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 and buttery it is, even while using a fairly minimal amount of vegan butter.
An electric mixer is required but you can whip this up in 10 minutes from start to finish and get on with the important job of enjoying whatever delicious treat you’ve prepared.
I love this frosting on a vanilla sponge cake. This is exactly the frosting (topped with strawberries) we used on the vanilla cake you see below!
Vanilla on vanilla is rather marvellous I must say! Or mix and match a bit and use it on a fabulous vegan chocolate cake!
But there are other uses! Like on top of some delicious raw brownies!
This frosting is perfect to spread on cakes or cookies, but it is also ideal to pipe onto cupcakes.
The cool thing about this recipe is that it’s so simple and easy to throw together.
And it just works out every time.
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!
So I think you’re really going to love this vegan vanilla frosting, it’s:
- Smooth
- Velvety
- Deliciously Sweet
- Simple
- Perfect on cakes, cupcakes or cookies
It’s super sweet of course, but that’s what you want in a frosting isn’t it?
It’s definitely what I want!
Any comments or questions about this vegan vanilla frosting recipe, post them down below.
And if you make this recipe, let us know how it turned out for you.
Tag any photos #lovingitvegan on instagram so we can see what you’re making! Thanks!
For more delicious frostings, check out our Vegan Lemon Frosting and our Vegan Chocolate Frosting recipes! And of course, see some of the frostings in action on a few of our cakes!
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Vegan Red Velvet Cake
- Vegan Blue Velvet Cake
- Key Lime Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Banana Cake
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How To Make Vegan Vanilla Frosting
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 10
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
This vegan vanilla frosting is smooth, creamy and delicious! Easy 4-ingredient recipe, ideal for use on cakes, cupcakes and cookies!
Ingredients
- 3 and 3/4 cups (450g) Powdered Sugar
- 3 Tbsp (45g) Vegan Butter
- 4 Tbsp (60ml) Soy Milk*
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
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.
Notes
*You can switch soy milk for almond milk or another non-dairy milk if you prefer.
*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. If it still ends up too thin, add more powdered sugar.
- Category: Vegan, Baking, How To
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Serve (of 10)
- Calories: 200
- Sugar: 44g
- Sodium: 33mg
- Fat: 2g
- Saturated Fat: 0.4g
- Carbohydrates: 45g
- Protein: 0.2g
Keywords: vegan vanilla frosting
Flavour is great; I just found I needed to reduce the amount of milk a touch or add more icing. Both very manageable things to adjust. I’m wondering if you can add some cocoa powder to make a chocolate icing.
★★★★
Hi, thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Two things I noticed: the first was my icing wasn’t really white. It was a beige/light brown color. I thought it was due to the coloring from the butter and vanilla. Is it supposed to turn out white?
The second thing was that the icing hardened quite quickly. I’m just wondering if that is normal.
Other than that, it tasted great.
Thanks!
Hi Natalie, it’s slightly off-white from the butter and vanilla but definitely should still be close to white in color. The sugar creates a nice crystallized coating which is a bit hard on the outside, in frostings that use more butter this effect is lessened. All the best!
Very easy, fast, delicious and the best it is vegan
I am making this now and am just wondering how many cupcakes this will frost? I read all the reviews and didn’t see this answer. Thanks in advance!
Hi Jenn, it’s enough for a generous frosting for a 2-layer 7 inch cake, and likely would frost around 14 cupcakes or maybe just a very generous amount for 12. I have adapted this recipe slightly for a batch of 12 cupcakes if you’d like to see the adjustments, the recipe is here: Oreo Cupcakes.
This recipe looks beautiful! I’m looking for something for my 2 year old’s birthday, and we’re not ready to introduce refined sugars. Would this work with honey or maple sugar as the sweetener?
Hi Monique – unfortunately those options would definitely not work with this recipe. I would probably look at a completely different frosting option, maybe something like the cashew frosting I used on my carrot cake cupcakes. All the best! 🙂
Not even sucrose??
No it can’t be any non-dairy milk. Has to be soy or one with emulsifiers in. 🙂
Oat or rice milk probably would not work for example. 🙂
Look! I found your recipe for icing to go with the lime and vanilla cake! hahahaa! Must be a sign!
★★★★★
Haha awesome! It sounds like a fantastic cake you’re making there! 🙂
I made this for frosting on a cupcake and it came out nicely but then it started to separate and eventually it kind of started melting off the cupcake and just looked like a glob… What did I do wrong? I was trying to pile the frosting up high on the cupcake to look like a Christmas tree
Hi Shannon, oh gosh that sucks. What vegan butter did you use? Some vegan butters have a higher water content than others, and can end up with too runny a consistency. You can add more powdered sugar to thicken it up. I have added a note to the recipe card that in some instances you may not need to use all the soy milk. I have used this frosting on our vegan oreo cupcakes and was able to pipe it no problem. So I think it can come down to different brands of vegan butters having different results.
Hey Alison, is an electric mixer really necessary, could I do this manually?
Looks amazing! I can’t wait to try this! Does it crust?
Yes it sort of does, the sugar gets a nice hard outside, it’s pretty delicious! 🙂
What brand of vegan butter do you recommend using?
It depends where you are? If you’re in the US, Earth Balance is a great brand, if you’re in Australia or Dubai, Nuttelex is a great brand. I’m not sure of UK brands but I have used a variety of brands and all have come out well, the biggest difference is in water content, some are softer (higher water content) than others, so that just impacts the amount of non-dairy milk you add to the recipe. 🙂
Hi! Thanks for the recipe. I’m trying to make my son a Birthday cake. Would this frosting be easy to pipe and make rossetts?
Thanks
Hi Victoria, it is easy to pipe, I used it for my oreo cupcakes if you want to see it in action there. Make sure it’s nice and thick, you may want to use a little less soy milk, definitely go slow on adding the non-dairy milk so you ensure it’s the right thickness for piping.
Delicious ! I tried it yesterday and It was perfect for my funfetti cake. I have a question and I hope you can help me, is there a way to make this less sweet? What else could I add instead of so much powdered sugar to have the same consistency?
★★★★★
Would this cover an entire cake?
Hi Erin, yes it does, but the cake pictured is a 7-inch cake so not a large cake. However, the frosting is quite thick, so likely it is enough for an 8-inch cake too. But you might also want to check out the frosting for our vegan white cake which is made for an 8-inch cake.
I’m looking for a dairy free frosting to send in for my daughter’s class Valentines party. If I make it in the morning, will it store okay until the afternoon party?
Honestly it depends on the weather, if it’s very hot, it will get a bit more runny, if it’s cold it will hold up perfectly. But even if it’s hot, if the frosting was the right texture to start with (not too thin) it should be fine. 🙂
I already made this recipe and it was really delicious!! Even my non-vegan friends couldn’t tell what was different 😉
I want to make a cake for Valentine’s Day, but since I’ll be working really late the days before I was wondering if it freeze well ?
Like if I could frost the entire cake a couple of days in advance, put it in the freezer and thaw it in the fridge a day before. I’m afraid it would ‘’leak’’ as it thaw!
Can’t wait to hear from you!
Thank you 🙂
Hi Laurence, you should be able to freeze it no problem. Here are some tips in an article from The Kitchn about freezing frosted cakes. However, I also just wanted to point out that a cake will usually last up to a week in the fridge, sure it’s going to be it’s best in the first few days, but if you only need to make it a couple of days in advance, you could just cover and refrigerate and it should be perfect, you may not need to freeze it. All the best! 🙂
Hello! I was wondering if icing sugar would work instead of powdered sugar. I have so much of it, I just wanna use it now..haha.
Hi there, yes it is the same thing, just a different naming thing between the USA and UK I think. All the best! 🙂
Looks delicious.
Can I colour this with food coloring so i can get a green buttercream and a blue buttercream for decorating?
Love the website, so many delicious ideas. Wanna try them all haha
Yes definitely! It works great with food coloring. 🙂