If you love traditional cakes and follow a vegan diet, then you may have found yourself wondering whether a classic vegan chocolate frosting is possible. The answer is yes! This vegan chocolate frosting recipe has all of the rich texture and chocolatey flavor of a traditional chocolate buttercream.

When I first became vegan, I got a kick out of preparing traditional desserts with vegan ingredients. I’d watch as friends and family members raised their eyebrows and exclaimed, “I’d never have guessed this is vegan!”

I still love making vegan cakes, puddings, and pies for special occasions. Cake is my personal favorite, and where there’s cake, there’s frosting.

This vegan chocolate buttercream frosting is as rich and creamy as the stuff I remember sneaking spoonfuls of from the tub when I was little. Yet it’s both homemade and dairy-free.

All about the buttah 

A truly authentic vegan buttercream begins with store-bought vegan butter.

While I’m all about homemade vegan basics, there are times when a store-bought product is a little more advanced than anything I could realistically make at home.

Commercial vegan butter brings so much possibility to vegan baking and dessert-decorating. It’s essential for creating vegan pastries, laminated breads, and traditional vegan cookie recipes.

Vegan butter is what gives my chocolate frosting its characteristically buttery flavor, not to mention a texture that’s great for piping.

Once upon a time, there were really only a few vegan butter brands to choose from. Nowadays, there are numerous options in grocery stores.

I’ve found that Earth Balance—one of the oldest plant-based butters on the market—is best for buttercream. It has a relatively high melting point, which means that it holds its shape well at room temperature. All of this means that it’s especially good for piping and decorating.

Other vegan butters that I’ve had success with for frosting: Miyoko’s Creamery and Om Sweet Home (a small company, local to me).

For more a very detailed review of multiple vegan butter brands, you can check out this post. It’s from 2021, and new brands are always emerging, but it’s a good place to start!

How to make vegan chocolate buttercream frosting

Making buttercream frosting usually involves beating butter and powdered sugar together in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. Making vegan buttercream frosting works similarly. The only real difference is the use of a dairy-free butter.

Step 1: cream vegan butter

Step one in making the vegan chocolate frosting is to beat vegan butter until it’s light and creamy. When the butter is starting to appear “whipped,” it’s time to add sugar. 

Step 2: add sugar and flavorings

In step two, you’ll add powdered sugar, along with any other flavorings, to the frosting-in-progress.

By “flavoring,” I mean extracts, like peppermint or lemon extract, or colorings. As you might expect, my vegan chocolate frosting calls for the addition of cocoa powder.  

Important note about the sugar here: it needs to be powdered, or confectioners sugar. And I recommend sifting the sugar, so that you can avoid clumps in your buttercream.

In addition to the sugar and flavorings, you’ll add 2-4 tablespoons of non-dairy milk to the frosting. This helps to keep the texture light and easily spreadable/swirlable. I recommend starting with 2 tablespoons and adding more only if the buttercream is too dense for your liking. 

Once you add the powdered sugar, you’ll continue beating the frosting for 2-3 more minutes, or until the frosting is rich, yet fluffy. 

At this point, you can frost whatever vegan cake or cupcake you’re waiting to decorate. (I highly recommend vegan chocolate snack cake!)

I’m wishing you oodles of sweet, rich, chocolatey swirls. Enjoy!

xo