A simple four ingredient vegan buttercream, flavoured with vanilla and five minutes to make. Sub this plant based option for your favourite icing!
If you use a really good vegan butter, you should barely notice a difference here between regular buttercream and this vegan buttercream. Super simple, with just sugar, dairy-free butter, a touch of milk, and vanilla, it’s easy to whip up and a great topping for any vegan or dairy-free cakes.
The butter is whipped until fluffy before adding the sugar – this helps the sugar to incorporate better, to keep everything nice and smooth (no grittiness!) followed by vanilla. Make sure to add the milk a tablespoon at a time because you might not need all of it.
We love using this frosting across the board, and it’s the one you’ll see in use just about every time we share a piping video on social media. It’s seriously delicious and so easy.
Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
Ingredients
- Icing Sugar: unlike white sugar, which is sometimes non-vegan as it might be filtered through bone char, icing sugar is vegan unless the ingredient list states otherwise. Some brands will include egg whites so watch out for that.
- Vegan Butter: use the best block-style vegan butter you can find – more on that below, with brands we like.
- Plant-based Milk: a tiny amount so you really won’t taste it anyway, but we recommend a more neutral type like oat or almond milk.
- Vanilla Extract: pure if you can get it! That being said, vanilla has gotten prohibitively expensive in the past couple of years (you can make your own, too). Vanilla paste or powder are good too.
Method
Place the vegan butter into a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer. Beat on high speed for a couple of minutes, or until light, creamy, and fluffy.
Add the icing sugar to the bowl and mix on low to combine. Once the sugar is incorporated, slowly increase the speed to high and beat for another minute.
Continuing to mix, add the vanilla. Slowly add the milk while mixing on high speed, a tablespoon at a time, until the buttercream reaches the desired consistency.
Rub a little bit of the icing between your fingers – if it feels gritty, beat for a little longer. It should be very smooth and fluffy when it’s ready.
Store the buttercream in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
About Vegan Butter
A few things to keep in mind when buying vegan butter, for this or any recipe – look for block-type, rather than in a tub, and choose a version with minimal, simple ingredients. Avoid palm oil as an additive here if possible (not just bad for the environment, it also makes for an oily buttercream).
We like Miyoko’s vegan cultured butter and it’s our go-to; it’s based on cashews. In Europe, Alex recommends Naturli (the vegan block), made primarily with shea and coconut oil.
Tips and Notes
The vegan buttercream can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week. If you’re using it to ice a cake or cookies, store the iced treats in the refrigerator too. That means, though, that it can easily be made ahead of time!
It can be frozen, too, in an airtight container, for up to a month. It can get a little grainy after freezing so we don’t really recommend this unless you have a lot left over.
If you don’t have icing sugar (confectioner’s/powdered sugar) you can make it yourself. Just blend granulated, cane, or even coconut sugar in a high speed blender/food processor until powdered.
There are no substitutions for this recipe.
Where to Use Vegan Buttercream
Vegan Vanilla Cake
One-Bowl Chocolate Snacking Cake
Buttercream Roses
Vegan Carrot Cake instead of the coconut whipped cream
To sandwich cookies, like these Vegan Ginger Chews or Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @baked_theblog + #bakedtheblog on Instagram! We love to feel like we’re in the kitchen with you.
Recipe
Vegan Vanilla Buttercream
Description
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
- Mixing bowl
- Hand or stand mixer
- Spatula
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegan butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoon plant-based milk
Instructions
- Place the vegan butter into a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer. Beat on high speed for a couple of minutes, or until light, creamy, and fluffy.
- Add the icing sugar to the bowl and mix on low to combine. Once the sugar is incorporated, slowly increase the speed to high and beat for another minute.
- Continuing to mix, add the vanilla. Slowly add the milk while mixing on high speed, a tablespoon at a time, until the buttercream reaches the desired consistency.
- Rub a little bit of the icing between your fingers – if it feels gritty, beat for a little longer. It should be very smooth and fluffy when it’s ready.
- Store the buttercream in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
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