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
I have found an easy way to make any buttercream frosting. Put butter in first, add powdered sugar, then double vanilla stirred in the heavy cream. Stir a bit. Start the stand mixer fitted with wire whisk, start on low until somewhat combined, increase to medium until fully combined then turn to high for 5 minutes. Done and creamy. Enjoy
Thank you for sharing, Sha! 🙂
Hi Natasha, I made this today. It is so easy and tastes amazing. Thank you for another amazing recipe.
That’s great, Stephanie! That’s great, so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Delicious- I doubled and used half cocoa powder and half dark. Came out perfect
pro-tip, add grams to your recipe, makes it way easier to make for people who use scales. 👍
Hi Sloona, If you scroll down to our printable recipe card, most of our recipes have a metric conversion option on the printable recipe card. We are currently working on adding metric measurements to all of our recipes, but it is taking some time to add them one at a time. Thank you so much for being patient! In the meantime, check out our post on measuring which should help.
This recipe is delicious and the exact amount needed to frost a 9 inch double layer cake.
Hi Cara! Thank you for sharing. I’m so glad you loved it.
Love this recipe will never buy Iceing again. And easy to make
Hi Sheryl! I’m so glad you liked it. It really is so much better than store-bought frosting.
Hello! I am making a football cake into a sub sandwich for the super bowl. So I need mostly chocolate for the football, but white for football details as well as for “mayo” on the inside. Is it possible use this recipe for white, remove the amount I need, and then add cocoa powder? Hope I’m making sense😆
Hi! I assume it could work but not sure that once you remove the amount you need, the cocoa powder may be too rich for the remainder of the frosting left. You’d have to experiment with it.
Will milk work in place of heavy cream? I’m ready to make this and realize I don’t have the cream.
Hi Mary! That should be fine to use a little bit of milk instead.
This sounds very decadent! Can you add red food coloring to this recipe?
Hi Abby! You can definitely try it, but I do not know what shade you’d get. It will most likely be a darker maroon/burgundy but still with a brownish color.
Great recipe for icing with one addendum; it took me about a 3/4 cup of cream to make it a spreadable consistency. So if you’re just piping it a few tablespoons might be enough, but if you’re spreading it with a spatula to layer a cake with, you’ll need more cream to make it a workable consistency.
Thank you for sharing, Steve! I’m glad you loved the recipe.
Hi!
Was excited to try this with your chocolate cupcakes. Cupcakes turned out great, but frosting did not :(. So many great reviews so I figured I might’ve done something wrong. It turned out the consistency of a powder. I thought maybe butter was too cold, but I left it out for 1.5 hours like you said, and my house isn’t especially cold or anything. Not sure what went wrong. Measured all ingredients with spoon & level method.
Hi Iris! I’m sorry that you had this experience. The butter should be soft enough that when you press it leaves an indentation. Continue to mix it until it has a nice creamy smooth texture. You may try to use a little more heavy cream.
HI,
Your page is my go-to food page 🙂
Been looking for a long time for buttercream but without butter. Do you have one, please?
Or can I replace butter with oil, please?
Thanks
Hi Estelle! I do not know of a buttercream without butter. It is a key ingredient in buttercream. You may try researching a different type of frosting.
How much would I need to do a 9×13 cake? (Including sides, not just topping)
Hi Jenna, please see the section titled: “How much frosting does this make?” .I would do 1 1/2 times the recipe.
Hi, could I make a cake in advance, ice it with this frosting, and freeze it for a few days? Thanks
Hi Donna, what cake recipe will you be using? But you make this frosting ahead, please go through the Make-Ahead tips in the middle of the recipe.
Does this frosting need to be refrigerated? Can I store it at room temperature?
Hi Amberley, this recipe is best stored in the fridge unless you will be using it right away.
Lovely frosting, perfectly chocolatey with dutch process cocoa and not overly sweet. I doubled the recipe for a 3 layer 9-inch cake and would not have had enough to pipe a border; I was making a mirror glazed cake so didn’t need to decorate at all with this frosting. (I do find it easier to make buttercream using the paddle attachment though- I use my silicone-edged one.)
Thank you for sharing that with us, Mary!
My grandmother used to use orange juice in her chocolate frosting. Any suggestion on how much to use (I suppose I would cut back on the cream) and whether it would work in this recipe?
Thank you.
Hi Lisa! Without testing that myself, I cannot provide specific instructions. You’d have to experiment with it. It may work well to use orange extract and orange zest instead of juice. Let us know how it turns out.
This is hands down the best chocolate frosting ever! thank you for sharing it with us!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Julie! It’s our go-to!
Omg!!! Hands down the best chocolate frosting I have ever had. Everyone loved it, even the one friend of mine who does not like chocolate cake asked for this recipe. I will never make another frosting other than this one.
That’s wonderful! So glad to hear that.
This has to be the funniest most delicious chocolate butter cream frosting out there. How delicate yet full flavored it is. I used the recipe with milk, no other substitutes. I frosted my chocolate bundt cake and had plenty. Thank you so much for this recipe.
My tablet subbed funniest for finest. Don’t ask me why. It has a mind of its own some days.
You’re so welcome! I’m glad you loved it.