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.7 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1 ½ cups milk
- 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.1 ½ tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- 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.1 ½ cups salted butter, 1 ½ cups granulated sugar, Pinch of salt
- 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
Anu says
Omg you literally saved my life.. I didn’t have icing sugar so I went ahead and made buttercream frosting with home-made powdered sugar and was left with a gritty grainy frosting right on my son’s bday.. Stumbled upon this page and tried the milk+flour to salvage my frosting, and the result was AMAZING! The frosting became smooth no doubt, but also creamy, yet airy, like a happy fluffy cloud.. Thanks for saving my son’s bday cake :) This is going to be my go-to buttercream recipe
Kate says
Yay!! I’m so glad that it worked out well!
dhru says
hi ! my family and i loved this recipe and it piped out amazingly the day i made it however the following day i attempted to pipe the leftovers but the consistency of the frosting had changed completely and made the frosting impossible to pipe. could i have stored the frosting incorrectly or does this frosting just pipe better on the day its made ?
Kate says
I think it pipes best the day that it’s made. The frosting does set up quite a bit in the fridge, and you may find that you need to set it out to let it come up in temp before using once it has been refrigerated.
Maxie C says
hi! I’m looking at making this, would I still be able to do it, by hand? no electric mixer or stand mixer currently, eep!
Kate says
Hi! Over the past few years, I’ve only heard from one person who has successfully made this without using a hand or stand mixer. I’m sorry, but I’m afraid it will be quite a lot of work to make without a mixer.
Tyah says
I do not like butter cream. But omg this recipe is sooooooo good. But I did learn the hard way to not make it a day in advance. It separates and will not whip back up.
Kate says
I’m glad you liked it! =)
Han the man says
I use this and add coco powder. I’m not a person that likes disgustingly sweet stuff, so this is the bomb! I used to get this amazing banana cake from New Seasons market that had a smooth frosting like this, and I’ve been trying to replicate it ever since. This is the best frosting I’ve ever had.
Kate says
Thank you so much! I’m so glad! =)
Jas says
Hi! Best frosting for me as well, so I’m looking for a chocolate version. How much cocoa powder did you add and at which step?
Kate says
Hi! Here is the recipe for the chocolate version.
Joann says
Wow?? Thanks so much. I love all the information on making this whipped buttercream frosting ??
Kate says
You are so very welcome! =)
Margaret says
Hi! I’m wondering if turbinado or brown sugar would work in place of granulated sugar. Thanks.
Kate says
Hi! I’ve used raw/larger grain sugar in this recipe, and it didn’t work well for me. The sugar never fully incorporated into the frosting, and I ended up with residual grit.
Gabby says
I’m not usually a comment leaver lol but I ran out of icing sugar and googled frosting without icing sugar and this recipe came up so I thought I’d give it a go. I’m glutendairy free and gluten frenot celiac. I used lactose free butter, unsweetened almond milk and corn starch instead of flour and it turned out ammmmazing! I have trouble getting my fam to eat gluten free dairy free cakes but they garbled this one down and raved about the icing. Big hit!!
Kate says
I’m so glad to hear that it was a hit!! Thanks for commenting! =)
Gabby says
I’m not usually a comment leaver lol but I ran out of icing sugar and googled frosting without icing sugar and this recipe came up so I thought I’d give it a go. I’m gluten free dairy free and gluten free — not celiac. I used lactose free butter, unsweetened almond milk and corn starch instead of flour and it turned out ammmmazing! I have trouble getting my fam to eat gluten free dairy free cakes but they garbled this one down and raved about the icing. Big hit!!
Alyssa Ivelisse says
I love this frosting! I used it for little cousins birthday. My uncle doesn’t like very sweet frosting but he loved this one. For comparison, it tastes very similar to Publix frosting! It was a huge hit at the party! I tried avoiding recipes that involve cooking the milk because i thought would be hard but this recipe is actually super simple! For people who have a hand mixer (like me), i would recommend beating the butter and sugar for like 9 minutes on high! And same when you add the milk and flour mixture. The frosting didn’t come out gritty for me, it was super smooth and stiff enough to frost cupcakes and frost a cake. I am definitely making this frosting again!
Kate says
Thank you! And thank you for your note about the mixing time. Someone else just mentioned that it took them about 10 minutes with a hand mixer, so it sounds like about double the stand mixer time works well. Thanks again! =)
Ashleigh says
I was wondering if there is any way of saving the frosting if it’s to runny ?
Kate says
What step were you at when the frosting was runny?
Nadia Choudhury says
This is a great buttercream recipe. I often find frostings to be too sweet, but this was perfect and had a great texture. Only negative was that I have a hand mixer, so the 10 minutes of continuous mixing was tough, but that’s has nothing to do with the recipe.
Kate says
Thank you so much! And thanks for your note about the mixing time. =)
Crissy says
Best buttercream icing I’ve ever tasted!
Kate says
Thank you so much! =)
Hannah Devereux says
I made a dairy-free version of this buttercream and it turned out amazing. I’ve been making diary-free icing for years and I went out on a limb to try a new one and IT IS AMAZING. My mother-in-law already asked for the recipe and it is absolutely one I will be using again and again.
I used Silk almond milk and Becel Vegan Butter. A few tweaks I made:
1. The flour milk mixture should be even more paste. It should almost look like there is no milk left. When it cools it should be closer to a congealed fat viscosity than a paste. This offsets the softness of the vegan butter.
2. Make sure your vegan butter is as cold as can be. Do not let it warm up to room temperature. Pull it from the fridge and use immediately. Because Becel Vegan Butter is naturally softer than real butter letting it cool before whipping it will cause it to not fluff as is needed and whipping will result in a sort of flat oily sugar stew. Make sure your butter is fresh from the fridge.
3. Lots of extra whipping time. Both before adding the paste and after. I used a hand mixer, but adjust according to what mixer you are using.
4. Melting point is lower. This is true of all dairy-free alternatives made using Becel Vegan Butter. There may be more firm options of Vegan Butter out there, but Becel is the best 1-for-1 alternative I have found for a reasonable price point. Be aware of the outside temperature, surface temperature, etc. Placing the mixing bowl in the freezer prior to whipping the butter mix is always a good option to combat the heat.
5. With some other dairy-free buttercreams (I did not try with this one) I put it in the fridge before frosting. This is especially true to use it for decorating as holding the piping bag melts the icing at a fast rate. In the comments the author stated she DOES NOT put it in the fridge ahead of time as it sets up. This is great for what we are looking for. Note: I have not tried putting it in the fridge personally.
Kate says
Thank you so much for sharing all of your tips!! I’ve used Silk almond milk, but I’ve never tried using butter. Thanks again for sharing!
Fabi says
I never leave a comment in any recipe… but i just had to tell you, WHAT AN AMAZING FROSTING! I had the task to make a birthday cake for a friend and found myself without icing sugar and you saved the day with this recipe! It tastes great, so light, so easy to make! Thank you!!!
Kate says
Yay!! Thank you, and I’m so glad you liked it!
Anne Saunders says
This is a great, not-too-sweet frosting recipe.
I made it with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Mix, and it worked perfectly. I’ll probably try millet or rice flour next time, as the 1-to-1 has some darker flecks in it.
I also replaced one teaspoon of vanilla with lemon extract for my son’s lemon-curd filled vanilla birthday cake.
Kate says
Thank you so much for sharing your notes! =)
Scarlett says
This made a beautiful icing!! As I didn’t have an icing sugar, and couldn’t find any in the supermarket, I found this! Me and my sister both agree it’s way better than standard buttercream, has a lovely light fluffy texture too! Would definitely recommend!
Kate says
Thank you so much! I’m glad you liked it. =)
Sierra says
This turned out great. From reading the comments, some had mentioned that it taste like flour. So I cooked it till there was no flour taste and it was nice and thick and pasty. I used this light frosting on some lavander cupcakes. Was a huge hit. Definitely a keeper recipe. No gritty texture from the granulated sugar. Mixed it for the amounted times suggested.?
Kate says
Thank you! I’ve never had any flour taste, and I think getting the flour mixture nice and thick helps with that. I’m glad you liked it! =)
Izzi says
I’m excited to try this! Have you ever tried with an alternative flour (rice)?
Kate says
I haven’t, but I’ve heard from numerous people who have used 1:1 gluten free flour mixes in place of the ap flour. If you try it with rice flour, I would love to hear how it works out!
Helena says
I was wondering how would the frosting taste if I used imitation vanilla extract instead of pure? Would it be sweeter or less?
Kate says
I doubt you’d be able to tell much of a difference.