5 Minute Dairy Free Buttercream Frosting
Finally! A Dairy-Free Buttercream Frosting recipe that actually tastes good and pipes well! This light and fluffy vegan, vanilla buttercream is made from scratch with just four ingredients in less than 5 minutes. It pipes like a dream, perfect for frosting cake, dairy free cupcakes, or even dairy free brownies!
Ready for a dairy free frosting that actually tastes good? As a trained pastry chef and someone who keeps a kosher home, I have made A TON of dairy free desserts- good ones and bad ones!
According to kosher rules, we don’t mix meat and milk together in the same dish, or even at the same meal. If we have a meat meal, we don’t have dairy dessert. Which means I have made lots and lots of dairy free desserts (umm you need to make these dairy free chocolate chip cookies) and this vegan vanilla frosting is a keeper!
This icing recipe is made exactly like my 5 star rated regular vanilla frosting, except the butter and the milk are swapped out for plant based or dairy free versions.
Its fluffy, thick, and holds it’s shaped when piped. It’s super delicious on top of these dairy free cupcakes that are made with oil instead of butter.
Make frosting feel easy, finally.
Struggling to pipe pretty cupcakes or fix frosting that won’t cooperate? My frosting guide gives you simple techniques, recipes, and tutorials so you can frost with confidence every time.
If youre craving a chocolate version, don’t worry, I gotchu! Try my dairy free chocolate frosting! Make sure to save it for another time!
Best dairy free butter and plant based milk to use
Dairy Free butter- Personally I love using the Earth Balance baking sticks. You can also buy the tub of Earth balance but its harder to measure out and I find that it melts quicker than the sticks. You can get them at any grocery store.
I have also been experimenting with Country Crock Plant based butter sticks and I like those too!
Plant based milk– I don’t love drinking oat milk but I LOVE using it in baking recipes because it has a creamier consistency than soy or rice milk. I also like using coconut cream.
How to make it
Recipe tips
- Dairy free butter melts quicker than dairy butter so you only need to leave it out to soften for a few minutes. 5-10 minutes is great.
- If the frosting is too thick, mix in one tablespoon of dairy-free milk at a time until it’s soft and silky.
- Be sure the dessert you’re frosting is cooled completely to room temperature. Otherwise, the frosting will melt and slide right off.
Notes on Decorating
This icing pipes well onto both cupcakes and cakes and will hold its shape for a while at room temperature but will soften a bit if left out for a long time (3 hours+).
It will crust like a regular dairy frosting will and does not need to be refrigerated once it is frosted on a cake. Again it will be softer than a dairy frosting but it wont melt off the cake or anything!
5 Minute Dairy Free Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegan butter, such as Earth Balance (227g)
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar, 415g
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, can add 1/2 a vanilla bean too
- 2 teaspoons oat milk, Sub soy or coconut milk
Instructions
- Add the vegan butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- Mix on low-medium speed for 30 seconds.
- Stop the mixer, add in the 3 1/2 cups sugar, and turn the dial to the lowest mixing setting so powdered sugar spill out of the sides.
- Move to a higher speed when the sugar is more incorporated.
- Move to high speed for 2 minutes, then stop the mixer and add in 1 tsp vanilla and 2 tsp dairy free milk.
- Mix again on high for 1 minute.
- Frost on the cupcakes or refrigerate right away.
- Keep the cupcakes in the fridge before serving, the frosting can soften at room temperature.
I made this with Earth Balance vegan butter, but the frosting came out salty. Is there anything I can do to correct for it? To balance it out? Should I add more powdered sugar?
Hi Jessica, ah thats frustrating- you can do a few things- you can add some more powdered sugar and milk to bulk it up more, or you can try adding a couple drops of lemon juice to try and neutralize it. If you want to change the flavor you can add some cocoa powder or some cream cheese to it too to help take on some more depth- though if youre using a plant based butter Im assuming a cream cheese is out.
I use to do cakes and would frost/decorate and freeze and the cakes would always come out so moist. Â Can you frost cupcakes ahead of time and freeze with this dairy free recipe?
Yes you totally can!
I used the Earth Balance butter as suggested and, wow, it was SO salty. Not good. I compensated by adding a ton more confectioners sugar plus more oat milk, and then it was just ok.
Oh no, sorry about that! You’re actually the second person to mention Earth Balance coming out salty recently, so I’m going to look into it and add a note to the post. Earth Balance does make an unsalted version of their sticks, so that would be the way to go next time. A few people have also had great results with the Country Crock plant based sticks if you want to try those. Adding more powdered sugar was the right instinct, and a couple drops of lemon juice can help neutralize it too. Thanks for letting me know!
I used the suggested butter brand it the frosting was disgustingly salty. I added a ton more confectioner’s sugar and some more oat milk, and it turned out OK.
So sorry about that! You’re the third person to mention Earth Balance coming out salty. It sounds like they might have changed the formula so I’m looking into it. They do make an unsalted version of the sticks, and the Country Crock plant based sticks have worked really well for others too. Glad you were able to save it, and thanks for letting me know!
Oops, sorry, I didn’t mean to write 2 reviews. The first time it appeared to not let me. I don’t know how to delete it. Anyway, I couldn’t find an unsalted vegan butter at my store. I’m sure it’s better with unsalted!
So good to know Karrie! Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know that you just weren’t able to find the unsalted version.
I give this recipe a 5 star rating…it was fabulous! I needed a dairy free icing to decorate my granddaughter’s 1st birthday cake with 50+people in attendance at the party with several people having serious dairy allergies. I followed this recipe to the letter for quantities (I ended up needing 3 batches), however, I always have country crock w/olive oil sticks on hand so I used those, and used Ripple pea protein milk alternative. It was very creamy and delicious. So many people commented on the cake and how delicious the icing was!! This recipe has already been printed and in my recipe book and it’s been shared with others! Bravo!!
Ahhh this made my whole day! Happy 1st birthday to your granddaughter, and how special that you were able to make something everyone at the party could enjoy safely. So good to know the Country Crock olive oil sticks and Ripple pea protein milk worked beautifully, I’m sure that’ll help so many other people who come looking for a dairy free option. Thank you so much for the 5 star rating and for taking the time to share all of this, and for passing the recipe along too. It means so much to me!