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    Home » How To

    How To Make Vegan Vanilla Frosting

    Published: Oct 1, 2015 Updated: Oct 9, 2021 by Alison Andrews This post may contain affiliate links

    Jump to Recipe
    Vegan Vanilla Frosting

    This vegan vanilla frosting is smooth, creamy and delicious! Easy 4-ingredient recipe, ideal for use on cakes, cupcakes and cookies!

    Vegan vanilla frosting on top of a vanilla cake.

    This vegan vanilla frosting is smooth, creamy and delicious.

    Ideal for use on cakes, cupcakes and cookies.

    Just 4 ingredients, this really couldn’t be simpler and you’ll love how rich it is, even while using a minimal amount of vegan butter.

    An electric mixer is required but you can whip this up in less than 10 minutes from start to finish and get on with the important job of enjoying whatever delicious treat you’ve prepared.

    The cool thing about this recipe is that it’s so simple and easy to throw together.

    And it just works out every time.

    Vegan vanilla frosting in a mixing bowl.

    Not to mention that it contains simple ingredients. I still haven’t figured out what ‘shortening’ even is, let alone putting it into my frosting recipes.

    So if you’re similarly a fan of the simple, then this is for you.

    It’s super sweet of course, but that’s what you want in a frosting isn’t it? 

    I love this frosting on a vanilla cake. This is exactly the frosting (topped with strawberries) we used on the vanilla cake you see below.

    Vegan vanilla frosting on a vegan vanilla cake.

    Vanilla on vanilla is marvellous of course! But you can also mix and match a bit and use it on a fabulous vegan chocolate cake.

    Ingredients You’ll Need For This Frosting:

    Photo of the ingredients needed to make vegan vanilla frosting.

    Ingredient Notes

    • Soy milk – can be replaced for any non-dairy milk that you have on hand.
    • Vegan butter – the firmer the better. Stick style vegan butters tend to work best in frostings. Tub style also works, but try to choose one that is as firm as possible so that your frosting won’t be too soft.
    Vegan vanilla frosting in a mixing bowl.

    How To Use This Frosting

    This frosting is perfect to spread onto cakes or cupcakes or cookies.

    You can also pipe it onto cupcakes, but it’s not quite as good for piping as a vanilla buttercream frosting. The extra vegan butter in a buttercream makes the texture just a little better suited for piping.

    But to spread onto your vegan sugar cookies, or spread onto cakes or cupcakes, this frosting is fantastic.

    Storing and Freezing

    This frosting keeps very well in the fridge for up to a week. It’s also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge and whip it up again in your stand mixer before using.

    Vegan vanilla frosting being frosted onto a vegan vanilla cake.

    More Delicious Vegan Frosting Recipes

    1. Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
    2. Vegan Buttercream Frosting
    3. Vegan Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
    4. Vegan Lemon Buttercream Frosting
    5. Vegan Chocolate Frosting
    6. Vegan Chocolate Ganache

    Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!

    Vegan vanilla frosting on top of a vanilla cake

    How To Make Vegan Vanilla Frosting

    This vegan vanilla frosting is smooth, creamy and delicious! Easy 4-ingredient recipe, ideal for use on cakes, cupcakes and cookies!
    4.91 from 74 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert, How To
    Cuisine: Vegan
    Diet: Vegan
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Servings: 10
    Calories: 200kcal
    Author: Alison Andrews

    Ingredients

    • 3 ¾ cups Powdered Sugar (450g)
    • 3 Tablespoons Vegan Butter (45g)
    • 4 Tablespoons Soy Milk (60ml) or other non-dairy milk
    • 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Add the powdered sugar, vegan butter, half the soy milk and vanilla extract to a mixing bowl.
    • Using your electric mixer, start at low speed, gradually increasing speed. Add the rest of the soy milk in slowly until perfectly smooth and thick.*
    • It should be very thick, but still easily spreadable.

    Video

    Notes

    1. You can switch soy milk for almond milk or another non-dairy milk if you prefer.
    2. You might not need to use all the soy milk to achieve the desired consistency. Some vegan butters have a higher water content than others and this can make some end up too runny, so only use as much as needed. 

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Serve | Calories: 200kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 0.2g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Sodium: 33mg | Sugar: 44g
    DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below, or tag @lovingitvegan on Instagram and hashtag #lovingitvegan
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    « How To Make Vegan Chocolate Frosting
    Vegan Vanilla Cake »
    20.2K shares

    About the Author

    Hi I'm Alison Andrews, I'm the voice and cook behind Loving It Vegan. I love making delicious vegan food and creating vegan versions of all your old favorites, so that you’ll never feel like you’re missing out. Find out more about me here.

    Loving It Vegan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This site may contain some of these links to Amazon.com. If you make a purchase through one of those links, Loving It Vegan will receive a small commission from the purchase at no additional cost to you.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Mary Lemos says

      September 06, 2023 at 3:47 pm

      does the butter need to be softened?

      Reply
      • Nadine @ Loving It Vegan says

        September 22, 2023 at 11:30 am

        Room temperature butter is best, but if your butter is not soft enough, you can beat it a bit before adding the powdered sugar.

        Reply
    2. Erica G says

      July 24, 2023 at 12:33 am

      Very simple. Tasted good. Used on chocolate chip muffins. I thought the frosting felt thick on the beater so I added 2 additional tbsps of almond milk – MISTAKE – made the frosting drip over the sides of the muffin cups. Will definitely make this again but next time no improvising. Lesson learned #smh5 stars

      Reply
      • Nadine @ Loving It Vegan says

        July 27, 2023 at 9:02 am

        Thanks for your great review Erica!

        Reply
    3. RaeVonne says

      July 15, 2023 at 6:44 am

      Loved it! I will say I only added 3 cups of powdered sugar! It was sweet enough and thick/creamy enough to pipe onto cupcakes. Thanks for the recipe!

      Reply
      • Nadine @ Loving It Vegan says

        July 17, 2023 at 12:17 pm

        Awesome! Thank you so much for your great review!

        Reply
    4. Taylor says

      May 22, 2023 at 7:54 pm

      Delicious! Wondering if I can ice my cake and then freeze altogether?5 stars

      Reply
      • Nadine @ Loving It Vegan says

        July 11, 2023 at 9:01 am

        That should work Taylor!

        Reply
    5. Allison says

      August 22, 2022 at 6:11 pm

      Does it need to be refrigerated? Or can the frosted cake be left at room temperature?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        August 23, 2022 at 9:19 am

        It’s fine at room temperature.

        Reply
    6. Caitlin says

      July 21, 2022 at 10:54 pm

      I added in an extra 3/4c powdered sugar to really firm it up, and did 2T oat milk, 1T maple syrup, for a maple buttercream. Turned out great, and iced the middle and top layer of a 9” square double layer cake. Thanks!5 stars

      Reply
    7. Mary says

      June 17, 2022 at 5:16 pm

      HI! I’d like to make this for a cake this Father’s Day – do you recommend salted or unsalted vegan butter? Thank you so much!

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        June 20, 2022 at 2:17 pm

        I usually use salted but either/or is also fine.

        Reply
    8. Shashi says

      April 07, 2022 at 5:16 pm

      Would this recipe be enough to cover an 8” cake? Ta

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        April 08, 2022 at 10:24 am

        Yes it is!

        Reply
    9. Therese says

      February 20, 2022 at 4:47 pm

      Wonderful! This was my third attempt for vanilla frosting and I’m glad I found your site! The other recipes called for coconut or way too much vegan butter. This was sheer perfection! And a breeze to make! Thank you!5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        February 21, 2022 at 8:33 am

        So happy you liked it Therese! Thanks for the wonderful review!

        Reply
    10. Kiran says

      December 20, 2021 at 9:31 pm

      Can you substitute margarine for vegan butter?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        December 21, 2021 at 9:12 am

        Sure!

        Reply
    11. Elizabeth says

      December 16, 2021 at 3:04 pm

      Should the butter be cold or room temperature?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        December 17, 2021 at 10:36 am

        I usually use it straight from the fridge, but if your vegan butter is very hard (like a very firm stick-style vegan butter) then you can also let it soften first.

        Reply
    12. Dahlia says

      September 23, 2021 at 4:26 pm

      What if want to use regular butter, would it be the same amount?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        September 23, 2021 at 5:17 pm

        Yes it would be the same amount.

        Reply
    13. Tahira Akhtar says

      July 09, 2021 at 6:59 pm

      Does this work well with piping?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        July 10, 2021 at 9:51 am

        Yes you can pipe it if the consistency is thick enough.

        Reply
        • Tahira Akhtar says

          July 11, 2021 at 1:36 pm

          Thank you if its not thick enough can I add corn starch to thicken it instead of adding more sugar?

          Reply
          • Alison Andrews says

            July 11, 2021 at 4:41 pm

            I haven’t ever used cornstarch in a frosting so I’m not sure!

          • Sara says

            November 05, 2021 at 3:12 am

            If it’s not thick enough add more sugar.

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