Vanilla Frosting Recipe (with Half the Butter!)

This vanilla frosting recipe is perfectly sweet, ultra-creamy, and incredibly smooth. Unlike classic recipes, this one uses half the butter, giving it a fluffier texture while still being stable enough for tiered cakes, easy to pipe, and simple to smooth. It comes together in minutes and is totally beginner-friendly! This will quickly become your new go-to vanilla buttercream frosting recipe!

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS VANILLA FROSTING

The best American Buttercream Recipe does exist. There are a ton of amazing buttercream recipes out there, but trust me, this one is different. It’s an easy-to-follow recipe creating a delicious, perfectly white, smooth and creamy, stable buttercream and has taken me years to perfect.

After many sticks of butter, bags and bags of powdered sugar, and months of trial and error, I finally crafted, what I believe to be, the best vanilla frosting recipe. The butter to powdered sugar ratio is what makes this recipe an absolute stand out, and I’m going to show you how to make it!

A few more reasons to fall in love:

• Easily Smooths
• Minimal Air Bubbles
• Pipeable
• Bright White
• Stable
• Smooth & Creamy
• Delicious, of course!
• Provides a Solid Foundation for Tiered Cakes
• Egg-Free (My son, Brady, is highly allergic, and it’s important to our family for him to be able to enjoy desserts we make in our home.)

INGREDIENTS FOR THIS VANILLA FROSTING RECIPE

• Electric Hand Mixer

  (affiliate)

  (or)
• Stand Mixer with the Paddle Attachment
• Unsalted Butter
• Powdered Sugar
• Vanilla Extract (I use Magnolia Baking Company)
• Heavy Cream or Milk
• White Gel Food Coloring

  (affiliate)

  (optional)
• Silicone Spatula
• Measuring Spoons
• Salt
• Food Scale (Optional, but highly recommended!)

TIPS FOR BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

This American buttercream frosting is super easy to make, and nearly fail-proof in my opinion. But sometimes we need a little extra help, am I right? These buttercream tips will help you achieve perfectly creamy buttercream, every time!

BUTTER:

1. Room Temperature Butter: If your butter is too cold, you might end up with small lumps in your finished buttercream. On the other hand, if it’s too soft or melted, the texture will be too soft and not ideal to work with—nobody wants that! Room temperature butter is just right: it blends easily into the powdered sugar, giving you a super smooth and creamy buttercream. You’ll know it’s ready when you can press your finger into the butter and leave an indentation without it falling apart.
2. Unsalted Butter: Unsalted butter allows control over the amount of salt added to the recipe. I’ve found the sweet spot to be about 1/2 teaspoon of salt, this will be much lower if using salted butter.  Different brands of salted butter contain varying amounts of salt, so using unsalted butter gives a more consistent result.

POWDERED SUGAR:

1. To Sift or Not to Sift: I have found it completely unnecessary to sift the powdered sugar when making cream cheese buttercream. I haven’t noticed a difference in the finished product with sifted powdered sugar as opposed to unsifted. That said, I choose to skip this step to save time. Of course, do whatever you prefer when it comes to sifting.

HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM OR MILK:

1. Heavy Whipping Cream: This is the liquid that brings this delicious cream cheese frosting together! Be careful when adding the heavy cream—you can easily add too much! If your buttercream is too thick, start by adding just one tablespoon of cream at a time until you’re happy with the consistency. On the flip side, if you’ve gone a little overboard and the frosting is too soft, don’t worry. You can thicken it back up by mixing in a bit of powdered sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until it firms up again.
2. Type of Milk: If you only have milk on hand, that’ll work just fine too. The more fat in the milk, the better—whole or 2% is ideal. But if all you’ve got is skim, it’ll still get the job done in a pinch.

FOOD COLORING:

1. White Gel Food Coloring (affiliate): This is the secret to bright white cream cheese buttercream! The yellow tint comes from the butter and vanilla extract. I’ve tried the violet food coloring hack, but I always worried about overdoing it and ruining a beautiful batch of buttercream. White gel food coloring

   (affiliate)

   eliminates that stress and gives a better result. Just add 1–2 teaspoons at the end of mixing until you reach your desired shade of white. I’ve found 2 teaspoons to be the sweet spot—bright white without altering the taste.

Well, I’ve finally let you in on one of my best-kept secrets – the best American Buttercream recipe ever! This recipe can be paired with almost any cake flavor and tops a cookie cake beautifully. Whether you’re frosting a birthday cake or just spooning it straight from the bowl, it will be your new go-to buttercream recipe!

Continue below for the easy-to-follow recipe, dig in, and enjoy every bite!

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