I am a firm believer that having a go-to vanilla buttercream recipe is essential for cake making, and this Vegan Vanilla Buttercream is the one I reach for when I’m in need of a trusty vegan frosting. Not only does it frost like a total dream, it also holds its shape beautifully when piped and can be easily tinted any color under the sun. Oh, did I mention it tastes amazing too? Cause that’s pretty important!
There’s nothing complicated about this Vegan Vanilla Buttercream recipe, but the powerful vanilla flavor and silky texture make it seem complex. The truth is, I simply swapped out the dairy in my favorite (non-vegan) Vanilla Buttercream Recipe with vegan friendly ingredients and the results ended up being so perfect. It’s just four ingredients: a good vegan butter (I love Earth Balance sticks), powdered sugar, a quality vanilla extract, and your favorite unsweetened dairy-free milk.
One of the secrets to success with this recipe is making sure your ingredients are room temperature before starting. That means you’ll need to take the non-dairy milk and vegan butter about an hour ahead of time so they can come to room temperature before you start the recipe. Want to really knock this recipe out of the park? Invest in a great quality vanilla for flavoring. You can use any kind of vanilla extract or paste, but I always use bourbon vanilla (I get mine from Trader Joe’s!) to give it a rich vanilla flavor.
This Vegan Vanilla Buttercream is extra versatile in the sense that it can be used for filling cakes, frosting cakes extra smooth, piping cupcakes and intricate decorations, and any other kind of dessert that calls for buttercream. It’s as easy to work with as it is to make. It can be paired with any cake flavor (everything pairs well with vanilla!), but if you’re looking to make an all-vanilla cake be sure to check out my Vegan Vanilla Cake recipe! It’s a tried and true crowd pleasing combination. Enjoy!
Vegan Vanilla Buttercream
Ingredients
- 1 Cup (227g) vegan butter, softened to room temperature I use Earth Balance sticks
- 3 1/2 Cups (420g) powdered sugar
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened dairy-free milk, room temperature
Instructions
- With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the vegan butter on medium-high until it’s creamy and light in color. About 7 minutes.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each cup is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
- Add the vanilla and unsweetened dairy-free milk and mix on low for another minute until fully incorporated.
Notes
- Frost 12-15 cupcakes with a piping bag
- Fill and crumb coat a three-layer 6-inch cake or two-layer 8-inch cake. To have enough for frosting and decorating as well, double the recipe.
Did you make this Vegan Vanilla Buttercream? I want to know what you think and how you used it! Let me know in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco in your Instagram photos to show me. I love seeing what you create!
Can I make this into Bailey’s buttercream by replacing the milk and vanilla with baileys liquor?
Hi Linda! Yes, you can totally do that. Yum!
I have not made yet but I’m curious if I can turn this into your raspberry buttercream by just added the freeze dried raspberries and/or if you have any tips on how to do that.
Hi Eva! Yes, you can totally add freeze-dried raspberries to this recipe to flavor it. I would measure out 3/4 Cup (18g) of freeze-dried raspberries, grind them into powder and sift out the seeds, then add them in with the powdered sugar in this recipe. Hope that helps!
i’m going to try this recipe … does the vegan buttercream hold up under fondant?
Yes, it will work great under fondant! Just make sure the buttercream is chilled (and firm) before applying the fondant.
Hi! I was just wondering if this buttercream is stable enough to stacks cake and with stand an outdoor setting ? Nothing directly in the sun but would it be able to sit of for a few hours?
Hi Eliana! It’s perfectly stable for filling and stacking cakes, but in my experience it is a bit temperature sensitive. It depends on how hot your environment is. Here’s a blog post I wrote about the experience and what you can do to make it more heat stable: https://sugarandsparrow.com/buttercream-recipe-for-hot-weather/
Just made this! The batter tasted fantastic. I used three six-inch cake pans and filled them evenly. The centers of the cakes refused to get done at the same pace as the edges and are somewhat “sunken.” Any thoughts on where I might have gone wrong?
Hi Jan! I’m sorry the centers of the cake ended up sinking a little bit! Were you able to level them off and see how they looked inside? Here are some common reasons why cakes can sink in the middle. See if any of those might be the culprit: https://sugarandsparrow.com/why-cakes-sink/
Thank you so much for this post! I am a vegan baker and have had no luck trying to create a stable vegan buttercream. As you mentioned, using shortening tastes terrible – nothing I would ever make.
I have successfully tried your recipe and used cream of tartar instead of meringue powder. Many don’t know that cream of tartar is actually vegan so it’s safe to use. I have had no issues; hopefully this helps any future readers 🙂
Thank you so much for the tip, Christina! I’m so happy to hear that it worked with cream of tartar!!
Hi Whitney! I can only find Earth Balance in tub form in my area. Can I use the tub form vegan butter in this frosting recipe AND in your vegan cake recipe? Thank you!
Hi Christina! I’ve never tried the tub vegan butter in either of the recipes before, so it would be an experiment but it looks like the ingredients in both the spread and the sticks are the same. That makes me think it would be okay. Let me know how it goes!
could this be made with less powdered sugar?
Hi there! You could try, but the less powdered sugar you add the more runny in consistency it will be. If you do add less, I would try to balance it out by adding a little less of the dairy-free milk.