This Vanilla Buttercream Frosting requires just 5 simple ingredients. It’s perfect for piping on cupcakes and cakes. I will show you how to make soft, smooth and creamy buttercream that tastes better than any bakery!

 

American Buttercream frosting is the BEST! Unfortunately you can usually only find it on baked goods at a fancy bakery or from a home baker. The chain grocery stores usually use a whipped frosting that is tasty but just not as good as real butter frosting. If I had to guess, I think it might be due to cost.
This frosting recipe is great for topping a White Cake or Chocolate Cake.

Baked goods can be costly when purchasing from the bakery. From scratch baked goods and homemade frosting can be made at home for a fraction of the cost. Plus, homemade is always so much better for you.

This vanilla buttercream frosting is so incredibly easy to make yet impressive with flavorful, texture. The key to the best vanilla flavored buttercream frosting is the butter consistency before starting. Softened room temperature butter that is not too hard, not too soft is best.

Also, you will want to cream the butter for about 5 minutes. The color of the butter will become almost white. It will be light and fluffy at this stage of mixing. This is possible with either a hand or stand mixer.

Another important step is to sift your powdered sugar to remove any lumps. This step is not necessarily as important but it does make for the smoothest frosting. Note that organic powdered sugars are more lumpy than non organic. So, it is a bit more important if using organic.
Higher quality vanilla extract or vanilla bean is a great addition to buttercream frosting. I usually have whichever I have on hand though. If you are looking to have a bright white frosting, use a clear vanilla extract.
For the BEST vanilla buttercream you should use a heavy whipping cream. The fat content in it or a half and half works great. If you do not have either of those available you can use whole milk.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Ingredients

Making a homemade buttercream frosting only needs a few ingredients. If you make a lot of desserts, you’ll probably have these fridge and pantry staple ingredients on hand already! For this quick, 5-ingredient Vanilla Buttercream Frosting recipe, you’ll need the following:

• Butter – Use unsalted butter for this recipe. Salted butter won’t ruin the recipe or give you a salty frosting, but it’s better to add salt separately so that you can get the flavor just right.
• Powdered Sugar – Or confectioners’ sugar. You want a powdered, dusting sugar instead of any sort of crystal sugar.
• Vanilla Extract
• Milk/Cream – Ideally, you’d use a heavy cream or a half-and-half here. Still, if all you have is milk, it should work just fine!
• Salt – We avoided using salted butter here so that we can add salt to taste. A touch of salt can help balance things out if your frosting tastes too sweet.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Buttercream Frosting with Vanilla

You’ll realize pretty quick that making buttercream frosting from scratch couldn’t be much easier! Having a stand mixer definitely makes things a breeze, but it’s still so easy to make if you just have an electric hand mixer. To make Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, here’s all you have to do:

• If you haven’t already, let your butter soften at room temperature before you start making frosting. Once you’ve got soft butter, transfer to a large mixing bowl.

• Grab a hand or stand mixer. Beat butter on medium speed until light, creamy, and fluffy.

• Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Beat on low to incorporate and mix with butter– use the low setting or you’ll make a mess! Once fully blended, beat on medium for 2 minutes.

• At this point, you’re just dialing in the flavor and texture. Gradually add in your milk and beat in until you reach your desired consistency.

• If your frosting is too sweet, add a pinch of salt and beat in to incorporate. Use Vanilla Buttercream Frosting right away or transfer to the fridge for later.

Storage / Freezing

Storage: Of course, you’ll want to keep any leftover buttercream frosting in the fridge. Transfer to an airtight bag or container and optionally press some plastic wrap on top before setting in the fridge. At a bare-minimum, you can expect Vanilla Buttercream Frosting to last 1 week- some folks keep frosting in the fridge for a whole month without any problems!

Freezing: For long-term storage, consider freezing buttercream frosting instead. Transfer to a freezer bag or freezer-safe container and press some plastic wrap on top to prevent freezer burn before putting in the freezer. Expect frozen buttercream frosting to last for up to 3 months- for best results, let thaw in the fridge before beating for 2-3 minutes to whip it back up.