10-Minute Vegan Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Creamy, dreamy, fluffy vegan buttercream frosting that’s perfect for all of your cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and more. This 10-minute recipe is not only quick and easy to make, it's great for piping and decorating. It's also gluten-free, and dairy-free…it’s truly, the best!

Once you learn how to make vegan vanilla frosting (and see how simple it is to do), you’ll never rely on the store-bought stuff again. You'll also find a few flavour variations below, so keep reading.

Every cake and cupcake is made perfect when it's topped with an irresistible frosting.

You know what I'm talking about...the kind of frosting that you can't help but dip your finger into so you can give it a taste...the kind that not only looks good but smells and tastes amazing, too. That's what this recipe is all about.

This vegan buttercream (aka vegan American buttercream!) is just what those cakes and cupcakes (and you!) crave. It's rich, creamy, and packed with vanilla flavour. You're going to love it.

Ingredients You'll Need

Just FIVE simple ingredients are all you need to make this delicious dairy-free frosting: vegan butter, powdered sugar, dairy-free milk, vanilla, and a little salt.

Ingredient and Substitution Notes

• Vegan Powdered Sugar - Not all sugar is vegan, some are processed using animal bone char, so to be sure that yours is, buy a brand that's organic (organic sugar is not processed using bone char). This ingredient cannot be substituted.
• Vanilla Extract - Vanilla is a key ingredient, it's the main flavour in this frosting, so don't skip it. You can also use vanilla paste instead if you have it.
• Salt - This is needed to balance the sweetness, so don't skip out on this ingredient.
• Unsweetened non-dairy milk - Any type of dairy-free milk will work (almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, etc.), just make sure it's not flavoured and / or sweetened. (Note: you can leave the milk out if you need a more firm/stiff frosting for piping and decorating).
• Unsalted Vegan Butter - You'll need to use the sticks, not the type that you get in containers / tubs, they'll make your frosting too soft. If you can't find unsalted vegan butter, simply omit the salt from the recipe. I like Melt Sticks and Becel Plant-Based Sticks, but other brands like Earth Balance sticks and Flora will also work well. This ingredient cannot be substituted.

How to Make It

(Note: I’ve outlined the step-by-step on how to make this frosting recipe here, but find the full recipe, ingredients, and directions at the end of this post.)

NOTE: For the best texture and consistency, a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer is best to make your buttercream. If you don't have either, you can still make this quick vegan frosting by hand, just use a wooden spoon, and keep in mind that you'll need to beat it longer to get the proper texture and consistency.

If your powdered sugar has any lumps in it, sift it before starting.

Start by adding the butter and salt to a large bowl and mix until it's smooth and creamy.

Next, gradually add the powdered sugar, making sure you have your mixer on low speed at first to avoid a mess. Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Once the butter and all of the powdered sugar have mixed together thoroughly, add the vanilla extract and mix again at low speed. Again, stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of your bowl.

At this point, your frosting will be very thick, which is good if you'll be using it to pipe decorations onto your cake.

If you want it to be softer, this is the time to add your plant-based milk. Add a teaspoon at a time and after each addition, keep mixing until the buttercream reaches the right consistency. It will get fluffier the more you mix it!

Troubleshooting

While mixing, if you notice that your frosting has split (it looks lumpy and a little separated) either your butter was too warm, your butter was too cold, or you added too much milk.

• To fix buttercream made with butter that was too warm: Put the bowl into the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes so it can cool down. Remove it from the refrigerator and start mixing it again.
• To fix buttercream made with butter that was too cold: Let the bowl sit at room temperature to warm it up a little before moving forward.
• To fix buttercream that has too much milk: Add a little more powdered sugar, a little at a time, until it firms back up and no longer looks separated.

If you prefer a thinner or thicker buttercream, those things are easy to fix, too:

• To fix buttercream that is too thick: Add more milk, a little at a time until you get the consistency you want.
• To fix buttercream that is too thin: Add more powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, until it reaches the thickness you want.

Grainy Buttercream

And finally, to avoid grainy buttercream, do the following:

• always use powdered sugar. Using any type of granulated sugar will result in a grainy buttercream.
• use room temperature lemon juice.
• sift your powdered sugar if it's lumpy. As powdered sugar sits, it can dry out and clump up

To fix graininess, you need to add more moisture. Add a little more room temperature non-dairy milk and mix.

Variations

This easy recipe, made as written, will give you the most delicious vegan vanilla buttercream frosting you've ever had, but another great thing about it is that you can use it as a base for pretty much any flavour, plus, you can also add colour to it.

Different Flavours

• Chocolate - Follow my recipe for Vegan Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.
• Peppermint - Follow my recipe for Peppermint Buttercream Frosting.
• Lemon - Follow my recipe for Lemon Buttercream Frosting.
• Peanut Butter - Follow my recipe for Vegan Peanut Butter Frosting.
• Cream Cheese - Follow my recipe for Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting.
• Strawberry - Follow my recipe for Vegan Strawberry Frosting.
• Cinnamon - Prepare the recipe as written and add in 1 ½ - 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon.
• Pumpkin Spice - Prepare the recipe as written and add in 1 ½ - 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice.

There are countless other flavours you can make using this recipe as a starting point, those listed above happen to be the ones that I have personally made, as I make new flavours, I'll add them here so you can make them, too!

Different Colours

When adding colour to my buttercream, I prefer to use food colour gels rather than water-based food colours. Two vegan gluten-free brands to check out are AmeriColor and Chefmaster.

With gels, the colours are more vibrant, so you’ll use less than if you were using water-based food colour to achieve the same result. Using gels also prevents your buttercream from thinning out.

What to Put It On

This frosting goes great with my chocolate peppermint cupcakes and my homemade chocolate cupcakes. The cinnamon or pumpkin spice variation (see above) can be used on my pumpkin cupcakes.

It can also be used as a vegan cake frosting (vegan chocolate cake, vegan vanilla cake, vegan carrot cake, etc), or for brownies, cookie sandwiches, macarons, whoopie pies, sugar cookies, sandwich cookies, gingerbread cookies, and more. It's also perfect to top cinnamon rolls.

Storage

• If refrigerating for later use, store leftover frosting in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to one week. When ready to use, bring it to room temperature, add to a bowl, and mix with your electric mixer or stand mixer for a couple of minutes to fluff it up before using.
• If freezing for later use, store in an airtight, freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to use, thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Once thawed, bring it to room temperature, add to a bowl, and mix with your electric mixer or stand mixer for a couple of minutes to fluff it up before using.

Once you frost your cake or cupcakes, you can leave them out at room temperature for a day or two, but after that, refrigerate.

Tips for Success

• Always make sure your butter is slightly softened before starting. To make sure your butter is at the right temperature, lightly press your finger into the butter. If it leaves a shallow indent, your butter is at the perfect temperature. If your finger sinks into the butter with barely any effort, your butter is too soft. Refrigerate it until it has firmed up.
• If you find that after you add all the ingredients (except the milk) and mix for about 3-4 minutes that the consistency is good, then no need to add any milk. Milk makes the buttercream smoother and softer, so if a stiff, more firm result is what you want, then feel free to omit the milk.
• If you prefer a more light and fluffy frosting, after adding the milk, continue mixing for about 5-6 minutes.
• If you find that you’ve whipped too long and the icing is too fluffy, give it a few good stirs with a wooden spoon to knock out some of the air pockets and make it a little less fluffy.
• Read this post from beginning to end before making the recipe, it contains lots of tips and tricks on how to make the perfect buttercream frosting, every single time!
• For the very best results, follow the recipe exactly as it’s written and don’t reduce the amount of powdered sugar or butter called for. The recipe can be halved if you need just a very small amount, or doubled if you need more.