course:Dessert
Cuisine:American
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Originally posted Dec. 12, 2009

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  1. Alexandra says

    Posted on 6/30 at 9:16 am

    Hi there – can you use this frosting for doing piping on top of a cake for decoration. I am baking the yellow cake and will use this for the frosting/assembly. But wondering if I can also use this to pipe some flower and decoration on top of the cake.

    Reply
    • Leigh Anne says

      Posted on 6/30 at 9:40 am

      You can you may just need to add some additional powdered sugar to stiffen it up a bit.

      Reply
  2. Julee says

    Posted on 2/17 at 9:16 pm

    I love this recipe! For my basic buttercream, I use your recipe and then add 1-2 tsp Wilton butter flavoring to enhance the butter flavor. I could drink this stuff!

    Tonight, I made a batch for several different flavors of cupcakes and decided to tweak the buttercream flavors a bit. For the pink lemonade cupcakes, I just added lemon juice & zest to the frosting. For the yellow cupcakes, I added almond extract. For the devil’s food, I didn’t add anything additional. Triple yum! And love the versatility!

    Reply
  3. Heather says

    Posted on 7/23 at 2:16 pm

    I was just going to search for a frosting recipe when I read your blog. I have always struggled with making frosting for anything. I have tried several diffrent recipe’s in the past and they were just okay. I just made this recipe and found it to be very easy and full of flavor. My daughter will be having her 7th Birthday this weekend and I have made cupcakes which I have frosted with this recipe. It was so easy and came out to the perfect consistency! Thank you! Thank you!

    Reply
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