If you need a quick an easy cupcake frosting recipe you have come to the right place! This collection of over 15 cupcake icing recipes gives you so many flavors and variations to try. Plus they are all made in 5 minutes or less. From classic vanilla buttercream to tangy cream cheese frosting, you can’t go wrong with any of these!

4 photos of different cupcakes in a grid.
All of these icing recipes are easy to make!

Cupcakes are always such a huge hit for any occasion because they are generally easier to make than a whole cake, plus kids love them! They are also individually sized so they are much easier to serve.

And when you bake cupcakes, you also need delicious and easy cupcake frosting recipes to go with it! As a trained pastry chef, I have made literally hundreds of cupcake icing recipes over the last 10 years. Read on to find 15 of my favorite ones- the best part is they are all made in 5 minutes or less! It doesnt get easier than that!

Pro tip- All these cupcake frosting recipes require softened butter. If your butter is cold, learn how to soften butter quickly so you can get back to frosting your cupcakes ASAP!

Vanilla frosting in a glass jar on a plate.

Easy Vanilla Frosting

4.98 stars (44 ratings)
This classic vanilla frosting recipe is light and fluffy and super easy to make. This easy recipe is perfect for beginners and will frost 12-15 cupcakes or fill and frost a 9″ 2 layer cake or a sheet cake.
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Chocolate buttercream swirled in a bowl with two spoons inside.

Fluffy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

5 stars (2 ratings)
This Fluffy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting is the perfect frosting for cupcakes, cakes, or icing your favorite desserts. It is made with cocoa powder and has a deliciously decadent chocolate flavor that everyone will love. Plus, it’s easy to make, and easy to store!
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A cupcake frosted with dairy free frosting and sprinkles.

Dairy Free Cupcake Frosting

5 stars (14 ratings)
Finally! A Dairy-Free Cupcake Frosting recipe for all of your vegan dessert decorating needs! This light and fluffy vegan buttercream is made from scratch with just four ingredients in less than 5 minutes. It pipes like a dream, perfect for frosting vegan cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies and more!
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A close up of a bowl with marshmallow frosting swirled inside

Marshmallow Cupcake Icing

4.85 stars (32 ratings)
This Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting recipe is so fluffy and super easy to make. Its the perfect cupcake icing! It is made with marshmallow fluff and is sweet, creamy and delicious any time of year!
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A strawberry lemon cupcake sitting on a white plate on a yellow surface.

Easy Strawberry Cupcake Frosting

5 stars (1 rating)
This lemon cupcake is topped with a strawberry cupcake frosting that is made with butter, powdered sugar, strawberry jam, and milk. It only takes a few minutes to mix up and it pipes beautifully on top of cupcakes!
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A bowl of mint frosting top with chopped andes mints.

Mint Cupcake Frosting

5 stars (6 ratings)
This Easy Mint Buttercream frosting is made with just six simple ingredients, takes only 5 minutes to prepare, and is perfect for frosting mint cupcakes or chocolate cupcakes. Plus, it gives a delicious minty kick that will leave you wanting more.
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Coffee frosting in a small bowl on a marble backdrop

Coffee Cupcake Icing

4.81 stars (21 ratings)
This coffee buttercream frosting is fluffy, delicious, and amazingly easy to make at home. The recipe uses instant coffee, softened butter, powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp of milk. It’s packed with coffee flavor is a delicious coffee frosting for coffee cupcakes!
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A blueberry cupcake topped with blueberry buttercream frosting.

Blueberry Frosting Recipe

5 stars (3 ratings)
This blueberry cupcake frosting recipe takes only 5 minutes to make! It is made with freeze dried blueberries for a rich purple color and blueberry taste. No need to boil anything down! This frosting pairs perfectly with blueberry cupcakes, or any kind of lemon dessert.
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Espresso buttercream in a mason jar next to 3 unfrosted cupcakes

Espresso Frosting

5 stars (2 ratings)
This espresso buttercream frosting has only 5 ingredients and is the perfect frosting to put on top of chocolate cupcakes or espresso cupcakes. It is super fluffy and pipes easily too! You will absolutely love this if you love coffee desserts.
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Strawberry buttercream frosting in a bowl on a white background

Strawberry Frosting

5 stars (4 ratings)
This Strawberry Buttercream Frosting is fluffy and creamy, with a delicious natural strawberry flavor. Best of all, it’s easy to make from scratch! All you need are a few simple ingredients along with freeze-dried strawberries to make a fruity and sweet cupcake icing!
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One Oreo Cupcake on a blue plate garnished with an Oreo.

Oreo Cupcake Frosting

5 stars (1 rating)
This Oreo cookie cupcake frosting has crushed up Oreo's inside and tastes just like a cookies n cream frosting. Its quick and easy to make, especially over Oreo cupcakes!
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Cream cheese frosting in a bowl on a blue surface with spoons next to it.

Cream Cheese Cupcake Frosting You Can Pipe

4.67 stars (3 ratings)
This cream cheese buttercream frosting is the perfect icing for cakes, cupcakes, and cookie sandwiches. It isn’t runny at all and can even hold still while piped on cupcakes. There are only a few simple ingredients in this versatile recipe, it will be your new go to!
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Caramel buttercream swirled in a wooden bowl with a spoon sticking out

5 Minute Fluffy Caramel Buttercream Frosting


5 stars (3 ratings)
This caramel buttercream frosting is super fluffy and ready to pipe in only 5 minutes! Made with only a few simple pantry ingredients, this icing is perfectly sweet to top your favorite cupcakes.
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A marble cupcake with it's liner peeled down.

Marble Cupcake Icing

5 stars (7 ratings)
Marble cupcake frosting is made from combining vanilla and chocolate buttercream frosting together in a piping bag and swirling it on top of cupcakes. It looks harder than it actually is, and can be done by beginners!
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Bright pink raspberry frosting in a bowl on a pink surface surrounded by piping tips

Raspberry Cupcake Frosting

5 stars (2 ratings)
Do you love the tart, sweet flavor of raspberries? If so, then you’re going to love this raspberry frosting recipe! Using freeze-dried raspberries and a few simple ingredients, you can create a delicious frosting that is perfect for piping on to cupcakes!
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Lemon buttercream in a white bowl on a pink surface with a lemon slice in it.

Lemon Icing

5 stars (1 rating)
This lemon buttercream frosting has serious flavor to it! It’s made with both fresh lemon juice and lemon zest for that extra flavor punch. This icing is perfect to add to all your spring cupcake recipes, especially lemon cupcakes!
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An overhead view of white frosting in a pink bowl on a yellow surface surrounded by shredded coconut.

Coconut Cupcake Frosting

4.94 stars (30 ratings)
This Coconut Buttercream Frosting is super fluffy and will add that tropical flare you are looking for to all your cakes and cupcakes! Just combine some simple ingredients like coconut milk, sugar, and butter, and you’ll be ready to frost in no time! This is the best frosted on top of coconut cupcakes!
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A vanilla cupcake topped with chocolate frosting.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

5 stars (7 ratings)
This 5 Minute Rich Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting is the perfect frosting recipe for your cupcakes! It’s quick, easy, and absolutely delicious. The frosting is made with cocoa powder and is thick, creamy, and has a slightly tangy flavor that comes from softened cream cheese, making it the perfect way to top rich chocolatey cupcakes.
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Cupcake Frosting Tips

  • To make your cupcakes look more professional, use piping bags and decorating tips to frost. My favorite decorating tip, and the one I have used on most of my cupcakes is the 1M tip from Wilton.
  • If your frosting is too thick, the general rule is to add 1-2 tsp at a time of milk or cream to thin it out.
  • If the frosting is too thin, then add 1/4 cup powdered sugar at a time, mixing in between until you get to the right consistency.
  • You can easily color frosting by using a water based or gel food coloring. Remember a little bit goes a long way, so start with a small amount and work up from there!

How to store cupcake frosting

Storing frosting is super easy to do! If you are making it only 1-2 days in advance you can store it in an airtight container at room temperature. Or you can fill a piping bag and cover the tip with a paper towel and leave it overnight on your counter.

If you are making it a few days (3-5) in advance then store it in a container in the fridge. It will harden up so make sure to take it out 1 hour before you need to use.

You might have to rewhip it in the mixer to fluff it up a bit.

Freezing

To freeze icing, dump it on top of plastic wrap and wrap it up well. There’s no need to use a bowl, just the plastic wrap. Store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge or counter and re whip in the mixer.

4 photos of different cupcakes in a grid.
5 stars (1 rating)

15+ Quick and Easy Cupcake Frosting Recipes Including Chocolate Cupcake Frosting

If you need a quick an easy cupcake frosting recipe you have come to the right place! This collection of over 15 cupcake icing recipes gives you so many flavors and variations to try. Plus they are all made in 5 minutes or less. From classic vanilla buttercream to tangy cream cheese frosting, you can't go wrong with any of these!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (227g)
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, (65g)
  • 3 cups powdered sugar, (340g)
  • 1 tsp black brewed coffee, optional, but gives great depth of flavor
  • 1 tbsp cream , add 1 tbsp more if needed

Instructions
 

  • Chocolate and butter mixture in a stainless steel mixer bowl.
    In the bowl of a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add in the 1 cup butter, and ⅔ cup cocoa powder and mix on medium speed for 1 minute until light and fluffy.
  • Add in the 3 cups of powdered sugar and mix on low-medium speed until combined, about another minute. Make sure to start on low so the powdered sugar doesn't blow everywhere.
  • Chocolate buttercream swirled in a bowl with two spoons inside.
    Add in the coffee if using, and the heavy cream starting with 1 tbsp at a time. Mix on medium- high speed for 2 minutes.
  • Add the other tablespoon of heavy cream if you want the frosting thinner.
  • A chocolate cupcake with piped chocolate buttercream on a turned over metal tray.
    Pipe on top of your cupcakes!

Notes

All these frostings require softened butter. If your butter is cold learn how to soften butter quickly!
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 267kcal, Carbohydrates: 33g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 16g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 42mg, Sodium: 4mg, Potassium: 79mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 29g, Vitamin A: 491IU, Vitamin C: 0.01mg, Calcium: 12mg, Iron: 1mg
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