5 Minute Easy Mint Buttercream Frosting
Looking for a refreshing and delicious frosting to top your desserts? Look no further than this 5-Minute Easy Mint Buttercream Frosting recipe! It’s made with just six simple ingredients, takes only 5 minutes to prepare, and is perfect for frosting chocolate cupcakes or any other dessert. Plus, it gives your dessert a delicious minty kick that will leave you wanting more.
Mint frosting is a delicious twist on my vanilla frosting recipe. All you need to do is add some peppermint extract and some green food coloring and you are good to go!
If you’ve never made buttercream frosting before, don’t worry! As a trained pastry chef I am here to tell you it’s actually quite simple. Buttercream frosting is just an easy and quick frosting you can make to top cakes and cupcakes.
You’ll cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then, add in your mint extract and green food coloring (optional) and mix until combined. Finally, slowly add in your cream until the frosting is a perfect consistency!
This mint buttercream frosting recipe is so simple and quick to make you’ll want to make it all the time! It’s perfect for frosting mint chocolate cupcakes, filling this peppermint cake or over chocolate chip cupcakes. You can even make it to sandwich between these double chocolate peppermint cookies!
What you need
Making the frosting
Cream the butter and sugar: Add the 1 cup butter and 3 cups confectioners sugar into a bowl of a hand or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for 1 minute. Move to medium speed and beat for another minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl.
Add milk and flavoring: Add the vanilla extract, peppermint extract, green food coloring, and milk and mix again on medium-high speed for 1-2 mins. If the frosting is too thick, add 1 tsp milk at a time until desired consistency. If too thin, add ¼ cup confectioners sugar until desired consistency.
Frost desserts: Fill a piping bag with the frosting and frost with a 1M or 2D Wilton Tip. Or smooth it on with an offset spatula. Frost over 12-15 mint chocolate cupcakes or a 6” chocolate cake. Enjoy!
Frosting Yield
The recipe for this mint frosting can cover a 9×13 sheet cake or fill and frost a 2 layer 8″ cake. If you are making cupcakes it depends on how much frosting you want for each one. Frosting them with a knife will frost 24 cupcakes. If you want to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes you’ll likely get closer to 12-14 cupcakes.
Using green food coloring
You only need a couple drops to achieve the mint color you see here. Remember a little goes a long way! I use a water based food coloring but you can also use gel. Gel food coloring is much more concentrated so you really only need a small dab!
Remember that decorating gel you find in the grocery store is NOT the same as food coloring. Decorating gel is used to write on cakes so make sure to buy the food coloring and not decorating gel.
TIPS FOR RECIPE SUCCESS
- The butter needs to be at room temperature for the frosting to be smooth and creamy. Learn how to soften butter quickly without melting it!
- If you want a minty flavor without the green food coloring, you can leave it out. The food coloring is completely optional!
- Make sure to use peppermint extract and not mint extract. They are two different flavors, and mint extract will not give you the same flavor as peppermint extract.
- Garnish this minty frosting with chopped Andes mints, mini chocolate chips, or green sprinkles!
- Cream or milk can be used to thin out the frosting if it’s too thick. Add one teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. If the frosting is too thin, add more confectioners sugar ¼ cup at a time until desired consistency is reached.
5 Minute Easy Mint Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened 227g
- 3 cups powdered sugar, 360g
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tsp peppermint extract
- 2-3 drops green food coloring
- 2 teaspoons cream, or milk
Instructions
- Add the 1 cup butter and 3 cups confectioners sugar into a bowl of a hand or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for 1 minute.
- Move to medium speed and beat for another minute.
- Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl.
- Add the teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 tsp peppermint extract, 2-3 drops green dye, and 2 teaspoons milk and mix again on medium high speed for 1-2 mins.
- If the frosting is too thick add 1 tsp milk at a time until desired consistency. If too thin, add ¼ cup confectioners sugar until desired consistency.
- Frost over 12-15 cupcakes or a 6” chocolate cake.
I made this frosting for the Fluffy and Moist Mint Chocolate Cupcakes. It is so good! My grandson and son in law LOVE chocolate and mint. They were crazy about them. The frosting is so light and fluffy, light mint flavor. Thank you so much Sam for these 2 recipes! I bought the Andes mints to decorate the same way you did!
Yummmm! I’m craving these now too just reading your comments Teresa. Thank you so much for coming back, rating and leaving a review. It means the world to me.
I halved-this recipe , cut the amount of confectioners sugar and added more cream than called for. The result was very good and not as sweet
So glad that worked well!
Worked beautifully on a chocolate boxed cake, making it into a mint chocolate chip cake. I didn’t have peppermint extract so I used mint extract. No basis for comparison, but it tasted good to us!
Such a good swap, I am so glad you guys loved it!