Whipped Buttercream Frosting is the best frosting ever! This flour frosting (ermine frosting) is made without powdered sugar. It has the rich creaminess of a buttercream & the light, airy texture of a whipped cream frosting without being too sweet!
This Whipped Buttercream Frosting recipe pretty much blew my mind. I’m not a big frosting person; most buttercream frostings are just ok, and I can take them or leave them.
Well, this buttercream frosting is amazing, and it uses (are you ready for this?) granulated sugar!
Yep! Regular, old granulated sugar. So, if you’ve ever wondered how to make frosting without powdered sugar, this is it!
Don’t worry – it’s not gritty at all. In fact, this ermine frosting has the texture of a light whipped cream with the flavor of a sweet, vanilla buttercream.
It’s honestly the best frosting (buttercream or otherwise) that I’ve ever had. It’s sweet but isn’t overwhelmingly, make-your-teeth-ache sweet.
I’ve put answers to a lot of the questions I’ve received in the recipe notes. Please take a second to read through those notes before making the frosting.
How to make frosting without powdered sugar
Step 1 Whisk the milk and flour together in a small heavy saucepan before beginning to heat.
Step 2 Once combined, heat the mixture over medium-low heat until it has thickened. At this point, it should be the consistency of a thick paste.
Step 3 Remove from heat, and stir in the vanilla extract.
Step 4 Let the mixture cool to room temperature before continuing. This step is key. If the mixture is warm, it will cause the butter to warm up, and you’ll end up with a thin, runny frosting.
Step 5 In a separate large bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and salt together on medium-high to high until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Be sure to scrape down the sides to avoid gritty frosting.
Step 6 Add the completely cooled milk/flour mixture to the beaten butter/sugar mixture, and beat on medium-high to high for 5 minutes. It may look separated at first, but keep whipping the frosting until it is light and fluffy.
FAQs
This recipe has been posted for nearly 10 years. During that time, I’ve made and re-made this frosting countless times to be able to answer the thousands of questions that I’ve received. Here are some answers to the most commonly asked questions.
The recipe will make enough to frost a 2 layer 9-inch round cake or 24 cupcakes.
I recommend chilling any unused or leftover frosting because of the high dairy content.
This recipe uses granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar to make frosting.
I’ve used almond milk to make this frosting, and it worked well.
I’ve tried this recipe with skim milk, 1% milk, 2% milk, whole milk, and nondairy milk. I’ve successfully made the frosting with all of those types of milk. However, using whole milk will give you a richer, creamier frosting than using skim milk.
I’ve tried the recipe with both salted butter and with unsalted butter + salt. I prefer the version with the salted butter because the unsalted butter + salt version tastes flatter.
You can. Clear vanilla doesn’t have as much flavor as pure vanilla extract, so you may find that you need to use more clear vanilla for the frosting to have as much flavor.
You can! Feel free to substitute another type of flavoring or extract for the vanilla.
You can! I’ve used both gel and regular food dye. Both have worked well. If you’re going to use a large quantity of food coloring, I would recommend a gel to avoid making the frosting runny.
I’ve doubled this recipe. It filled my 5 quart stand mixer, so be sure to use a larger mixing bowl.
I use regular granulated sugar. Using a larger grain (natural) sugar can give you gritty frosting. If you’re worried about the frosting ending up gritty, you can give the sugar a couple of zips in a blender or food processor to break it down.
Yes, you can use an equal amount of vanilla bean paste in place of the vanilla extract to make vanilla bean buttercream.
I’ve frozen cupcakes that were frosted with this frosting. They froze and thawed beautifully.
What flavors of cake go well with this frosting?
This frosting has a light, sweet vanilla flavor that works well with a number of cake flavors. Here are a few ideas!
- Red velvet – This type of frosting with the classic frosting for red velvet cake.
- Chocolate cake
- Carrot cake – Cream cheese frosting is the classic carrot cake frosting, but you could get adventurous and try out vanilla for a change.
- Zucchini cake
- Spice cake
- White cake
Can I make this frosting in other flavors?
You can! Here are some of the different flavors of this frosting that I’ve made.
Troubleshooting tips
- First, not cooking the milk mixture long enough. The mixture should be a thick paste. If it’s too wet, the frosting will be too loose.
- Second, the cooked milk mixture needs to cool completely. If it’s too warm, it will melt the butter, and you’ll end up with loose frosting that doesn’t come together.
- Third, using butter that’s too warm. The butter should be at cool room temperature. It should dent if pushed, but it shouldn’t be too warm and certainly not beginning to melt.
- Fourth, using other types of sugars. This frosting needs to be made with granulated sugar, not powdered sugar.
- Fifth, not whipped the frosting long enough. The frosting needs to be whipped to get the right light and airy texture. Cutting the time short could leave you with a grainy frosting or a frosting that separates.
- If your frosting is still a little gritty after beating it for 5 minutes, go ahead and add the cooled milk/flour mixture. That will usually smooth out any remaining sugar.
- A couple people have reported that a film has formed on their milk/flour mixture. I haven’t had this happen, but another person said that she’s had good luck with blending the milk/flour mixture with a blender before cooking it. She said that it removed any lumps and helped prevent a skin from forming.
If you’ve tried this whipped buttercream frosting recipe, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. I love to hear from people who’ve made my recipes!
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Whipped Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 1 ½ tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups salted butter at cool room temperature1
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk together over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. It will be the consistency of a thick paste2. Make sure that you whisk the flour and milk together well before you begin cooking it to avoid lumps.
- Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. This step is key. If your mixture is warm, it will melt your butter, and you’ll end up with runny frosting.
- Stir in vanilla.
- While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter, sugar, and salt together until light and fluffy on medium high-high3, about 5 minutes4. Make sure that you scrape down the sides and really incorporate the butter and sugar to avoid gritty frosting.
- Then add the completely cooled milk mixture.
- Beat it for about 5 more minutes on medium-high to high until it looks like whipped cream. It may look separated at first, so keep beating it until it comes together and looks like a whipped cream.
Video
Notes
- Make sure that your butter isn’t too warm! The butter should be at cool room temperature. You want it to dent if you press it, but you don’t want it to be so warm that it’s near melting.
- When cooking the milk/flour mixture, you don’t want it to look wet. It should be like a thick paste. If it’s wet and runny, your frosting will be too loose.
- If you’re using a hand mixer, beat it on high. This recipe work well with a stand mixer because it has the power to really whip the frosting.
- Please don’t cut the mixing time short! I know it’s tempting, but it’s important to beat the butter and sugar together for the time the recipe calls for to keep it from being gritty. If you cut the mixing times short, you won’t end up with the right texture of frosting.
- To get the best flavor, you’ll want to use real butter and pure vanilla extract.
- Want to try a buttercream made with powdered sugar instead? Here is my favorite vanilla buttercream frosting that’s made with powdered sugar.
- I recommend chilling any leftover frosted cake or cupcakes.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
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More frosting recipes that are made without powdered sugar!
This recipe was originally published on 12/22/12. It was updated with new pictures on 7/25/16. Updated again on 2/10/22 with additional information and tips.
Reader Interactions
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Comments & Reviews
Larry says
The texture and sweetness is great but I find it too salty. I generally don’t cook with salted butter believing that you can always add salt but you can never take it out. Next time I make this it will be with unsalted butter and then a pinch or two of salt to taste at the end. Also, I found it took more than an hour for the milk/flour mixture to come to room temperature so I would not cream the butter and sugar until the mixture has rested a good while or it will still be too hot once the creaming is done. Finally, it was difficult to get the graininess of the sugar to go away completely. It took quite a bit more than 5 minutes of whipping at the end to fully dissolve the sugar
Kate says
Hi! I talk about the salted vs unsalted butter in the post. You can use unsalted butter, and it’s just a matter of preference. Also, you can chill the milk/flour mixture if you find that it’s taking longer to come to room temperature. I also talk about the graininess in the post, but adding the milk/flour mixture is usually enough to get rid of any remaining graininess. You can also give the sugar a couple of zips in the food processor or blender to break it down a little before using, and that can help with any graininess and need for extended mixing time.
Diana says
I love it. Thanks 😊
Kate says
I’m so glad! Thanks!
Vee says
Love these ermine recipes! Can you sub the same weight in castor sugar to avoid possible grainy texture? I’ve experienced it once or twice.
Kate says
Thanks! Yes, castor sugar should work well. You can also add the sugar to the milk mixture to help avoid any graininess. I hope that helps!
Vee says
Thank you ❤️
Kelsey says
Can I swap half of the butter with cream cheese?
Kate says
Hi! I have a cream cheese frosting recipe that is also made with granulated sugar. So, I would guess that swapping out half of the butter would work, but I haven’t tried it to say for certain.
Wendy says
This is perfect if you don’t like the extra sugary icing. It’s so light and fluffy with the perfect amount of sweetness.
Kate says
Thank you!
Sherri says
This was the best frosting I’ve ever made without powdered sugar!! Perfect consistency!
Kate says
Thank you!
Misty Murphy says
I know most bakers are going to gasp at this question, but can I use self rising flour instead?
Kate says
Hi! Please don’t hesitate to ask questions if you have them! Self-rising flour doesn’t work well in this recipe because it contains baking powder and salt in it.
Misty says
Thank you so much for the advice. Have a fantastically blessed day.
Kate says
Thank you! You too!
Elaine says
I had made cupcakes but wanted 1/2 vanilla & 1/2 chocolate.So I frosted the vanilla ones and with half of the frostingThen the left over ones I added cocoa powder to make the chocolate frosted ones came out great! I wasn’t t so sure about this recipe with the granulated sugar so use to powdered sugar but I came out great! I Will use it again
Kate says
Thanks! I’m glad that you liked the frosting!
Stephanie says
Hello — Do you think I could make this with coconut sugar instead of granulated sugar? I’m worried that it might be gritty. Or maybe I could dissolve the sugar in the milk before putting the flour in and reducing it? Any ideas? Thanks in advance!
Kate says
Hi! I haven’t tried using coconut sugar in this recipe, but I have used larger grain natural sugar. As is, it was gritty and didn’t cook down the way that granulated sugar does. I’ve found that pulsing the larger grain sugar in a food processor or blender to break it down to smaller grains helps. You can also try adding the pulsed smaller grains with the milk to help them dissolve and better incorporate into the mixture. I hope that helps!
Gina says
This morning we baked donuts. When I got to the icing part I was sad. No powdered sugar! My mom found this recipe and saved the day!!! Its the best frosting i have ever had. We are planning on making it with brown sugar this afternoon for a snickerdoodle cake. I cant wait to try as nany of the variations as I can!
Kate says
Thank you so much!! I’m so glad to hear that! I don’t know that I can choose a favorite variation, but if I had to, it would probably be the cream cheese frosting – https://www.ihearteating.com/cream-cheese-icing/.
Barbara Harding says
Can you make and frost cupcakes the day before a party and refrigerate them?
Kate says
You can! The frosting will set up quite a bit in the fridge. You’ll want to set the cupcakes out about 10-15 minutes before serving to let them come up a bit in temperature.
Gina says
So is it safe to say that this icing is not shelf stable?
Kate says
Due to the high milk and butter content, I refrigerate the frosting.
Michelle Binkley says
Love love love this…to those who talk about the film, use plastic wrap right next to the paste as it cools to prevent the film
Kate says
Thank you!
Laura Beasley says
This is the best sugar cookie frosting I have ever made, it was so soft & creamy. I did use unsalted butter but it was still very good, the perfect sweetness!! I really don’t like the taste of the powdered sugar. Thank you for this recipe
Kate says
Thank you so much!
Isabella Conroy says
Can I substitute the milk for heavy whipping cream?
Kate says
I haven’t tried that, but I’ve heard from several people who have used whipping cream. They’ve said that it worked well for them.
sophia says
Hi, does it taste and feel the same with gluten free fower? I would like to make some for my family but my mom is the only one gluten free. I don’t wanna make it different for anyone else.
Kate says
I’ve heard from people who have used 1:1 gf flour in this recipe, and they’ve said that it worked well for them.
Lesley says
Great to make when you’ve run out of icing sugar. Easy to follow and tasted great. Would have liked it just a little thicker so maybe add a bit more flour next time?
Kate says
You can also cook the paste down just a bit more. Thicker paste gives thicker frosting. I hope that helps!
Laura says
I followed the recipe to the T & it came out perfect. Thick & creamy, so yummy!
Kate says
Thank you!
Nikki says
Absolutely amazing!!!!! I would like to add that I made this recipe using gluten free flour, homemade oat milk and vegan butter! It is 100% the best frosting I’ve ever made. Gluten-free vegan, or traditional it is the best ever! Thank you for helping me make an amazing cake for my son‘s birthday.
Kate says
Thank you for sharing your tips! It’s really helpful for others with those dietary needs.
Cheryle says
We used to call this “poor man’s whipping cream” growing up and I haven’t made it for years.
Excellent recipe with very good notes. I added dirty chai spices and it turned out amazing.
Kate says
How interesting! I’ve never heard it called that! I’m glad that the notes helped.
Ann L says
I usually top my banana cake with a cream cheese frosting, but I was out of powdered sugar so I thought I’d give this recipe a go. The family went nuts for this and it will be my goto frosting from now on. It isn’t overly sweet and the lightness goes beautifully with a dense cake.
Kate says
Thank you!