This easy chocolate buttercream frosting is silky chocolate perfection! Made with cocoa powder, this not-too-sweet frosting is perfect for any cake or cupcake!
This chocolate buttercream frosting is simple but tasty. The most common chocolate buttercream frostings are a mixture of butter, powdered sugar, and either cocoa powder or melted chocolate.
This easy version uses cocoa powder rather than melted chocolate. It takes just 5 basic ingredients and about 5 minutes to make the frosting.
And, most importantly, it tastes great! The frosting is rich and creamy without being too sweet. It pipes well, and the frosting pairs beautifully with yellow, chocolate, or white cake.
If you haven’t tried making homemade frosting, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at just how easy it is.
Ingredient tips and substitutions
Butter: I prefer the flavor of salted butter to unsalted butter + salt in this recipe. However, you can use unsalted butter along with a couple pinches of salt.
Be sure to have your butter at the right temperature. Room temperature means the butter should be about 72 F. The butter should give a little when pressed but should hold its shape overall. The butter shouldn’t be soft and melty.
Dry ingredients: if your powdered sugar and/or cocoa powder are lumpy, sift them before adding them into the butter. It will help them incorporate more easily into the butter.
Cocoa powder: I’ve used unsweetened cocoa powder and Dutch-processed cocoa powder. Both have worked well.
Heavy cream: Using heavy cream will give you a slightly lighter, fluffier frosting. However, milk or half-and-half will also work. However, the more fat your dairy has, the richer your frosting will be.
How to make chocolate buttercream frosting
Step 1: Begin by beating the butter in a large mixing bowl on medium until the butter is pale, about 3-4 minutes. This helps the butter to be nice and soft without getting melty.
Step 2: Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and milk or cream. Beat on low until the cocoa powder and sugar are incorporated. If you start mixing on medium or high, the dry ingredients can fly out of your mixing bowl.
Step 3: Adjust the consistency of your frosting by adding additional powdered sugar to make the frosting thicker or more milk/cream to make the frosting thinner (picture on right).
Top tips
Temperature matters! Be sure to have your butter at the right temperature. Room temperature means the butter should be about 72 F. The butter should give a little when pressed but should hold its shape overall. The butter shouldn’t be soft and melty.
Beat the butter! Beating the butter before adding in the powdered sugar helps the dry ingredients to better incorporate into the butter.
Sift! If your powdered sugar and/or cocoa powder are lumpy, sift them before adding them into the butter. It will help them incorporate more easily into the butter.
Cream = fluffier frosting! Using heavy cream will give you a fluffier frosting that is slightly lighter both in color and texture (like the photo directly below). However, milk or half-and-half will also work.
How much frosting does this recipe make?
Cupcakes: This recipe yields enough frosting to lightly frost 24 cupcakes or to generously frost 12 cupcakes.
Cake: This recipe will yield enough frosting to lightly frost a 9” 2-layer cake. To have enough frosting to pipe, increase the recipe and make 1.5 times the recipe. To generously frost the cake and pipe, double the recipe.
Do I need to refrigerate this frosting?
I recommend storing any unused frosting in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I also recommend storing items frosted with this buttercream in the refrigerator.
How long does buttercream keep?
This frosting will keep for up to 4 days. I recommend storing the frosting, covered, in the fridge.
More frosting recipes!
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Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Equipment
- Mixer
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter at room temperature
- 3 ½-4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons whole milk, half-and-half, or cream
Instructions
- With an electric mixer (either hand or stand), beat butter until pale, about 3-4 minutes on medium.
- Scrape down the bowl.
- Add 3½ cups powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of milk.
- Mix on low until powdered sugar and cocoa powder are incorporated.
- If the frosting is too dry, add another tablespoon of milk. If the frosting is too wet, add powdered sugar 2 tablespoons at a time until it reaches a spreadable consistency.
Video
Notes
- Butter: You can use unsalted butter along with a couple pinches of salt.
Also, be sure to have your butter at the right temperature. Room temperature means the butter should be about 72 F. The butter should give a little when pressed but should hold its shape overall. The butter shouldn’t be soft and melty. - Dry ingredients: if your powdered sugar and/or cocoa powder are lumpy, sift them before adding them into the butter. It will help them incorporate more easily into the butter.
- Cocoa powder: I’ve used unsweetened cocoa powder and Dutch-processed cocoa powder. Both have worked well.
- Heavy cream: Using heavy cream will give you a slightly lighter, fluffier frosting. However, milk or half-and-half will also work.
- Nutrition facts have been estimated.
Nutrition
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Recipe originally published 9/23/13. Updated with additional photos and tips 5/8/21.
Reader Interactions
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Comments & Reviews
Ashley says
Hi! This recipe looks great! Have you ever made it in advance and refrigerated it? I would like to make it a few days ahead and keep in a container. I know typically it just needs brought to room temp and then rewhipped. Any experience with this?
Kate says
No, I’m sorry. I haven’t tried that with this recipe. If you do try it, though, I would love to hear how it turns out!
carola says
HELLO I WRITE U FROM lima peru,
tell me please , the ingredient butter and milk are dried ingredients enough for all the quantities of cocoa and sugar?
your recepie looks the easiest simple a speedy i saw
congratulations
carolina
Kate says
Hi! Thank you! The milk and butter aren’t dried. The milk should be fresh, liquid milk, and the butter is the kind that you can buy in sticks or blocks to bake with. I hope that helps!
carola says
thank u for your reply it was my mistake i didnt mean milk and butter dried ingredients sorry lol
Tell me it can be made the half of the recipe int that case … all the ingredients should be reduced to a half?any recomendatios or details
carolina
Jessica Sallee says
This is my families favorite Frosting. Every Birthday, every special occasion and just because. It is perfect.
Kate says
I’m so glad you like it!! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment! I love to hear things like this.
Ale says
How well does it hold up in the heat? I would like to use it for a cake I’m making, but it’s supposed to be really hot outdoors that weekend! Thank you for your post, and thank you in advance for your response.
Kate says
I don’t know that it will hold up well. It’s hot (really hot) here in the summer, and I have yet to find a buttercream recipe that won’t melt in the outdoor heat. I think it may just be the nature of buttercream because of the ingredients.
Kitty says
Do u know thenpowder (dried egg whites sth like thos its called) add a teaspon to it it will hold its shape i promise
Kate says
Thanks for the tip! =)
jane says
I just made a chocolate cake for a co workers birthday. I used your frosting recipe and it was awesome. I just wanted to thank you for sharing. It will be my go to chocolate frosting recipe from now on!
Kate says
I’m so glad that you liked it!! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment! =)
Jan says
the frosting came out very nice, I think the secret is to whip that butter, I never did in the past and my frosting always turned hard, I always like learning
Kate says
Glad you liked the frosting! =)
Savannah says
This frosting is AMAZING! It’s perfectly chocolatey and sweet and way better than what you would buy from the store :)
Kate says
I’m so glad that you liked it! =)
abukasas says
If I want to make some other flavored buttercream (strawberry or coffee or lime), how many tablespoons should I put in?
I also don’t like too sweet buttercream frosting. I cannot wait to try this recipe.
Thanks.
Kate says
It would completely depend on what you were adding and how strong you wanted the flavor to be.
I hope you enjoy it! =)
Stephanie says
This was Amazing.. I can’t imagine ever buying store bought frosting again. thanks for the recipe!!!
Kate says
Thank you! I’m so glad that you liked it!
Wendy k says
This was pretty bitter. I think the half cup of cocoa was a bit excessive in taste, and consistency since I needed way more than 3 tbsp of liquid. I was able to salvage it by adding caramel sauce and making it palatable.
Kate says
Yours is the first negative comment that I’ve gotten about this recipe. It sounds like you like things sweeter than I do. Glad your were able to make it work to suit your tastes.
Debra Hutchinson says
I, too, found the icing to be way to bitter for my taste.
Kate is right, if you like things on the sweet side (I do)
than back off the cocoa. The next time I make it I’ll start
with 1/4 cup cocoa and go from there. I’m certain my husband
will love it though because he’s not a sugaraholic like me.
Thanks for sharing!
Kate says
I’m sorry that you found it to be too bitter. I know sweetness is definitely a matter of taste (as I find many frostings to be too sweet). I hope you find the 1/4 cup more to your liking! =)
Laura says
How many cups does this recipe make?
Kate says
I’ve never measured it, but it makes enough frosting to frost a 2-layer 9-inch round cake.
Dana says
I just found your recipe and was about to ask the same question. But now I want to ask something more specific about your answer, did you mean you used it for frosting and filling the cake? Because I am making a 3 layer 9 inch cake but I am filling it with something else, I need the buttercream only for the outside of the cake, would this be enough amount?!
Kate says
Yes, I use it to frost and fill a 2 layer 9-inch cake. I would think that it would be enough if you’re just using it for the top and sides of the cake.
Brook says
Getting ready to make cupcakes and going to use this recipe for the icing. I can’t wait to taste it and decorate with it! Planning on adding chocolate covered strawberries to the top as well. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Kate says
I hope you enjoy it! The cake sounds delicious! =)
Lian says
hey, would it work if I used almondmilk instead?
Kate says
Yes, I’ve used almond milk, and it works just fine!
Jennifer says
Can I use regular sugar instead of powder sugar?
Kate says
I’ve never tried using granulated sugar in this recipe. I don’t think it would work out quite right because of the the differences in the sugars.
If you’re looking for a recipe that uses granulated sugar in frosting, though, you might like my whipped frostings instead.
Chocolate Whipped Buttercream or Vanilla Whipped Buttercream.
Christina says
If you use granulated sugar it will make it gritty (Crunchy) And it does not provide the fluff that you are looking for in this frosting. I only say that because I used that instead of the powder stuff by accident. (I was in a hurry) But In turn I made it work.
Kate says
I’m glad that you were able to make it work! =)
ana says
Will it be good to use under fondant?
Kate says
I’ve never tried it, so I’m not sure how it would work out.
Joanne says
I made some of this recently and will never buy premade frosting again. Also found a recipe for cream cheese frosting that’s just as amazing
Kate says
I’m so glad you liked it!! =)
Rosa Jacquard Bood says
Can coconut oil be substituted for some of the butter? What would the ratio be? Thanks !
Kate says
I’ve never tried to substitute coconut oil for some of the butter in a buttercream. Usually, you can substitute about 1/3 of a cup of coconut oil for 1/2 cup butter. I I’ve never tried to whip coconut oil, so I’m not sure how it will work since so much of the structure and volume are provided by the whipped butter. If you do try it, I would love for you to let me know how it works!
Tenns @ New Mama Diaries says
I could literally eat an entire bowl of this! Pinning and definitely adding to my recipe repertoire.
Kate says
Thanks so much for pinning and for stopping by!! =)
Amber Bryant says
Can you use 2% milk?
Kate says
Yes, you can use 2% milk. If you use whole milk or half-and-half, the frosting will be a little creamier. The frosting will still be just fine if you use 2 % instead. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Krista @ joyfulhealthyeats says
Who needs cake when you have frosting that looks like that? Want to lick the bowl and whisk!
Happy Valley Chow says
Is it to late to lick the whisk?? That looks delicious!
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow
Kate says
Thanks! You’d have to talk to my kids about the whisk. That’s always their reward. ;)
Jean says
Will this recipe crust for decorating purposes?
Kate says
The frosting does set up. I’m a novice when it comes to decorating, and I think it’s easy to work with. I don’t really do more than pipe with it, so I’m not sure how well it will work for anything beyond piping, though. I hope that helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions.