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Small-batch Vanilla Frosting

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This is the perfect small-batch vanilla frosting recipe. It’s rich, delicious, and so easy to make.

Another Wednesday, another small-batch frosting recipe. I love sharing these small-batch frosting recipes with you because having an archive of different frosting flavors means that you can mix and match them with my small-batch cupcakes or cookies and make the small-batch dessert of your dreams.

Here on the blog so far, I’ve shared Small-batch Chocolate Frosting, Small-batch Oreo Frosting, and Small-batch Cream Cheese Frosting. This time, it’s classic, perfect Small-batch Vanilla American Buttercream Frosting.

Overhead photo of small-batch vanilla frosting in a bowl.

What is American Buttercream Frosting?

American buttercream is a fabulous and convenient frosting that can be made with just a few ingredients, butter, powdered sugar, a little salt, some vanilla, and usually a bit of cream or milk.

Unlike Swiss, French, and Italian meringue buttercreams, American buttercream does not contain eggs, so there is no cooking involved. You just soften some butter, beat it until it is nice and fluffy and then beat in the rest of the ingredients.

From start to finish, it takes less than 5 minutes. I love it for small-batch baking because it’s so simple to make and easy to scale.

It’s also very tasty. This vanilla frosting is rich and buttery and quite sweet, with a smooth texture that crusts just a little.

If you’re looking for a sweet and easy vanilla frosting for sugar cookies, cupcakes (I love it on my Small-batch Vanilla Cupcakes), or maybe a little gingerbread house, this is the frosting you’re looking for.

Ingredient Notes

  • Softened butter: Be sure to start with butter that is softened but not melted. Melty butter can give your frosting an unpleasant, greasy texture. When butter is properly softened, you should be able to press an indentation into the stick with your finger, but the butter should still hold its shape around it. I call for unsalted butter in the recipe, but you can use salted butter if that’s what you keep on hand. Simply omit the added salt in the recipe. 
  • Powdered sugar: You must use powdered sugar for this frosting recipe. You cannot substitute granulated or brown sugar. 
  • Vanilla extract: For a more luxurious vanilla flavor, you can use vanilla beans or vanilla paste instead of vanilla extract. See the notes in the recipe card for substitution amounts.

Vanilla buttercream frosting being scooped out of a bowl.

Variations

FAQ

How much frosting will this make?

The recipe makes ¾ to 1 cup of frosting depending on how much air you beat into it. This is enough vanilla frosting to frost:

  • 4 to 6 cupcakes with a piping bag (big swirls)
  • Up to 8 cupcakes or cookies with a knife
  • The top only of a 7×5-inch or single-layer 6-inch cake

My frosting is too sweet/buttery. What did I do wrong?

You probably didn’t do anything wrong. American buttercream is very sweet and very buttery by design. If that’s not working for you, but you still want to try this style of frosting, make one of my flavored small-batch American buttercreams. The butter flavor and heavy sweetness aren’t quite as in your face when there are other flavors there to off-set them.

Can I reduce the amount of sugar in this recipe?

You can cut it by a little, but not much. Sugar helps provide structure to the frosting, and if you keep cutting sugar, at some point you’re just eating lightly sweetened butter. 

Where can I use this frosting?

So glad you asked! My favorite things to use this frosting on are:

More Small-batch Frosting Recipes

Recipe Notes

  • Storage: Store leftover frosting in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Frosting will harden significantly once chilled, so let it come to room temperature on the counter before using. If piping the frosting, re-whip as needed to return the frosting to its fluffy consistency. 
  • Freezing: American buttercreams freeze extremely well. Store frosting in a freezer bag in the freezer for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before using. 

Small-batch vanilla frosting being piped onto a cupcake.

Small-batch vanilla frosting being piped onto a cupcake.

Small-batch Vanilla Frosting

This is the perfect small-batch vanilla frosting recipe. It's rich, delicious, and so easy to make.
4.96 from 62 votes
Print Pin
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Servings (Hover or Click to Change Yield): 8 servings
Calories: 100kcal
Author: Tracy

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons (56g) unsalted butter* softened
  • 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar sifted
  • 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon milk or cream
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract*
  • Pinch of salt

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl, beat softened butter until light and fluffy, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of milk or cream, vanilla extract, and salt.
  • Beat until smooth. Add up to 2 additional teaspoons of milk until frosting reaches your desired consistency.

Notes

*If using salted butter, omit the additional salt in the recipe.
*To substitute vanilla bean for extract, use ½ to 1 inch of vanilla bean, to taste. For paste, follow the substitution guidelines on the jar, as it varies from product to product.
Yield: This recipe makes ¾ to 1 cup of frosting depending on how much air you beat into it. This is enough to frost 4 to 6 cupcakes with a piping bag (big swirls), up to 8 cupcakes or cookies with a knife, or the top only of a 7×5-inch or single-layer 6-inch cake.
Storage: Store leftover frosting in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature on the counter before using. If piping the frosting, re-whip as needed to return the frosting to its fluffy consistency. 
Freezing: Store frosting in a freezer bag in the freezer for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before using. 
Did you make this recipe?I'd love to see it! Tag @BakingMischief or hashtag it #BakingMischief.

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Comments

  1. Wanda Meade says

    5 stars
    Not even going to pretend I make this for something special. I make this for me..to eat..with a spoon! I love this recipe. I don’t change a thing.

    Reply

  2. Michelle Epstein says

    5 stars
    My grandson requested a giant chocolate chip cookie with strawberry frosting for his 8th birthday. I used your recipe and added pulverized freeze dried organic strawberries to the frosting (trying to keep it all organic) and it was so delicious! The tartness of the strawberry was perfect with the sweetness of the frosting. Thank you!

    Reply

  3. Heather says

    5 stars
    Was looking for a quick and easy recipe to ice about 10 cupcakes and this was perfect! Finally a homemade icing recipe that my kids actually like (and I didn’t even have any vanilla extract!)

    Reply

  4. Hayden Renfro says

    A wonderful frosting recipe, very tasty and loved how it was so easy to make, definitely recommended for anyone. Can’t wait to see what you have next!! 🙂

    Reply

  5. Debbie McGlathery says

    I have a grandson that will only eat white, white cake and white icing. I had a small white cake recipe and now I have a GREAT white icing recipe. Thanks

    Reply

  7. Christopher says

    5 stars
    This is my monthly go to recipe for cupcakes for 2, depression cake no eggs (8×8 pan) and half loaf pan carrot cake ..although for that I add cream cheese. Thank you so much. This recipe rocks! A serious Baker applauds you.

    Reply

  8. Brianna says

    5 stars
    Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!! My mother and I didn’t have heavy whipping cream so we used this recipe. Came out wonderful!

    Reply

  9. Clary says

    5 stars
    This was amazing, I made it twice in one night. I made it for home made mug cakes and it was perfect!
    I recommend this it tastes way better than store bought icing.

    Reply

  10. Vivian says

    5 stars
    This Is The Second Time Ive Made This Recipe,Being Its Just Me An My Hubs An I Make A 8×8 Wacky Cake An This Is Perfect Amount For The Cake An Its Sooo Much Better Then Bought 2 Thumbs Up! ♥

    Reply

  11. Kim says

    5 stars
    This came out really great. I doubled the recipe to make enough frosting for a double 6 inch cake. It was just the right amount. Initially I softened the butter too much so I put it in fridge to hardened it so that it was just a little soft. I only had salted butter so I used that instead and omitted the pinch of salt of course.

    Reply

  12. Adriana Trujillo says

    I double the recipe. Used 2 tbsp of milk and didn’t sifted the powder sugar 🙁 It came out runny. How can I fix it?

    Reply

    • Tracy says

      Hi, Adriana, you can try beating more powdered sugar into the recipe and it should start to firm back up. Hope that helps!

      Reply
4.96 from 62 votes (34 ratings without comment)

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