Vegan Chocolate Frosting

Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 5 mins
Servings: 8 to 12 servings
Yield: 2 cups

Chocoholics rejoice with this sweet and scrumptious vegan frosting chocolate recipe that will satisfy any chocolate craving without a drop of dairy.

The traditional chocolate frosting is made with sugar, fat (usually butter), and a little flavor but this vegan frosting version exchanges the butter for a dairy-free alternative like soy margarine.​

The frosting is used to give a contrasting taste and texture to vegan cookies, dairy-free cakes, and dairy-free cupcakes. Of course, it's also a beautiful decoration to make sweets look prettier.

This recipe can be doubled or tripled for parties and get-togethers when the time is of the essence.

Vegan Frosting
The Spruce

"This was very easy to make. It came out delicious and was easy to spread. I beat it on low speed until the margarine was evenly incorporated, but the frosting had to have the almond milk to become a moist mixture. I recommend sifting the powdered sugar and cocoa powder after measuring." —Diana Rattray

Vegan Chocolate Frosting Tester Image
A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

  • 2 cups confectioners' sugar (organic)

  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder

  • 2 ounces soy margarine (softened)

  • 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or unsweetened soy milk)

  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Vegan chocolate icing recipe
    The Spruce
  2. In a medium-large mixing bowl, sift the confectioners' sugar and cocoa together, then add the softened margarine, almond milk, and vanilla and beat with an electric hand mixer, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

    Add the almond milk or soy milk, cocoa powder, and vanilla and continue to mix
    The Spruce
  3. Refrigerate and spread just before serving on fully-cooled cookies, cakes or cupcakes.

    Vegan chocolate frosting
    The Spruce

Tips

  • When preparing dairy-free frostings, you can use a "stick" variety of dairy-free soy margarine instead of a "tub" variety.
  • You can use vegan butter with a cocoa butter base, which lends itself to a texture that more closely resembles traditional frosting. If you use a vegan butter with a coconut oil base, you'll find the frosting "melts" much more readily and may need to be refrigerated prior to use to firm up.
  • To give a lighter flavor, you can use whipped vegan butter alternatives.
  • There are a variety of butter substitutes available on the market.
  • If you avoid soy, you can use any other non-dairy milk, including almond milk, cashew milk, or rice milk in this recipe, but be sure to go unsweetened or the balance of flavors will be lost.
  • Other non-dairy milk such as hazelnut milk or coconut milk might change the flavor of the frosting, but they are still perfect substitutes for soy milk.
  • If you've been using a plastic storage bag with icing tips to decorate with frosting, you know how hard it can be to control your designs. Consider upgrading your pastry bag with a silicone piping bag instead. There are a variety of choices that allow you to pipe evenly, some are squeezable and others even have screw-on nozzles so you don't get any surprises while decorating.

Recipe Variations

  • For more vanilla flavor, increase the vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon.
  • Add 1/2 teaspoon of almond flavoring along with the 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.

What Is the Best Cocoa To Use In Chocolate Frosting?

While Dutch process cocoa and natural cocoa don't work the same in a baked recipe, they are both good options for frosting. Dutch-processed cocoa powder is mild. and darker in color. Natural cocoa (e.g., Hersheys) is lighter and more acidic.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
129 Calories
5g Fat
21g Carbs
1g Protein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 12
Amount per serving
Calories 129
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g 6%
Saturated Fat 1g 4%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 16mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 21g 8%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
Total Sugars 18g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 43mg 3%
Iron 2mg 11%
Potassium 16mg 0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)