This American Chocolate Buttercream Frosting is silky, whipped, decadent, and chocolatey with just the right amount of sweetness. It has 6 simple ingredients and takes just 6 minutes to make.
This Chocolate Buttercream spreads and pipes beautifully over chocolate cakes and cupcakes so it’s perfect for all of your baking projects.
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We love homemade frosting recipes from Vanilla Buttercream to Cream Cheese Frosting and of course, this easy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. In fact, we loved it so much that I even used it on my daughter’s Chocolate Birthday Cake in Natasha’s Kitchen Cookbook. Homemade frostings use higher-quality ingredients and taste way better than store-bought.
Chocolate Frosting Video Tutorial
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Chocolate Buttercream Recipe
This chocolate buttercream frosting is thick and fluffy. It holds its shape well, just like Swiss Meringue Buttercream so it’s great for decorating and piping. It also has a rich chocolate flavor.
How much frosting does this make?
Frosting Cupcakes? This recipe yields about 2 1/4 cups frosting and generously frosts 12 cupcakes or lightly frosts 24 cupcakes.
Frosting a Cakes? To frost a 9” 2-layer cake, increase the recipe by 50% (i.e. 1 1/2 cups butter, 4 1/2 cups sugar, etc).
The Key to Great Chocolate Buttercream
Soften Butter Correctly – For the best-textured buttercream, make sure the butter is at the correct temperature. Properly softened butter should be left at room temperature for about 1 1/2 hours, or watch our video on how to soften butter in 5 minutes.
Your butter should feel cool to the touch and you should be able to indent it with your fingertip. Never melt or over-soften butter for the frosting or it will become too thin and greasy.
Scrape down the bowl several times while mixing to ensure your chocolate and sugar are incorporated with the butter. If you don’t scrape down the bowl, your frosting will have streaks of cocoa and won’t be uniform in color. It will be especially obvious if you pipe the frosting.
Ingredients for Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Unsalted butter – should be softened at room temperature. Use unsalted so you can control the salt in the recipe.
- Confectioners sugar – also known as powdered sugar. This is measured before sifting (sifting is not necessary).
- Cocoa powder – natural unsweetened cocoa powder or Dutch process.
- Heavy whipping cream – lightens up and thins the frosting.
- Vanilla extract – we use real vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- Salt – balances the sweetness of the buttercream. It’s the secret ingredient in buttercream that makes it taste not too sweet. We use fine sea salt.
How to Make Chocolate Buttercream
The best Chocolate Buttercream is easier and takes less time than you think!
- Beat butter in a mixing bowl with the whisk attachment on high speed for 3 minutes until creamy and lightened in color.
- Add remaining ingredients – powdered sugar, cocoa powder, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Beat together on low speed until powdered sugar is incorporated then on medium/high speed for another 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl several times. Add more cream at the end if needed to thin the frosting.
Pro Tip:
Use a silicone spatula to scrape down the bowl several times while mixing to ensure the frosting is evenly blended and even in color and texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use unsweetened natural cocoa powder such as Hershey’s brand, or use Dutch process cocoa powder to make chocolate buttercream.
You can thin the frosting with milk instead of heavy cream, but you may need slightly less. Add it until you reach your desired texture.
You can easily double the recipe, increasing your mixing times slightly.
Funny story, I spent years sifting the dry ingredients for this recipe until I decided to skip the step one day and found it did not make a difference. The ingredients will be incorporated easily without sifting.
How to Serve Chocolate Buttercream
This frosting is delicious over cakes, cupcakes, sweet bread, cookies you name it! Here are some of our favorite ways to use Chocolate Buttercream frosting:
- Chocolate Cupcakes
- Sugar Cookies
- Vanilla Cupcakes
- Honey Cupcakes
- Greek Yogurt Cupcakes
- Chocolate Cake or Vanilla Cake – scale it up by 50% for a 2-layer cake.
Enjoy this easy 6-minute Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. It’s one I’ve been making for years and I will never stop loving this recipe.
Make-Ahead
- To Refrigerate: Store in an airtight container or ziploc bag for up to a week (do not store near fish or meat as it may absorb those fridge odors). Bring to room temperature and re-whip to make the frosting fluffy.
- Freezing: Package the same way as for refrigerating, then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight then bring to room temperature before re-whipping to a fluffy consistency.
More Homemade Frosting Recipes
If you love to bake, here are the frosting recipes that you should have in your recipe box. They are my go-to’s for cakes and cupcakes:
- Vanilla Cupcake Frosting
- Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Chocolate Ganache
- Cinnamon Roll Icing
- Blackberry Frosting
- White Chocolate Frosting
- Homemade Whipped Cream
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (6-Minute Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups confectioners sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 3 to 4 Tbsp heavy whipping cream, plus more to thin the frosting
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- With a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat butter on high speed for about 3 minutes or until creamy and lightened in color, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Add confectioners sugar, cocoa powder, 3 Tbsp heavy cream, 2 tsp vanilla extract, and 1/4 tsp salt.
- Beat on low speed until sugar is incorporated then increase to medium/high speed and beat for 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl several times to ensure everything is well blended. Add another Tablespoon of heavy cream if needed to thin the frosting.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Best chocolate icing ever…so light and fluffy. We especially like that it isn’t too sweet. My husband says it tastes like fudge. I just put it on my daughter’s birthday cake.
Happy birthday to your daughter! We love this frosting, and I’m glad your family is enjoying it too!
Very easy and very creamy and chocolatey. This recipe is a keeper
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Will this taste good on a chocolate FUDGE cake?
Hi Katrina! It’s a very versatile frosting, so I think so.
Hi Natasha,
Can I substitute powder sugar for condensed milk?
Hi Kim! I have not tested that substitution to be able to advise.
Hello, can I leave this buttercream at room temperature overnight? I need to frost my son’s birthday cupcakes in the morning before school but don’t want to have the hassle of trying to soften it after it being the fridge all night. Thank you
Hi Nicola! Yes, this buttercream is ok to keep at room temperature for up to one day.
I just made this, it’s the best buttercream frosting !!! And so easy to make
I’m so glad to hear that, Dolly!
Frosting turned out fluffy and decadent, just as it should be!! Thank you so much for the perfect chocolate buttercream recipe, I won’t be looking for another ❤️
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Jill!
I received so many compliments on my daughters 16th birthday cake because of the frosting that wasn’t too thick or too sweet. It has a whipped taste. I followed directions to a T but did add 1/2 tsp of baking ground coffee to bring out the Hershey’s cocoa powder. Thank you for a great, easy and tasty recipe. I have enjoyed many of your recipes and can’t wait to try more! I need a terrific chocolate chip cookie that doesn’t fall flat!
Will have to retry this recipe again. It turned out a bit too sweet and a tiny bit grainy. Not sure why, I felt like i whipped it up enough.
Hi Cheryl! Be sure to use powdered sugar and not granulated. Also, if you’re old and clumped up, you may consider using a fresh bag, or sidt your powdered sugar to remove any lumps. Don’t forget to mix it long enough to allow the sugar to fully dissolve into the butter.
Best chocolate frosting I’ve ever made. Btw, I used 2.5 cups of powdered sugar and it was perfectly sweet without overwhelming.
Thank you for sharing, Christine!
Absolute scrumptious! Did not change a thing.
Absolutely amazing not too sweet. has a decadent chocolately taste.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Good taste. A little too sweet for me. Doesn’t seem to stay as creamy as the canned frosting. Easy to make.
Hi Rick! Because this contains butter, it will harden when refrigerated. It’s best to eat it at room temperature, after it’s sat out to soften for a bit. Also, for a creamy frosting, be sure to whip it long enough and add heavy cream as needed to get the softer consistency you’re looking for.
Amazing. Flavor but I have a good bunch leftover from frosting cupcakes. I’d of course rather have too much than too little. I added a couple tablespoons of strong hot brewed coffee to bring out the chocolate flavor and it came out so well. Great recipe!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Ali!
Just frosted a double layer devil’s food chocolate cake, not too sweet, light and delicious! Used about 5 tablespoons of cream, but turned out beautifully!
I’m about to try this, but I need a mixture of regular Vania frosting and chocolate. Could I just make some without adding the cocoa powder?
Hi Grace! Please use my Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe for that.
This frosting was so good! I only had about 3 1/4 cups of powdered sugar, but I just scaled back on the cream and it came out so good! It was probably more like dark chocolate frosting, which I love!
I’m so glad that worked out well, Melissa. Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
The frosting came out very smooth with no grittiness for brownies. However, it was light on chocolate flavor IMO.
Instant coffee powder or a couple tablespoons of brewed coffee brings out the chocolate flavor a TON!
Everyone loved it. I only used 2 cups of sugar. Delish!
Best chocolate frosting I’ve ever had! It has simple ingredients and takes only a few minutes to make. Don’t take a shortcut on the time it takes to whip the butter; use the full three minutes. The frosting is light and fluffy and spreads easily.
Hi Carol! I’m so glad to hear you loved it!
Very simple and delicious recipe. One thing I’d like to see would be to include the amount of each ingredient in the instructions so we don’t have to keep scrolling back to the list to see how much cocoa powder, sugar, etc that we need. Excellent recipe!