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Buttercream Frosting, light as air and not too sweet. Perfect topping for cupcakes, cakes, and cookies, an all-purpose frosting for your baking needs!
This is one of the best and most all-purpose frostings that you will come across. The best things in life are simple!
HERE IS WHAT OUR READERS ARE SAYING:
“I ran out of meringue powder so I tried your recipe. Loved it! Turned out light and fluffy.” – Dawn
Because, I read a lot before coming up with this recipe about people and their love for American buttercream frosting and also bad things about it not working out properly.
I’ve seen the same complaints about these points on different occasions; sometimes it just comes out overly sweet. Other times it is too thick or even too runny.
However, I finally put together the best (to me and quite a few in the comments below, thanks guys!) recipe for the Best Fluffy Frosting. We want the perfect fluffy consistency, right?
We have been making this frosting for many years now and it has yet to fail us, it is our go-to frosting for pretty much anything and we rarely stray from it unless it’s a different type.
It’s the easiest way to level up your flavor game! From sheet cake to sugar cookies, it’s one of the best recipes.
This Buttercream Frosting is just light, fluffy, airy, and absolutely delicious, it has the perfect balance of flavors that you will absolutely come to love. Simple ingredients too!
Some of my other favorite frostings that we have on our site include Chocolate Malt Buttercream Frosting, Brown Sugar Frosting and Cream Cheese Frosting.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- With only 5 staple ingredients this homemade frosting recipe is super easy to put together.
- You can halve or double this batch depending on your frostings needs.
- This classic buttercream frosting works on all different types of desserts and is very stable and perfect for piping, frosting, or filling.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR THE FULL RECIPE CARD):
- Unsalted butter
- Powdered sugar
- Salt
- Vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- Milk
HOW TO MAKE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
- Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
- Mix at low speed until smooth and fluffy, for about a minute.
- Add the sifted powdered sugar a spoonful at a time over medium-low speed. Keep doing this until all of the sugar is added, scraping down the sides as necessary.
- Add the salt and stir to combine,
- Next, add in the vanilla and stir again to combine.
- Lastly, add the milk and whip the frosting for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
It reminds me a lot of that whipped store-bought frosting you can just go and buy.
Those are normally made with whipping cream but not this one.
This has traditional homemade Buttercream frosting ingredients but I think what really sets it apart is the way you add everything into the mixing bowl.
Butter. Powdered Sugar. Vanilla. Milk and a pinch of salt… that’s it! Easy. I
really took my time to perfect this buttercream frosting recipe and I hope you enjoy it too!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS RECIPE:
HOW TO MAKE FROSTING LESS SWEET?
When baking unsalted butter is the best way to go unless otherwise stated in a recipe.
But, the addition of salt to recipes is what helps to counteract the sweetness.
It’s really about your personal preference. So, use that unsalted butter for this recipe BUT, make sure to add in just a pinch of kosher salt.
Not too sweet, not salty at all, just the perfect classic vanilla buttercream!
A few cups of frosting will always make your day better. Bring on the confectioners sugar!
By the way, whipping in those little air pockets makes the frosting lighter which can also counteract some of the sweetness.
TOOLS USED TO MAKE FLUFFY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
Now while we like to use a stand mixer, this can be made with a hand-mixer as well if you do not own a stand mixer.
We have made it several times with a hand mixer.
While the paddle attachment is nice, we realize that not everyone has the luxury of owning a stand mixer, so do not fret!
You can use a hand-mixer for this recipe, it will just take a little longer.
WHY DO YOU SIFT THE POWDERED SUGAR?
Powdered sugar absorbs moisture from the air, forming hardened lumps so you will usually see those lumps in the bag or in a storage container.
That can affect the texture of your frosting.
Sifting the icing sugar removes the lumps and makes the sugar fluffier by adding air into the sugar itself.
HOW TO STORE:
There are many ways to store the best buttercream frosting recipe:
Refrigerator:
If you are not going to frost your cake, cupcakes, or cookies right away, place the Buttercream in an air-tight container. Place the container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Warning though, since there is butter in the recipe, the frosting will harden up. Let the frosting warm up a little and place it back into the stand mixer and whip until you get the desired consistency. This will only take a minute or two.
With it’s high sugar content, you can store your frosting in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Room Temperature:
This is a great debate. Once you make and decorate with frosting recipes for cupcakes or cakes, what do you do with them?
Do they need to be refrigerated or can they stay on the counter? That is a question that we get a lot from people!
Even though buttercream icing has both butter and milk in it, it can stay at room temperature for two to three days according to the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Services. It can stay out because of the high amount of sugar in the frosting, it is a preservative.
Freezer:
Vanilla frosting stores perfectly well in the freezer, if you are making ahead of time for later use or if you have some leftover just place it in an airtight container and it should keep for up to 3 months.
To defrost you can remove it to the refrigerator or to the countertop depending on when you are going to be using it!
DANA’S TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Use only unsalted butter for buttercream and add actual salt in, this balances out the flavor.
- Sifting your powdered sugar is a must, it helps add the air and fluffiness you want to achieve when making this recipe.
- Use only real butter. No, margerine will never work!
- This can be frozen, see my tips above on how to do that.
- This is an all-purpose basic buttercream recipe, it can be used for piping, frosting, filling, etc.
Been searching high and low for that perfect Buttercream Frosting? Look no further!
You have to make this recipe ASAP and you will see why all the reviews are amazing!
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
If you’ve tried this BUTTERCREAM FROSTING let me know in the comments how it turned out! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!
The Best Fluffy Buttercream Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar sifted
- pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or clear vanilla extract* or extract flavor of your choice
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.1 cup unsalted butter
- Mix at low speed until smooth and fluffy, for about a minute.
- Add the sifted powdered sugar a spoonful at a time over medium-low speed. Keep doing this until all of the sugar is added, scraping down the sides as necessary.4 cups powdered sugar
- Add the salt and stir to combine.pinch salt
- Next, add in the vanilla and stir again to combine.1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or clear vanilla extract*
- Lastly, add the milk and whip the frosting for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.2 tablespoons milk
Video
Notes
- Make sure to use clear vanilla if you want a pure white buttercream.
- Use only unsalted butter for buttercream and add actual salt in, this balances out the flavor.
- Sifting your powdered sugar is a must, it helps add the air and fluffiness you want to achieve when making this recipe.
- Use only real butter. No, margerine will never work!
- This can be frozen, see my tips above on how to do that.
- This is an all-purpose basic buttercream recipe, it can be used for piping, frosting, filling, etc.
Nutrition
Love This Recipe?
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Can I use this to pipe cupcakes? I need it a bit stiff and not too soft.
It works great on layer cakes. I used it for several and it was a hit. 🙂 I do leave out the milk though when using it on a cake so its a bit stiffer.
How did this icing hold up decorating your Barbie cake? And did you double it? I am doing one for this weekend and was hoping to use this recipe! Thanks in advance!
I believe a multi-layer cake would work well with this frosting. I’ve never crumb coated with it, but I think it would work perfectly!
Can I use this to make a multi-layer. cake? Is it too fluffy that the frosting layers will collapse? How is this with crumb coating? Thanks
No, I don’t think it will look like the 7-minute frosting, sorry!
I’m looking for a frosting recipe that I can put on a cake to look fluffy like a cloud similar to the 7 minute frosting. Would the consistency of this frosting be able to look like this? Thanks in advance
I was so discouraged after making my first buttercream (random recipe) in my new mixer. It was heavy and waaaaaaaay to sweet, I actually had to toss it because the smell made me nauseous. And then I found this recipe, and it has changed my baking life. This frosting was so easy, and RIDICULOUSLY fluffy. And Not. Too. Sweet. It reminds me of the frosting found on sheet cakes at publix, but better. I could eat that stuff out of a bucket. Its airy, creamy, has a little touch of sweet that is PERFECT. I didnt think frosting could get this perfect without doing some fancy egg white thing like on food network. I cannot rave enough, this frosting needs to be the standard for anyone who eats buttercream on stuff. This recipe is magical. Thank you for sharing.
Quisiera saber en grs la cantidad de mantequila. Gracias desee Uruguay
Use ground freeze-dried strawberries instead. They add no moisture! Works great.
You can, but there is so little milk used, I don’t think the strawberry flavor would be strong enough. If you do do that, I would add strawberry extract as well.
I want to make this frosting with frozen strawberries. What do you think about substituting the milk with strawberries to reduce the liquid content?
Thanks! Instead of 4 Cups of powdered sugar, sift 3 & 1/2 cups powdered sugar with 1/2 cup of cocoa powder for chocolate buttercream. For lemon, I would only use lemon extract and start with 1/2 teaspoon, taste and add more to your liking.
This looks like a great recipe, and I plan to try it tomorrow. I have two questions, though. One: how much cocoa powder should I add to make it a chocolate buttercream? and Two: can I add lemon to it to make a lemon frosting? If so how? Zest, juice, extract? How much?
Thank you very much. I look forward to hearing from you.
Awesome!!! I just made this icing taking care to sift the confectioners sugar and whip the softened butter. Then adding a little bit at a time the sugar to the butter It is the lightest, fluffiest icing. Just wonderful!!! Thank you!