A staple in any baker’s kitchen, vanilla buttercream frosting is deliciously soft, creamy, and sweet. My favorite recipe for American vanilla buttercream is simple to make and is easily piped onto cakes and cupcakes for a truly memorable dessert.
Finally! A completely separate post for the most common recipe in any baker’s repertoire: vanilla buttercream frosting. This is my favorite vanilla buttercream recipe. There’s nothing fancy, crazy, or complicated about it, but the flavor and texture will certainly taste like you added something special.
But guess what? You didn’t. It’s our little secret.
How to Make American Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
American vanilla buttercream is incredibly simple and much easier than, say, Swiss meringue buttercream. From mixing bowl to decorating cupcakes in less than 10 minutes! Here’s how to make it:
- Beat butter until creamy. Make sure your butter is softened to room temperature before beginning. Use a hand or stand mixer to beat until smooth and creamy.
- Add sugar, cream, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until these ingredients are incorporated, then bump up the mixer to medium-high speed. At this point, you can add more confectioners’ sugar if the frosting is too thin or a splash of heavy cream if it’s too thick.
- Taste and salt. Add a pinch of salt to offset the sweetness. Trust me on this one!
Buttercream Frosting Ingredients
Buttercream ingredients hardly differ between recipes, but the ratio of ingredients does vary. I’m here to tell you that this careful buttercream formula works EVERY time—my recipe is perfection.
- Butter: We can’t have buttercream without butter. Though salted is fine, I recommend using unsalted butter so you can control the added salt. Whichever you use, make sure you are using room temperature butter.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Sweetens vanilla buttercream and adds stability and pipe-ability to the frosting.
- Heavy Cream: Though whole milk or half-and-half are perfectly acceptable, use heavy cream for maximum creaminess and richness.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: Adds that glorious vanilla flavor. And if you use homemade vanilla extract, even better.
- Salt: Offsets the sweetness and adds that little something extra.
This recipe also serves as the jumping point for strawberry buttercream frosting and the cinnamon-swirl frosting from snickerdoodle cupcakes.
For something lighter and less sweet, I recommend this whipped frosting.
Decorating with Buttercream Frosting
The word “creamy” doesn’t even do this stuff justice. But even though it’s supremely creamy, this vanilla buttercream holds its shape beautifully. It’s perfect for piping even the most complicated and intricate designs. When decorating cakes and cupcakes, I gravitate towards the following 5 piping tips. Each creates a completely different look, so that’s why it’s a great collection if you’re just starting out. And these tips won’t break the bank—they’re each pretty inexpensive.
- Wilton 1M (Rose) – a classic piping tip and the easy buttercream rose is a staple decoration. This same tip can also produce a decoration that resembles soft serve ice cream.
- Wilton 8B – one of my all-time favorites.
- Ateco 849 – it’s a pretty wide piping tip. You can make a rose, a soft-serve swirl, or a super easy ruffled look.
- Wilton 12 small round – since it doesn’t have any detailed edges, I love using this tip for silky creamy frostings such as salted caramel frosting and cream cheese frosting.
- Ateco 808 large round – it’s also a round tip, but it’s much larger. Its decoration looks like a big fluffy cloud!
Want to see how to decorate cupcakes? Here’s my how to use piping tips video. And here is how we use this frosting to decorate easy Halloween cupcakes!
How to Rid Vanilla Buttercream of Air Bubbles
Over-whipping vanilla buttercream creates air bubbles. The taste is no different, but the buttercream is no longer smooth and velvety. Here’s how to get rid of air bubbles in your frosting:
Ditch the mixer. Grab a wooden or metal spoon and begin stirring the buttercream by hand. Mash the frosting up against the side of the bowl to “pop” the bubbles. Do this until most of the air bubbles pop, about 1–2 minutes. This trick requires a lot of arm muscle!
Yes, absolutely! You can add various extracts, in addition to the vanilla extract. If doing so, I recommend reducing the vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon. Extracts you can add include 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract, 1/2 teaspoon maple extract, 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract, 1/2 teaspoon orange extract, or 1/4 teaspoon almond extract. Taste the buttercream, and, if desired, beat in an extra splash of extract. Instead of adding extracts, you can keep the vanilla extract as 2 teaspoons, and beat in 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. You could also try this Lemon Buttercream, Chocolate Buttercream, Chai Spice Buttercream, or White Chocolate Buttercream.
Yes, this is American-style buttercream and it’s sweet. If you’re looking for a less-sweet option, try this Whipped Frosting or Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
There are 2 options. You can freeze the buttercream for up to 3 months, and those detailed instructions are in the recipe card below. You can also make it up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate it. Remove from the refrigerator and use a mixer to beat it with a splash of room-temperature heavy cream, half-and-half, or milk to help make it creamy and smooth again.
You can keep the buttercream white or tint it with food coloring. To color it, beat in a drop of gel food coloring. (Here is my favorite brand.) I recommend gel food coloring instead of liquid food coloring because liquid can throw off the consistency. For lighter tints, I recommend using the tip of a toothpick to add color, rather than squeezing a whole drop into the bowl of frosting.
Buttercream frosting is typically fine at room temperature for up to 1 day. After that, it’s best to refrigerate it. That said, do what you feel comfortable with; if your kitchen is particularly warm, you may want to refrigerate it on day 1.
Ways to Use Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
I’ve used this vanilla buttercream more times than I can even fathom, but I love it most paired with chocolate cupcakes or vanilla cupcakes. If you scale it up (slightly) you can use it to frost a layered cake, like I do with my white cake recipe (use this how to assemble a layer cake post as a guide). If you add slightly more heavy cream, you can use this as the base for whipped buttercream, as I recommend with my vanilla sheet cake. It also tastes delicious with:
- Lemon Cupcakes
- Confetti Cupcakes
- Vanilla Cake
- Soft Cakey Sugar Cookies
- Brown Sugar Butterscotch Cupcakes
- Checkerboard Cake
- Sugar Cookie Bars
- Chocolate Cupcakes
- Piñata Cupcakes
- Sugar Cookie Cake
By the way, if you make my homemade vanilla extract, this buttercream tastes even more fantastic. 🙂
Print
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 2.5 cups
- Category: Frosting
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is my favorite vanilla buttercream. It’s the perfect vanilla frosting that’s simple, creamy and smooth and tastes unbelievable on vanilla cupcakes!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 – 5 cups (480-600g) confectioners’ sugar (see note)
- 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream, half-and-half, or whole milk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add 4 and 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, the heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium-high speed and beat for 2 full minutes. Taste. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. I always add 1/8 teaspoon.
- Adjust if needed: You can control the consistency at this point—add up to 1/2 cup more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin or more heavy cream if frosting is too thick (add only 1 Tablespoon at a time, beat together, then taste and add more if desired).
- Use immediately or cover tightly and store for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer. After freezing, thaw in the refrigerator then beat the frosting on medium speed for a few seconds so it’s creamy again. After thawing or refrigerating, beating in a splash of heavy cream or milk will help thin the frosting out again, if needed.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then beat the frosting on medium speed for a few seconds so it’s creamy again. After thawing or refrigerating, beating in a splash of room temperature heavy cream, half-and-half, or milk will help thin the frosting out again, if needed.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer)
- Quantity: This recipe is enough to frost 12-16 cupcakes or a thin layer on a 9×13 inch quarter sheet cake. Follow the ratios written in this white cake for a two layer cake, or for a three layer cake use the ratios in this confetti cake.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: If your confectioners’ sugar is particularly lumpy, I recommend sifting it 1-2x before measuring and using.
- Heavy Cream: I love using heavy cream for the creamiest consistency. You can use half-and-half or whole milk instead if needed. The lower the fat, the less creamy your buttercream will be. Whichever you use, make sure it’s at room temperature. Otherwise your frosting could separate or appear grainy.
- Decorating Tips: Be sure to check out my post on how to use piping tips (with video tutorial!), and my recommendations for essential cake baking & decorating tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
For a three layer cake would I need to double this?
Hi Jade, for a three layer cake use the ratios in this confetti cake.
I really enjoyed the apple cake and yellow cake with buttercream frosting. Thanks
I’m a novice trying this butter cream icing thank you for the recipe
Hello again! A question please! I have imitation vanilla flavor should I increase the quantity of the teaspoons?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Angela, I would make the buttercream as listed, swapping in the flavoring you have (same amount). Taste, and then beat in more if desired.
Thank you!
Love your recipes, Sally! This ended up being way too sweet, so added another stick of butter which helped. I probably could’ve been happy with about 2-2 1/2 cups sugar, but that’s me!
I made this recipe but it came out grainy! What am I doing wrong? I’ve made buttercream frosting before from other recipes on your site and they came out perfect. I know my butter was room temperature. The half and half wasn’t out as long so could it be from being too cold?
Hi Jill, It could simply be the brand of confectioners sugar you are using. Try sifting the sugar before using which should help.
I liked the recipe, but I think it was too sweet for my taste. What can I do about that?
Hi Arosha, this is definitely a sweeter buttercream. You can try reducing the confectioners’ sugar, but keep in mind that it is also what provides the structure for the frosting, so it will be runnier with less sugar. Instead, you might try Swiss meringue buttercream or this whipped frosting recipe, both of which are a bit less sweet.
Hi! I was curious how i would make this buttercream a stark white colour? Thanks!
Hi Bella, we know this sounds weird, but a *very* tiny drop of purple of food gel food coloring will whiten your frosting!
Hello; I have made this vanilla buttercream frosting before and can I just say YUUMMM.
I am tasked with making cupcakes for our granddaughters graduation party. Her school colors
are orange and black. I was wondering instead of using vanilla extract could I use orange extract in place. Or should I use 1 teaspoon of each vanilla and orange. I am making your fabulous Super moist Chocolate Cupcake recipe. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Hi Mary, yes, we’d recommend starting with 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 teaspoon of orange extract. Enjoy!
Thank you so much for your response. to my orange extract question.
This is why I love Sally’s Baking Addiction. Always delicious recipes and helpful advise.
Have a great day.
Hi again! I am making a 8-inch 3-layer cake and 24 cupcakes I want to use this recipe for frosting all of them. But one batch obviously won’t be enough for all I need to do, so I was wondering how much you recommend making.
Hi Addie, see recipe notes for yield information. For a 3 layer cake, we recommend following the ratios from this confetti cake. For the cupcakes, you’ll likely want to double this recipe, since a single batch will frost 12-16 cupcakes.
Hi! I was planning on using this frosting recipe to frost a 3 tier 6 inch cake, but I was wanting to use a small amount in two different colors to pipe a simple edge border around the cake. Do you have a small batch recipe version of this or would it work if I halved the recipe if need be?
Hi Jessica, you can halve the recipe if needed.
Hey Sally, can I use this buttercream frosting for icing cookies for Christmas?
Hi Celeste, you can use this recipe here for sugar cookies with buttercream!
I was wondering, can I use lactose free whole milk to make this??
Hi Ekaterina, yes, that will work in a pinch! The buttercream may not be as creamy, though.
This is so delicious. The problem I have whenever I make buttercream is it gets too stiff. No matter how much cream I add it keeps getting stiffer and stiffer the more I beat. If my butter is too soft and I add cold cream, would that make the buttercream stiff? I have added up to half cup of heavy whipping cream and still too stiff. I measure my powdered sugar properly. Spoon and scrape. No idea what I could be doing wrong.
Hi Jennifer, temperature differences could certainly be part of the issue. Room temperature butter and room temperature cream are important for helping the frosting to come together properly. Hope this helps for your next batch!
came out amazing!
made 12 cupcakes and had a lot of frosting left. gonna freeze 😉
thank you!
This is a good base recipe.
I usually only add in 500g of icing sugar and maybe a splash or two of milk as I needed a firmer consistency for some cupcakes that were going to be at room temp all day.
The frosting was definitely better the next day, less gritty and sweet. I’m usually team SMBC or German BC but enjoyed this recipe immensely after thinking I wouldn’t.
i haven’t made the recipe yet but would this frosting be good to pipe flowers onto a cake, if not what’s a good recommendation for an easy recipe? thank you!
Absolutely. This frosting pipes beautifully!
Can I use this for strawberry shortcake cake?
Hi Kris, We can’t see why not.
Hi! I’ve made several of your recipes over the years and love them. I am wondering if this buttercream will make a smooth surface on a layer cake? I’m searching for a frosting that will do so and hope yours will be the one! Thank you!
Hi, can you help me with quantities for a semi naked cake.
3 X 6 inch layers, 3 X 8 inch layers and 3 X 10 inch layers
Hi Delmarie, you can start by using the vanilla buttercream recipe in our Vanilla Naked Cake which uses 3, 9-inch pans.
Hi Sally! I have tried this recipe and eventually reduce the sugar (doing half of the weight of the butter) as it was too sweet otherwise for me. In this case (e.g. 500 g butter for 250g sugar) can it still be left at room temp for a long time? Thanks!
Hi Chiara, we haven’t tried that exact ration so we’re unsure of the consistency, but you should be able to leave it at room temperature for up to 24 hours. If it’s especially thin, you may want to refrigerate it, though.
Thanks! And may I ask you how I can make the buttercream feel very smooth when eating it? I tried it, sifting the sugar, but still we could taste small grains of the icing sugar. Thanks!
Hi Chiara! We would try a different brand of confectioners’ sugar. We like to use Domino brand.
Is there a particular brand for sugar and pure vanilla extract you love?
Hi Connie, we love Domino brand sugar (not sponsored—just big fans!) and using our homemade vanilla extract whenever possible. McCormick brand also has great extracts.
This buttercream was so sweet it made my teeth hurt and my tongue burn. I wish i’d read the other comments and reduced the amount but it’s too late now and they’re already on the cupcakes. I tried to mellow it out with salt, but when that didn’t work, I tried to lean into the burn by adding orange zest and essence. It helped some, but I already know I’m going to have to live through the heartbreak of seeing everyone try and surreptitiously scrape half the frosting off into the bin :,)
Hi Gina, American buttercream is quite sweet. Perhaps next time you would prefer to use Swiss Meringue Buttercream or this Not-So-Sweet Whipped Frosting instead.
Hi Sally, I haven’t made this buttercream yet, and I have a question. I plan on making several batches ahead of time, and storing it in the fridge for two days. Do you recommend adding food colouring before it goes in the fridge, or should it be mixed in on decorating day?
Based on your other frosting recipes that I’ve tried, I’m certain that this one will be five stars! The chocolate buttercream piped beautifully! I love that you provide weights for the ingredients. Every recipe has been spot on.
Hi Jody, since you’ll likely want to re-whip the frosting when you’re ready to use, we’d recommend adding the food coloring then. Hope you enjoy it!
I love all of your recipes. I did find the 4 cups of sugar were a bit much for my preference. I just reduced by half which turned out lovely. Thank you for being so passionate about baking.
What is heavy cream fat percentage?
Hi Teresa! Heavy cream is 36% fat.
Hi, if I put this icing on my cake does it stay in place if left in room temperature?
Yes, it does, assuming the room isn’t too warm. Store leftover cake in the refrigerator, covered (I always use a cake carrier to store cakes), and then let it come back up to room temp before serving again.
I’m excited to make this recipe tomorrow. It says use immediately, but can I frost my cupcakes and store in the fridge overnight? Will they get too hard? Thanks for your help!
Hi Maxine, you can do that, and then just make sure to take them out of the fridge and let them come back up to room temp about an hour before serving. Enjoy!
Can I use salted butter..I wanted to make tonight and that’s all I have..
Hi Cathy, you can use salted butter. Taste the frosting before adding salt, then add salt to taste.
Can we add food coloring for this frosting?
Hi Katie, absolutely. We recommend gel food coloring for best results. You can add it when you add the vanilla extract.