Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
TASTE: Perfect level of sweetness without being cloyingly sweet.
TEXTURE: I love how creamy this frosting is! It has a velvety, silky texture that can’t be beat.
EASE: Super easy. This frosting comes together in just a few minutes.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE: With so many customization options, your cakes and cupcakes are about to be more delicious than ever.
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I want to teach you how to make the BEST buttercream frosting you’ve ever had.
There’s nothing worse than the sickeningly sweet and artificial-tasting store-bought frosting that comes in tubs or is loaded onto grocery store birthday cakes. I usually scrape that stuff off whenever I’m served something like that – which is saying something for this sweet-toothed girl!
But not this recipe! Perfectly balanced in sweetness, silky smooth and creamy in texture, and an absolute dream to both frost with and eat.
Free Buttercream Guide!
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Making homemade buttercream is super easy. I’ll teach you how to make perfect buttercream step-by-step, so there’s no need to feel intimidated.
This recipe is the easiest way to level up your homemade cupcakes and cakes – and it’s so much fun to customize the flavors, too. Check out all my flavor suggestions below.
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Buttercream Frosting
What is American Buttercream?
American-style Buttercream Frosting is made of butter and powdered sugar, whipped together with a little cream and some flavoring (such as vanilla extract).
Some American buttercream recipes will contain shortening or a combination of butter and shortening, but I prefer an all-butter mixture. Shortening leaves a slightly greasy film behind on the palate and has a slight aftertaste that I don’t prefer.
The Butter
Use high-quality butter since it’s the base of the recipe. I prefer to use unsalted butter in all my baking so I’m in control of the salt. Also, be cautious that your butter isn’t too warm or too cold. Your butter should ideally be about 67°F.
Heavy Cream (and alternatives)
You can use milk or half-and-half if that’s all you have, but I highly recommend using heavy cream if possible for its creaminess and maximum richness.
The Sugar
Always use powdered sugar in American-style buttercream – other types of sugar simply won’t work the same way.
Sift powdered sugar before adding it to your buttercream. Most recipes (including mine) are written like this: “3 cups powdered sugar, sifted” which means you measure the sugar first, then sift it before adding it in.
For the absolute smoothest buttercream frosting, I recommend investing in organic powdered sugar that contains tapioca starch instead of cornstarch because it dissolves much more readily to remove grittiness. This is the brand of organic powdered sugar I usually use, though Trader Joe’s also has a great option available too.
The Vanilla
I recommend using a high-quality pure vanilla extract (not an imitation vanilla flavor) when making a buttercream, especially if you’re making a vanilla buttercream, as it’s the star of the show.
Feel free to use vanilla bean paste instead, for a pretty speckled look and heavenly flavor.
How to Tell When Buttercream is Properly Creamed
Look for smooth, fluffy buttercream that’s light and bright in color. If your frosting still looks a bit yellow or feels dense, it’s probably not creamed enough. Check out the photos below for a visual guide:
Ways to Use Buttercream Frosting:
- Fill and frost cake, like my Chocolate Cake
- Pipe onto cupcakes, like my Chocolate Cupcakes or Lemon Cupcakes
- Easily spread on cookies, like my Sugar Cookies
- Use as decoration for any treat you like!
Must-Have Tools:
Buttercream Frosting Flavor Ideas
You may need to adjust the powdered sugar ratio depending on your flavor preferences and adjust the cream ratio depending on your texture preferences.
- Chocolate: Add 1/2 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Strawberry: Add 1/3 cup seedless strawberry preserves and a few drops of red food coloring.
- Raspberry: Add 1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves and a few drops of red food coloring.
- Mocha: Add 1/2 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder and 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder.
- Chocolate Malt: Add 1/2 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2 cup malted milk powder, and use 1/4 cup milk, plus more if needed.
- Peanut Butter: Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and reduce the powdered sugar to 2 1/2 cups.
- Irish Cream Buttercream: Use Bailey’s Irish Cream instead of cream.
- Kahlua: Add 1/2 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder and 1/2 cup Kahlua in place of the cream.
- Mint: Add 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract and a few drops of green food coloring.
- Nutella: Add 2/3 cup Nutella and reduce powdered sugar to 2 cups.
- Lemon (or any other citrus): Add 2 tablespoons lemon zest and 3 tablespoons lemon juice and increase powdered sugar to 3 1/2 cups.
- Coconut: Add 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract.
- Cinnamon: Add 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon.
- Pumpkin: Add 1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree and 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, remove cream.
- Salted Caramel: Add 1/3 cup caramel sauce, remove cream, and increase salt to 1 teaspoon (if your caramel sauce isn’t salted).
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough: Use 3/4 cup light brown sugar in place of all powdered sugar, add 1 1/4 cups flour*, and garnish with mini chocolate chips. *To make the raw flour safer, we need to kill bacteria. Treat the flour by baking it at 350°F for 10 minutes or microwaving in 30-second bursts until it reaches 165°F. Use an instant-read thermometer to guarantee it hits the temperature at which bacteria dies. Heating the flour in the oven also toasts it slightly, giving it a slightly nutty caramelized flavor.
More Buttercream Recipes You’ll Love:
The Best Buttercream
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Ingredients
- 3 cups (375 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, at a cool room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy or whipping cream
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase the speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
- Add the salt, vanilla, and cream and beat on medium speed for 1 minute, adding more cream if needed.
STORAGE:
- Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let come to room temperature and re-whip in the stand mixer until light and fluffy again. Add a tablespoon or 2 of powdered sugar if it needs to thicken.
Recipe Notes
This post was published in 2021 and updated in 2023 with new photos and recipe improvements. Photos by Joanie Simon.
Thanks for your helpful insight.
It’s confusing that the photo has a whip attachment, but the recipe calls for paddle.
Hi Betty! Thanks so much for bringing this to our attention! This is on our list of photos needing to be updated, which we can hopefully do soon. It should definitely be a paddle attachment, not whisk 🙂
I’ve made the chocolate chip cookie dough version several times and it turned out great!
Hi Joanna! So happy to hear that you enjoy this frosting so much! The chocolate chip cookie dough version is soooo good 🙂
I have a question. With the salted caramel variation, do I reduce the amount of powdered sugar(3cups) with the addition of the 1/3 cup of salted caramel?
Hi Persis! You do not need to adjust the amount of powdered sugar! Simply omit the heavy cream, and instead add in 1/3 cup caramel topping/sauce, and increase the salt to 1 teaspoon. Enjoy 🙂
your recipe listed above and the one in the guide have different weights listed for icing sugar. could you please confirm
Hi Elisabeth! The correct amount is 375 grams for 3 cups of powdered sugar, as listed on our site. We will get the guide corrected, thank you so much for bringing that to our attention!
After many failed attempts at making buttercream (and feeling frustrated and embarrassed about it), I finally had success with this recipe! I made Irish Creme for St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes. I love all of the variations and can’t wait to try others. I would love to know if you have any suggestions for an Oreo/Cookies ‘n Creme variation? Thank you!
So happy you love this recipe and its variations! 🙂 We surprisingly don’t have a cookies ‘n creme option for this recipe, though I think we have every other type of cookies ‘n creme you could ask for: cheesecake, doughnuts, ice cream! That’s a great variation for us to experiment with in the future. I’m almost thinking you could just mix in crushed Oreos (minus the filling), but again, I can’t say for sure how much as we haven’t tried it. Let us know if you give it a try!
Can I put powdered vallina instead.
We haven’t tried that, but it should be fine! Vanilla powder does have a more concentrated flavor, so you’ll want to use 1 teaspoon in place of the 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, and you may need to add additional heavy cream if the buttercream is too thick. Let us know how it goes if you give it a try 🙂
This is seriously the easiest and most delicious buttercream recipe I’ve ever used. I can’t recommend it enough. Thankyou for sharing
So happy you love this recipe!
Am i able to freeze the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough buttercream ?
Sure!
Hi there,
How come you say paddle attachment in the instructions but show the whip attachment in your picture?
Thanks!
Thanks so much for bringing this to our attention! I’ve added this to our list of photos needing to be updated, it should definitely be a paddle attachment, not whisk.
I made this buttercream recipe and the chocolate and both were by far the best.
You offer all these wonderful cheat sheets. I have requested many and have received none! No emails ever come…
Hi Karen! I’m sorry you’re having issues receiving our cheat sheets! It appears that you’ve requested the Buttercream cheatsheet in the past, and our system only allows it to be sent to the same email once. Can you please email me at [email protected] and let me know what other cheatsheets you were looking for? I’m happy to send them to you via email. Thanks!