5 Minute Decadent Brownie Frosting
If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to take your brownies up a notch, then you must try this 5 Minute Decadent Brownie Frosting recipe. This rich chocolate frosting is smooth, velvety, and absolutely delicious! It takes just 5 minutes to make, and it will add a layer of wow to your brownies that everyone will love.
I love enjoying a good homemade brownie- especially a super fudgy one. But sometimes they need a little something extra to take them over the top.
That’s where this insanely delicious brownie frosting comes in. It’s the perfect finishing touch to any brownie recipe. Of course if you’re making brownies, you should make these one bowl brownies! This is the recipe I used for these pictures!
You could also top this icing on top of red velvet brownies, or sandwich it between chocolate brownie cookies. Ok I am drooling now!
This brownie icing will give your brownies a beautiful glossy sheen and a delicious chocolate flavor that will take them to the next level. As a trained pastry chef– trust me when I say it’s the perfect addition to any brownie recipe!
The great thing about this is that you can make this as thin or thick as you want.
Learn how to thicken frosting quickly to make it any way you want. If you have a bit more time and want something closer to buttercream then you can make this chocolate ganache frosting.
Ingredients you need
What I love about this recipe is that you don’t need to melt any chocolate.
It’s so frustrating when you have to melt chocolate in the microwave and it over-heats. I know I can make a double boiler but I find that annoying sometimes, especially when I’m trying to make a quick frosting!
How to make brownie frosting in 5 minutes
Use it to frost cooled brownies immediately. The frosting will harden on the top as it sets leaving a creamy texture underneath.
Cutting and Serving
Wait 5-10 minutes before cutting the brownies after frosting, so that the icing hardens and you can make clean cuts.
The best way to cut brownies is to use a large sharp knife. Dip it in hot water, then wipe off the excess and slice the brownies. Clean the knife and repeat with the water. The residual warmth of the knife from the hot water will make nice clean cuts!
Recipe Tips
- Use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to smooth the frosting on brownies
- When melting the butter, make sure it’s not too hot. Use 30-second intervals in the microwave and whisk in between each interval.
- If your brownie frosting is too thick, add a little more milk until it reaches the desired consistency.
- If your brownie frosting is too thin, add a little more cocoa powder or confectioners sugar until it reaches the desired consistency.
- Be sure to use unsalted butter in this recipe so the brownie frosting doesn’t end up too salty.
- When frosting your brownies, make sure they are fully cooled before frosting. This will make sure that the frosting doesn’t melt off of the brownie from the heat.
5 Minute Decadent Brownie Frosting
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted, 56g
- ⅓ cup cocoa, 35g
- 2 cups confectioners sugar, 227g
- 3 tbsp milk
Instructions
- In a large microwavable safe bowl melt the butter 30 seconds at a time until fully melted.
- Add in the ⅓ cup cocoa powder and whisk until smooth.
- Add in the 2 cups of confectioners sugar and 3 tbsp milk.
- Whisk until smooth and frost right away otherwise it will harden.
- Use it to frost these one bowl brownies!
I’ve made this frosting a couple of times now and can say it works well and is pretty easy to mix up even by hand. I do have some comments though. First don’t make the mistake I made, where it says to whisk do not use a whisk or everything will just end up inside the whisk unmixed, just stir it together real well making sure to break up clumps. Second, if you’re taking too long working with this and it’s starting to set you can put it back in the microwave for 15 seconds to soften it up again. Third, for a bit of extra flavor try sour creme instead of milk. Fourth, this will make enough frosting to cover a 9×13 pan of brownie but you may have to stretch it a little. Lastly, if you’re the type who likes infused baked goods using this frosting on brownies allows you to infuse the brownies, the frosting, or both for dosing options.
Thanks for making this Will! I like to use a whisk because it breaks up any lumps in the powdered sugar and when using a spatula thats not the case. Glad it works for you!
If I could give this 10 stars I would! This truly is a five minute recipe, from gathering the supplies to making this delicious frosting. I have even used it on a yellow cake recipe and everyone loved it, I just doubled the recipe.
Thank you so much for sharing this!
YAYAYAYAYAYAY This is the best review, thank you so much Tia!! So glad you enjoyed- putting it on cake is a great idea, I might copy from you haha! Thank you so much for letting me know and for the 5 star review!
Awesome recipe. I made mine with creamed strong coffee and I frosted peanut butter cookies. They were soooo rich and fudgy.
Ohh that sounds amazing Regina! Thank you for sharing that and the 5 star review!
Not a review, but a question. I need to frost some brownies the day before serving them. If I use this frosting, will I need to refrigerate since recipe includes milk? I added a 5 star review, so I wouldn’t lower the average.
Thank you Gail, I truly appreciate the 5 star rating! No need to refrigerate, it will be fine at room temp. The frosting hardens quickly so its best to make and frost as soon as the brownies are cool. Enjoy!
Love this recipe! 😍 Delicious!
Thank you so much!
5 Star Winner!! Thank you!!
Thank you so much Angelica!
Great frosting recipe for brownies! I have a great brownie recipe that I love and this frosting was so easy and definitely adds to an already really good brownie recipe. Love it! Thanks so much!
Wohoo! Thank you Ivy! So appreciate you making this recipe!
Wow, this brownie frosting is absolutely amazing – saving it for future use! It was enough to cover my 9.5 x 9.5 pan of brownies. Thank you!
Thank you Sandy!!! So glad you loved it! Thank you so much for the 5 star rating!
Very tasty and easy! I increased the amount by half – so 3/4 cup butter, 3 cups sugar, 4.5T milk, 1/2 cup chocolate. It was the perfect amount for 9×13 pan of brownies. The frosting crusts over nicely, which is my preferred texture on frosted brownies.
I love that texture to Ashley! Thank you so much for making (and loving!) this recipe!
Would it be okay if I reduced the powdered sugar amount? If so, how much powdered sugar would I put in?
Hi Leah, I wouldnt decrease it too much as the powdered sugar is the base of the recipe, if you tweak it too much, it might not taste or work great as a frosting. It could become too liquidy.
Absolutely delicious and easy! Thank you!
Thank you so much for making this Janet! So glad you loved it!
So easy and quick!
It tasted yummy on my brownies!
YAY thank you so much for making it!
Amazing recipe! Soo gosh darn tasty! I’m going to make some brownies with this frosting along with some red white and blue sprinkles for a 4th of July pool party next week! Thank you so much!
What a fun idea Lora! Maybe I should do that too! Thank you so much!
This is excellent, the only thing I added was a teaspoon of instant coffee grounds, which I dissolved by heating the 3TBS of milk and stirring it in the milk. It made this the best chocolate frosting I’ve ever had.
Yummmm Lori! I’ll have to try adding instant coffee grounds too! Thank you so much for letting me know that it worked so well for you!
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Thank you so much for the rating Tamara! How did the texture end up turning out for you?
This is fabulously delicious! The description of “velvety smooth” is 100% accurate. I doubled the recipe for a 9×13 pan of brownies.
I’m so glad you loved it Nancy! Thank you so much for coming back and leaving a review. It means the world to me.
My fave go-to frosting. Super tasty and fast to make.
Yay Cheryl! I’m so happy you love it! What have you put the frosting on so far? Something super yummy I hope!
I did not see the brownies they all talked about please post it so i can have it Thank you.
Here’s the link Judy! It’s my one bowl brownie recipe: https://frostingandfettuccine.com/one-bowl-brownies/
So good! I made it for the first time (doubled the recipe) for two batches of brownies, one with walnuts and one without. I poked a bunch of holes on the top of the brownies so the frosting could soak in. The brownies were super moist and it exceeded my expectations. This will be my go to recipe! I took these to work for a coworker’s birthday and they didn’t last. One coworker said they were fire.🤣🙌💯 Just be sure to use Kerrygold butter to get the best results.
Awww Heather – your comment absolutely just made my day! Thank you and tell your coworker thank you too!
I didn’t make the brownies, but I did make the frosting and used it for boxed brownies. The frosting was fantastic, I did add a tsp of vanilla with the melted butter and cocoa which really just added another level of richness to the other flavors. Nice thick frosting, yet very spreadable and dried nicely as well.
Totally ok in my book to just make the frosting Carrol! I’m so, so glad it turned out well for you!!!
LOL. Couldn’t read the recipe due to the pop up ads.
I’m so sorry about that Lisa! Were you on desktop or mobile? I have them set to be pretty minimal on the website and I don’t usually get feedback that they are blocking the content so if you have any more details about what type of device you were using that can help troubleshoot things on my end.
Super chocolate brownie frosting! Perfect balance of ingredients, which is not always easy to find. Also, I tend to make 8 x 8 brownie recipes so this was exactly the right amount.
“Perfect balance of ingredients” – WOW Leslie! What an incredible compliment. I’m saving this one in my smile file. Thank you so much for coming back and leaving a review too!
Hi I made this and the frosting came out soapy do you know how I can fix that, what coco powder brand did you use?
Hey Karina, do you mean soupy? The frosting should be thick so you may have added too much liquid- I would add more powdered sugar next time. I use Hersheys or Ghirardelli brand cocoa powder
Lol not a review, just more of a question. I’m planning on making these for Halloween Party I’m throwing and I was wondering if black food coloring can be added to the frosting for a more “bat” like coloring!
SO FUN! Yes you totally can do that BUT with I would actually get black cocoa instead and use that instead of the regular cocoa powder. This way you avoid dyes but also you don’t run the risk of changing the consistency of the frosting because sometimes you need a lot of dye to get a deep black. With black cocoa powder it wont be a problem. You can find it on amazon! PLEASE let me know how it comes out!!
I made brownies, at the last minute, when some unexpected company showed up at my house. The frosting was amazing! It literally took 5 minutes and was super delicious! I had to throw away the excess because I would shamefully eat it by itself.
Yay Debbie! I’m so glad this was super quick and easy to make. It’s always so stressful when company shows up at the last minute. I hope this helped ease some of the stress!
The PERFECT frosting! This stuff is sooooo good! If you’ve been looking through recipe after recipe for the most delicious chocolate frosting you can find on the internet, you just found it. Trust me, stop looking and go make this NOW. You’ll thank me later. Thanks for sharing!
Aww Shelia – wow this is such an incredible review! You just melted me heart into an oozy puddle of warm goodness. I’m so happy you love the frosting and thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know!
This is very good c and easy to make.
Thank you Sharon, its one of my favorites!!
It did not say but I am assuming the brownies that you use this Frosty icing on should be totally cooled. Is that correct.
Yes!
OK…yum! Took me no more than 5 minutes to pull off this frosting, including measuring out the ingredients. Delicious! I 1-1/2 timed the batch and it was just right for a 13 x 9″ pan of brownies (with enough left for the hubs to clean the bowl and whisk). Also, I added 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla cuz I can never leave well enough alone. I happened to have unsalted butter on hand but I think this would be just fine with salted butter. (I often sprinkle coarse sea or Kosher salt on my desserts to offset the sweetness anyway.) Thanks for a simple and perfect recipe.
Hi Dj! Thank you so much for letting me know how this came out, so glad it worked for your brownies! Adding vanilla and coffee sound like a great idea, I might try it for next time. Thank you so much also for the 5 star rating!
I baked brownies with my granddaughter for the first time and she wanted frosting on her brownies. I am NOT a fan of frosting on brownies or cookies but my granddaughter wanted it; so after looking at numerous recipes for frosting I came across your recipe and I am glad I did. The frosting was delicious! My granddaughter started eating it before putting it on the brownies lol. I had some leftover and put it in the freezer for my next baking project. I would love to pipe this frosting on cupcakes. I noticed you told a previous commenter that the frosting is pipeable but won’t hold its shape. How can I make this pipable for cupcakes?
What a fun grandmother you are Charese! I’m so glad you liked this recipe, thank you so much for the 5 star rating! Unfortunately this frosting won’t hold up its shape- I would actually make this chocolate fudge frosting of this chocolate buttercream instead. Those both have the deep chocolate flavor but will hold up to piping!