This is the perfect small-batch vanilla frosting recipe. It’s rich, delicious, and so easy to make.
Another Wednesday, another small-batch frosting recipe. I love sharing these small-batch frosting recipes with you because having an archive of different frosting flavors means that you can mix and match them with my small-batch cupcakes or cookies and make the small-batch dessert of your dreams.
Here on the blog so far, I’ve shared Small-batch Chocolate Frosting , Small-batch Oreo Frosting , and Small-batch Cream Cheese Frosting . This time, it’s classic, perfect Small-batch Vanilla American Buttercream Frosting.
What is American Buttercream Frosting?
American buttercream is a fabulous and convenient frosting that can be made with just a few ingredients, butter, powdered sugar, a little salt, some vanilla, and usually a bit of cream or milk.
Unlike Swiss, French, and Italian meringue buttercreams , American buttercream does not contain eggs, so there is no cooking involved. You just soften some butter, beat it until it is nice and fluffy and then beat in the rest of the ingredients.
From start to finish, it takes less than 5 minutes. I love it for small-batch baking because it’s so simple to make and easy to scale.
It’s also very tasty. This vanilla frosting is rich and buttery and quite sweet, with a smooth texture that crusts just a little.
If you’re looking for a sweet and easy vanilla frosting for sugar cookies , cupcakes (I love it on my Small-batch Vanilla Cupcakes ), or maybe a little gingerbread house, this is the frosting you’re looking for.
Ingredient Notes
- Softened butter: Be sure to start with butter that is softened but not melted. Melty butter can give your frosting an unpleasant, greasy texture. When butter is properly softened, you should be able to press an indentation into the stick with your finger, but the butter should still hold its shape around it. I call for unsalted butter in the recipe, but you can use salted butter if that’s what you keep on hand. Simply omit the added salt in the recipe.
- Powdered sugar: You must use powdered sugar for this frosting recipe. You cannot substitute granulated or brown sugar.
- Vanilla extract: For a more luxurious vanilla flavor, you can use vanilla beans or vanilla paste instead of vanilla extract. See the notes in the recipe card for substitution amounts.
Variations
- Chocolate frosting: Add 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Chocolate cream cheese frosting: Add 2 ounces of softened cream cheese and 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Cream cheese frosting: Add 2 ounces of softened cream cheese along with the butter.
How much frosting will this make?
The recipe makes ¾ to 1 cup of frosting depending on how much air you beat into it. This is enough vanilla frosting to frost:
- 4 to 6 cupcakes with a piping bag (big swirls)
- Up to 8 cupcakes or cookies with a knife
- The top only of a 7×5-inch or single-layer 6-inch cake
My frosting is too sweet/buttery. What did I do wrong?
You probably didn’t do anything wrong. American buttercream is very sweet and very buttery by design. If that’s not working for you, but you still want to try this style of frosting, make one of my flavored small-batch American buttercreams . The butter flavor and heavy sweetness aren’t quite as in your face when there are other flavors there to off-set them.
Can I reduce the amount of sugar in this recipe?
You can cut it by a little, but not much. Sugar helps provide structure to the frosting, and if you keep cutting sugar, at some point you’re just eating lightly sweetened butter.
Where can I use this frosting?
So glad you asked! My favorite things to use this frosting on are:
- Small-batch Cut-out Sugar Cookies
- Small-batch Frosted Sugar Cookies
- Small-batch Vanilla Cupcakes
- Small-batch Chocolate Cupcakes
More Small-batch Frosting Recipes
- Chocolate Frosting
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cookie Dough Frosting
- Strawberry Frosting
- Oreo Frosting
Recipe Notes
- Storage: Store leftover frosting in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Frosting will harden significantly once chilled, so let it come to room temperature on the counter before using. If piping the frosting, re-whip as needed to return the frosting to its fluffy consistency.
- Freezing: American buttercreams freeze extremely well. Store frosting in a freezer bag in the freezer for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before using.
Ingredients
- ▢ 4 tablespoons ( 56g ) unsalted butter* softened
- ▢ 1 cup ( 120g ) powdered sugar sifted
- ▢ 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon milk or cream
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract*
- ▢ Pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, beat softened butter until light and fluffy, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of milk or cream, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Beat until smooth. Add up to 2 additional teaspoons of milk until frosting reaches your desired consistency.
Notes
This Rich and Thick Hot Chocolate for One is the creamiest, most decadent hot chocolate imaginable.
I have a very important question for you on this gray Monday morning. What is your perfect cup of hot chocolate? Is it lightly sweet? Is it sweetly bitter? Is it, as my sister so helpfully put it trying to describe her perfect hot chocolate, “fluffy,” “not hard,” and “Scottish?” (Sidebar: Whaaaaaat???)
My perfect cup goes a little something like this: thick, creamy, and decadent as hell.
If that sounds like your jam, gather round, friend. That’s what I’m sharing today.
This hot chocolate is not an everyday hot chocolate. If you want something light and chocolatey that you can sip as you go about your every day, try my Three-ingredient Hot Chocolate for One . This recipe here is strictly a special occasion drink. A coldest-day-of-the-year or waiting-for-Santa-on-Christmas-Eve sort of treat, because when I say it’s spectacularly decadent, I am not joking. It’s so rich that you’ll want to sip it slowly and luxuriously, and then probably take a nap afterwards.
I love it so much.
How to make thick hot chocolate
There are a couple ways to get really thick hot chocolate. One of them is to use a bit of cornstarch as a thickener so you get cocoa like a hot drinkable pudding. It’s very good but not what we’re going for today.
To get the smoothest, richest, creamiest drinking chocolate, we’re using real chocolate, and we’re using heavy cream so each sip is a little like drinking a bar of chocolate and a lot like heaven.
You take the chocolate and cream, heat them with some milk, a little sugar and cocoa powder, and a pinch of espresso powder and in less than five minutes time, you’ll be holding a steaming mug of the creamiest, most decadent hot chocolate of your life.
More Cold Weather Drinks
- White Hot Chocolate
- Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate
- White Chocolate Mocha
- Homemade Mocha
- Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha
Rich and Thick Hot Chocolate Recipe Tips
- If you don’t have heavy cream , you can substitute half and half or any percentage milk. It will still taste great, it just won’t be as rich and thick.
- If you don’t like your beverages very sweet, you can substitute bittersweet chocolate for the semisweet and cut the sugar in half or remove it completely.
- The espresso powder helps bring out the chocolate flavor and will not make your hot chocolate taste like coffee. If you don’t have any, you can omit it or buy it on Amazon or in the coffee aisle at your grocery store. It’s usually sold in a small glass jar next to the instant coffee.
- This recipe makes 1 cup of hot chocolate, enough to fill a standard 8-ounce mug. If you want to fill an over-sized 12 to 16-ounce mug, one and a half or double the recipe.
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 tablespoon ( 12g ) granulated sugar
- ▢ 1 tablespoon ( 7g ) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
- ▢ Pinch of salt
- ▢ 1 tablespoon water
- ▢ 2/3 cup milk any percentage
- ▢ 1/3 cup heavy cream
- ▢ 2 ounces semisweet chocolate chopped, high-quality chips are fine*
- ▢ Whipped cream optional for topping
Instructions
- In a small pot, combine sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt, and water. Whisk over medium-high heat until smooth. Whisk in milk and cream and heat until steaming.
- Turn heat down to medium and stir in chocolate until melted and smooth.
- Transfer to a cup and serve topped with whipped cream if desired and enjoy!
Notes
Snowball Cookies are perfect Christmas cookies. They have a cute festive name, they’re super easy to make, and they’re a total crowd-pleaser, so everyone’s happy when they show up on a cookie plate.
There are a lot of versions of Christmas snowball cookies out there. Most of them involve nuts, some of them pie crust, but this is what a snowball cookie was in my house growing up: crunchy, crumbly, buttery shortbread wrapped around a Hershey’s Kiss and dredged in powdered sugar.
I make them every year when my whole family is together for the holidays, and I always stash a couple at the back of the cupboard just for myself because even set out among total winners like my Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookies , Chai Sugar Cookies , and Gingerbread Men , they are always one of the first cookies to disappear.
A Small-batch Snowball Cookie Recipe
Generally, I make a big batch of these for the holidays because the family loves them, and I like to include them in cookie trays for friends and neighbors, but I’m sharing a small batch today that makes about 10 cookies for those quiet December evenings when you’re not feeding a house or a neighborhood full of people.
Ingredient Notes
- Hershey’s Kisses: You can use almost any variety of Hershey’s Kisses to stuff these cookies, but their classic milk chocolate is still my favorite. If you don’t want an entire big bag of Kisses around your house, you can usually find mini bags of them in the candy aisle at the grocery store and most convenience stores.
- Salted butter: I call for salted butter in this recipe, but if all you have is unsalted butter, not a problem. Just add a heaping 1/8 teaspoon of salt to the dough along with the flour.
How to Make Snowball Cookies
- In a medium bowl, beat together butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy.
- Add flour and beat until no streaks of flour remain.
- Scoop spoonfuls of dough and wrap them around unwrapped Kisses.
- Bake until the edges and tips of the cookies are just lightly browned.
- Roll in powdered sugar and enjoy!
Can snowball cookies be frozen?
Yes! Snowball cookies freeze well. Store in an airtight container or freezer bag in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Allow them to sit at room temperature for a few minutes before eating so the frozen chocolate kiss has time to defrost slightly, otherwise, they’re hard to bite into while frozen.
How long do snowball cookies stay fresh?
Snowball cookies will stay fresh for up to 5 days when stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Can I double this recipe?
Yes! This recipe scales up with no preparation changes needed.
To double the recipe ingredients, hover over the serving size in the recipe card below or click if you’re on mobile, and slide the slider. If you’d like to make a full-size recipe for gifting or family, multiply the recipe by 4.
More Christmas Recipes
- The Best Crockpot Hot Chocolate
- Classic Hot Chocolate
- Peppermint Mocha
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
More Small-batch Cookie Recipes
- Small-batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Small-batch Shortbread
- Small-batch M&M Cookies
- Small-batch Peanut Butter Cookies
Equipment
- Handheld electric mixer
Ingredients
- ▢ 10 Hershey’s Kisses
- ▢ 1/4 cup ( 56g ) salted butter* softened
- ▢ 2 tablespoons ( 15g ) powdered sugar
- ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ▢ 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon ( 67g ) all-purpose flour
Topping
- ▢ 1/2 cup ( 60g ) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Unwrap 10 Kisses and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine softened butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Beat until well combined and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add flour and beat, starting on low, working up to high until mixture clumps and forms a dough. Scrape bottom and sides so no streaks of flour remain.
- Scoop a half-ounce spoonful of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten the dough between your palms and set a Kiss in the center. Wrap the edges of the dough around so all the chocolate is covered. Place on prepared baking sheet and repeat with the rest of the dough and candies.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until the edges of the dough are lightly browned. Cool on the baking tray until cool enough to handle.
- Pour powdered sugar into a bowl and roll cookies in the sugar until coated. Enjoy!
Notes
This is the perfect small-batch vanilla frosting recipe. It’s rich, delicious, and so easy to make.
Another Wednesday, another small-batch frosting recipe. I love sharing these small-batch frosting recipes with you because having an archive of different frosting flavors means that you can mix and match them with my small-batch cupcakes or cookies and make the small-batch dessert of your dreams.
Here on the blog so far, I’ve shared Small-batch Chocolate Frosting , Small-batch Oreo Frosting , and Small-batch Cream Cheese Frosting . This time, it’s classic, perfect Small-batch Vanilla American Buttercream Frosting.
What is American Buttercream Frosting?
American buttercream is a fabulous and convenient frosting that can be made with just a few ingredients, butter, powdered sugar, a little salt, some vanilla, and usually a bit of cream or milk.
Unlike Swiss, French, and Italian meringue buttercreams , American buttercream does not contain eggs, so there is no cooking involved. You just soften some butter, beat it until it is nice and fluffy and then beat in the rest of the ingredients.
From start to finish, it takes less than 5 minutes. I love it for small-batch baking because it’s so simple to make and easy to scale.
It’s also very tasty. This vanilla frosting is rich and buttery and quite sweet, with a smooth texture that crusts just a little.
If you’re looking for a sweet and easy vanilla frosting for sugar cookies , cupcakes (I love it on my Small-batch Vanilla Cupcakes ), or maybe a little gingerbread house, this is the frosting you’re looking for.
Ingredient Notes
- Softened butter: Be sure to start with butter that is softened but not melted. Melty butter can give your frosting an unpleasant, greasy texture. When butter is properly softened, you should be able to press an indentation into the stick with your finger, but the butter should still hold its shape around it. I call for unsalted butter in the recipe, but you can use salted butter if that’s what you keep on hand. Simply omit the added salt in the recipe.
- Powdered sugar: You must use powdered sugar for this frosting recipe. You cannot substitute granulated or brown sugar.
- Vanilla extract: For a more luxurious vanilla flavor, you can use vanilla beans or vanilla paste instead of vanilla extract. See the notes in the recipe card for substitution amounts.
Variations
- Chocolate frosting: Add 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Chocolate cream cheese frosting: Add 2 ounces of softened cream cheese and 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Cream cheese frosting: Add 2 ounces of softened cream cheese along with the butter.
How much frosting will this make?
The recipe makes ¾ to 1 cup of frosting depending on how much air you beat into it. This is enough vanilla frosting to frost:
- 4 to 6 cupcakes with a piping bag (big swirls)
- Up to 8 cupcakes or cookies with a knife
- The top only of a 7×5-inch or single-layer 6-inch cake
My frosting is too sweet/buttery. What did I do wrong?
You probably didn’t do anything wrong. American buttercream is very sweet and very buttery by design. If that’s not working for you, but you still want to try this style of frosting, make one of my flavored small-batch American buttercreams . The butter flavor and heavy sweetness aren’t quite as in your face when there are other flavors there to off-set them.
Can I reduce the amount of sugar in this recipe?
You can cut it by a little, but not much. Sugar helps provide structure to the frosting, and if you keep cutting sugar, at some point you’re just eating lightly sweetened butter.
Where can I use this frosting?
So glad you asked! My favorite things to use this frosting on are:
- Small-batch Cut-out Sugar Cookies
- Small-batch Frosted Sugar Cookies
- Small-batch Vanilla Cupcakes
- Small-batch Chocolate Cupcakes
More Small-batch Frosting Recipes
- Chocolate Frosting
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cookie Dough Frosting
- Strawberry Frosting
- Oreo Frosting
Recipe Notes
- Storage: Store leftover frosting in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Frosting will harden significantly once chilled, so let it come to room temperature on the counter before using. If piping the frosting, re-whip as needed to return the frosting to its fluffy consistency.
- Freezing: American buttercreams freeze extremely well. Store frosting in a freezer bag in the freezer for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before using.
Ingredients
- ▢ 4 tablespoons ( 56g ) unsalted butter* softened
- ▢ 1 cup ( 120g ) powdered sugar sifted
- ▢ 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon milk or cream
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract*
- ▢ Pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, beat softened butter until light and fluffy, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of milk or cream, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Beat until smooth. Add up to 2 additional teaspoons of milk until frosting reaches your desired consistency.
Notes
Small-batch Vanilla Frosting
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons ( 56g ) unsalted butter* softened
- 1 cup ( 120g ) powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon milk or cream
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract*
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, beat softened butter until light and fluffy, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of milk or cream, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Beat until smooth. Add up to 2 additional teaspoons of milk until frosting reaches your desired consistency.
