This easy Butter FREE Powdered Sugar Frosting is soft but stiffens up nicely making it ideal for topping cupcakes, cakes, soft sugar cookies or brownies.
*NOTE* In the recipe card below, I offer TWO versions of a butter-free frosting. One is made with cream cheese and cream (NOT dairy free) and the is other made with ZERO dairy.
Homemade frostings are super easy to make! But most recipes are made with sugar, LOTS of butter, milk (or cream) and vanilla extract.
But if you ran out of butter or are dairy free, don't worry! I have two options for you below. One recipe is made without butter and the other can be made without any DAIRY!
For the DF version, you'll want to use any liquid like dairy-free milk/cream, juice or even water.
This type of icing is known as a "quick frosting" because it takes minimal time to whip up. For flavoring, I like to use almond extract instead of vanilla extract because of it's unique flavor which is very tasty but feel free to omit it.
Watch Aleka Make This Butter Free Frosting
Jump to:
Extracts you could use to flavor your frosting besides vanilla:
- almond
- coffee
- orange
- mint
- hazelnut
- lemon
No butter frosting for cake or cookies
This confectioners frosting is great if you want thick but soft icing for those soft sugar cookies we've all come to love around the holidays. Whether frosting Christmas cookies or cupcakes for a birthday party, this one is inexpensive but tasty.
My favorite thing is how nicely it stiffens up so once your frosting is set, you can stack them or cover your cupcakes without worrying they will smear everywhere.
Note* This frosting is on the SWEET side. If you want a less sweet frosting, you should look into a frosting made with BUTTER (or DF butter) known as a buttercream frosting.
📝 Save this recipe for later!
Let us email it to you, so you can come back to it later!
How to make your frosting super smooth:
One thing I LOVE about this confectioners sugar frosting recipe is how forgiving it is! If you mess up the frosting or dent it, you can easily fix it with some hot water and an offset spatula. Read more about smoothing frosting here.
Pro Tip! Heating the icing sugar will cause it to melt again. So pressing a HOT offset spatula or butter knife against the icing will cause the sugar to melt just enough to help it to smooth out evenly giving a clean presentation.
🧈Butter Free!
There is NO butter in either of the frostings below but there IS cream cheese in one. Without either butter or cream cheese, know that your frosting will just be super SWEET.
📨Join My Newsletter!
FAQ's
Yes, it will harden up enough for you to stack your cookies or take your cupcakes on the go without smearing everywhere. Depending how thick your frosting is, it will take anywhere from 30 minutes-2 hours as it cools and the moisture evaporates.
Your frosting will stay fresh for up to 1-2 weeks sealed in the fridge.
Yes. Just make sure to mix it very well!
Sift your powdered sugar before mixing in your cream and extract. Sifting the sugar will remove many small clumps that you don't want in your frosting creating a softer, smoother texture.
Warm your frosting up in the microwave in 15-30 second intervals until it softens enough to spread.
Popular sweets you will LOVE this time of year:
Follow Aleka on Instagram for more recipes for entertaining!
📖 Recipe
EASY Powdered Sugar Vanilla Frosting (without butter)
Equipment
- Piping bags great for cupcakes
Ingredients
Butter Free Frosting
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 oz. cream cheese
- 2 tablespoon cream or milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
Dairy Free Frosting
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼-⅓ cup non-dairy milk, water or juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
📝 Save this recipe for later!
Let us email it to you, so you can come back to it later!
Instructions
Standard Butter Free Frosting
- Sift your powdered sugar if you want a smoother frosting.
- Add your sugar, heavy cream, extract and salt to a bowl and mix well until smooth. A standing mixer or hand mixer works best.
- Add to a piping bag or smooth onto cupcakes, cookies or cake using an offset spatula. Read notes below*
Dairy Free Frosting
- Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix using a hand mixer or standing mixer. (Mixing by hand is tough to do.)
- If frosting is too thick, add 1 tsp. of liquid at a time until desired consistency is reached. Too much and you will need more powdered sugar.Add to a piping bag or smooth onto cupcakes, cookies or cake using an offset spatula. Read notes below*
Video
Recipe Notes
- Have a bowl of hot water on the side for dipping your spatula into before smoothing out your frosting. This is so useful!
- Add a few drops of food coloring to get the color you desire if you want a colored frosting.
- You can use milk, water or juice to make your frosting. The amounts will vary based on what you use.
- The frosting will harden between 30 min to 2 hours.
- Store frosting in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.
- To use frosting after its hardened, heat the frosting in the microwave for 15-30 second intervals until you can spread it easily.
riley
it was liquidy
Aleka Shunk
Your measurements need to be exact. To thicken it, simply add more powdered sugar.
Melanie
OMG!! TO DIE FOR!!! Extremely easy to make!
Aleka Shunk
Thank you!!