Whipped Buttercream Frosting is the best frosting ever! This frosting is made without powdered sugar. It has the rich creaminess of a buttercream & the light, airy texture of a whipped cream frosting!
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, it 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 Whipped Buttercream Frosting
Whisk the milk and flour together in a small heavy saucepan before beginning to heat.
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 (far left picture above).
Remove from heat, and stir in the vanilla extract.
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.
In a separate large bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and salt together on medium-high to high until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (middle picture above). Be sure to scrape down the sides to avoid gritty frosting.
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.
How Much Frosting Will This Recipe Make?
This recipe will make enough to frost a 2 layer 9-inch round cake or 24 cupcakes.
Do I Need To Chill The Frosting?
I recommend chilling any unused or leftover frosting because of the high dairy content (all of the milk and butter).
Troubleshooting Tips
- 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.
Can I Use Food Coloring In This Frosting?
Can I Use Food Coloring In This Frosting?I’ve never tried to use food coloring with this frosting. However, I have heard from several people who have successfully used both regular and gel food coloring.
More Granulated Sugar Frosting Recipes
- Whipped Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting
- Whipped Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting
- Whipped Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Cream Cheese Frosting
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 Information
This recipe was originally published on 12/22/12. It was updated with new pictures on 7/25/16.
Nancy Holte says
Hi Kate, I haven’t tried this recipe yet but I’m looking forward to using it. Somewhere on this page I noticed that your middle name is Uhl. That was my dad’s middle name and my grandmother’s maiden name. It’s not a common name, as far as I know, so I figure we must be related or something. HA! Maybe 4th cousins, twice removed. Who knows?
Kate says
Hi! How funny! I’m sure we are. =) Uhl is my maiden name, and you’re right – it’s not a very common name. When I was younger, I met a sweet German lady who owned a bakery. Her last name was Uhl, and she said that if I were to ever meet anyone with that name that they must be family because there aren’t that many of us with that name.
Aja Anderson says
What about adding purées, when in the process would you do this? Would I have to add any or subtract anything with the added liquid? Thank you!
Btw. I’ve done this recipe 3 times and it’s always a massive success :)
Thomas Morgan says
Was Perfect. Modified the Milk and Flour by adding in 1/2 cup each of Pecan and Coconut, blended mixture first, lightly, and cooked. This for my German Chocolate Cake. Was the best Frosting for the cake ever, beats the canned stuff anyday!
Kate says
How interesting! I’ve made a lot of varieties of this frosting, but I hadn’t tried a coconut pecan. I’m so glad it worked out well for you! Thanks for commenting!
Colleen Cote says
Made the 1/2 butter 1/2 Crisco but this so much better!!
One batch beat up lovely then separated a little almost curdled ..what did I do wrong
Kate says
I just want to make sure that I understand. It whipped up well, but then it separated? Is it possible that you overmixed it?
Cassandra says
Is it possible to make this without a mixer/beater!?
Kate says
Hi! I’ve only heard from one person who has made it without a mixer. So it can be done, but it’s going to be a lot of arm work to really whip it as much as needs.
Lisa says
Love this recipe! Can you freeze the leftovers?
Kate says
Thank you! I’m so glad you liked it! I’ve frozen cupcakes that were frosted with this frosting, and they froze and thawed well. I haven’t tried to freeze the frosting and then use it to frost cupcakes.
Natalie says
Can I use lemon and lemon zest instead of vanilla to make a lemon frosting??
Kate says
I don’t see why lemon extract or flavor and lemon zest wouldn’t work. I don’t know whether lemon juice would cause the frosting to separate or curdle, so I would try flavor or extract first.
Moxie says
This buttercream is absolutely delicious. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Kate says
You are so welcome! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it. Thanks for commenting! =)
Caydie says
Aloha from Hawaii! So happy I stumbled on your recipe! Made my first scratch cake with your frosting . The frosting was great and is a definite keeper. Unfortunately will need to practice cake making. 😄
Kate says
Hello! =) I’m so happy that you liked the frosting! And if you want some help with making a cake, let me know!
Sylvie Lavallée says
Does the cake have to be refrigerated or kept on the counter in a cake container. After being decorated with the wipped buttercream icing
Kate says
I recommend chilling any leftover frosting or frosted cake because of the high dairy content (all of the milk and butter).
Samantha says
I love this frosting however I’m getting clumpy glue like stuff why? What am I doing wrong?
Kate says
I’m guessing that the flour isn’t fully incorporated into the milk before you begin heating it. If you’re sure that the flour is completely dissolved and incorporated, try turning down the heat as you cook it. I hope that helps!
Eve says
Can some of the butter be substituted with Crisco to make this more heat stable?
Kate says
Hi! I haven’t tried using part shortening, but I’ve heard from a few people who have. They’ve said that it worked out well for them and that the frosting held up well. I hope that helps!
Eve says
Thanks Kate, will give it a go! I love your recipe but summer is coming in Australia so gotta be prepared :)
Ginger says
A great variation on this frosting that I stumbled on: mix in oreo crumbs and it’s an awesome cookies & cream frosting! I made a birthday cake for my son & needed to coat the sides with crushed oreo thins to look like dirt. Result: YUM! Gonna mix them in on purpose next time! Also, I used gel food coloring for a green grass color on top & it did fine.
Kate says
Hi! Yes! I have several versions of this frosting, including an Oreo version. =) Glad to hear that the gel food color worked out well. Thanks for commenting!
Stacey says
Is there something I could use for a substitute for the flour?
Kate says
Hi! Are you asking because of concerns about the gluten?
Wafaa says
I have made this recipe 4 times. I use it to ice my cupcakes and cakes. I used all kind of food colouring and it worked perfectly. You can see my latest cupcakes and cake icing here https://imgur.com/a/MU8zqHi
Kate says
I’m so glad that it turned out well for you! And thank you for mentioning that using food coloring worked out well for you.
Adrienne says
This recipe came out perfectly!!!
Kate says
Yay!! I’m so happy that it came out well for you. Thanks for commenting!
Kathi says
Used. This recipe on a banana bread bundt cake and it was delicious! This will be my go to icing recipe from now on!
Kate says
Thank you! I’m so glad that it turned out well for you. Thanks for commenting!
Rhea says
Can I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk instead of regular milk?
Kate says
You can! I’ve used plain unsweetened almond milk, and it worked just fine.
Ange Hime says
I only have fat free milk. Will that work, or is that too much like water?
Kate says
I’ve used skim (fat-free) milk, and it worked just fine.
TAMMY MYERS says
CAN WE ADD ESPRESSO POWDER TO THIS
Kate says
Hi! I haven’t tried adding espresso powder to it, but I don’t see why you couldn’t do that.