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With over 2 million views and counting since 2013, this Chocolate Frosting Recipe is my most popular frosting recipe on my website. Using simple ingredients, it’s simple to whip up and the best frosting for any kind of cake, especially birthdays!
There are thousands of homemade chocolate frosting recipes out there. This is the one that continues to be requested for every birthday, special occasion or just because! Just take a look at the 600+ reviews in the comment section at the bottom of this post and you’ll see that it’s a favorite for many others as well. Be warned, this frosting is so gosh darn delicious it may disappear before you even get to frost your cake! Move over store-bought frosting because this recipe is about to knock your socks off.
Homemade Chocolate Frosting ingredients
This Chocolate Frosting recipe is essentially a chocolate buttercream because it’s made with:
- softened butter – salted or unsalted will be just fine
- powdered sugar – sifted
- cocoa powder – sifted
- vanilla extract
- milk – amount to be adjusted to your liking. f you’re going to pipe this recipe, you’ll want it more stiff so it holds its shape, if you’re wanting to frost a cake, you’ll want it slightly thinner and more easily spreadable.
Pro Tip: Before you get started, make sure you are using very soft butter, sifted powdered sugar, sifted cocoa powder and be prepared to adjust the thickness of the frosting with a little more milk or a little more powdered sugar.
How to make Chocolate Frosting
I assure you this is one of the easiest recipes in the entire world you can make. I promise you can do it!
- Whip butter and cocoa powder together until smooth in large bowl.
- Stir in vanilla extract and powdered sugar.
- Slowly stream in milk until frosting reaches desired consistency.
- Scrape sides and whip again until light, fluffy and smooth, 1-2 minutes.
Need more chocolate in your life? Try these tasty treats: Actually Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Cake Extreme, Chocolate Cobbler, Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.
Can I make this Chocolate Buttercream Frosting ahead of time?
Absolutely! This chocolate frosting will last for one week in the fridge as long as it’s in an airtight container. If you plan on using it to frost a cake, you’ll want to bring it to room temperature for 3-4 hours first and then whip it for a quick 20 seconds to get it light and fluffy again before using.
Chocolate Icing Tips and Tricks
Time and time again, I get comments on this recipe saying it was either way too thick or way too thin to use. Here’s the secret though: not everyone measures cocoa powder or powdered sugar exactly the same. So all the frostings you make using the exact same recipe will vary and you will have to make minor adjustments.
- If your frosting is too thick, slowly add in milk little by little to get the consistency you want.
- If your frosting is too thin, add a little extra powdered sugar little by little to get the consistency you want.
- If you want to use this frosting to cover a whole cake, run a butter knife through the finished frosting. If it holds its shape but is still really easy to spread, it’s perfect. I’d highly recommend using an offset spatula for frosting a cake.
- For pipeable frosting that holds its shape, you want to make sure the frosting will hold its shape and not fall, so slightly stiffer than for frosting a whole cake. These disposable piping bags are great! Also, this 1M Wilton frosting tip is the one I use to get those gorgeous mountains of frosting on top of cupcakes.
This frosting is too sweet!
Friends, frosting is supposed to be sweet! I know when you see 5 cups of powdered sugar, your eyeballs jump out of their sockets, but trust me, it will be just fine. Especially since this chocolate frosting recipe makes a ton: enough to frost an entire 9-inch cake with leftovers or 24 cupcakes.
If you find that the frosting is too sweet, try to sprinkle in a little salt. If you want to reduce the powdered sugar by 1-2 cups, you are welcome to do so, but know you will have to reduce the milk as well.
How to use Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Besides licking this right from the spoon, I have lots of cakes and cupcakes recipes to make with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.
- Classic Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Cupcakes
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Candy Cane Cake
- Vanilla Cake – this combo is to die for!
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting FAQ
No, not at all. Cocoa powder is notoriously lumpy and it definitely helps to sift, but not totally necessary. You might not even have a sifter available to you, which is fine! Also, powdered sugar has cornstarch mixed into it to help prevent lumping. As you whip the ingredients for the frosting together, most of the lumps should come out. *Should* come out. They might not, which is all the more reason to sift. But again, don’t lose sleep over this if you can’t sift.
Yes! I actually prefer using salted butter for all my desserts and baked goods. I know, I know, sacrelig! Either unsalted or salted butter is absolutely fine to use interchangeably in this recipe.
Love Cake Decorating? Try these other frosting recipes:
- Vanilla Buttercream
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Royal Icing
- Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting
- Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Lemon Mousse Frosting
More Favorites from Lauren’s Latest
So, there you have the easiest, tastiest chocolate frosting recipe! Hope you absolutely love it! Be sure to pin, save, bookmark and share this recipe because it’s a good one! Have a great day, friends!
If you make this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and leave your review in the comments! If you have a picture of your finished dish, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #laurenslatest and tagging me @laurens_latest.
Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened, both salted or unsalted work fine
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder sifted
- 5 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Whip butter and cocoa together until smooth in large bowl. Stir in vanilla extract and powdered sugar.
- Slowly stream in milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Scrape sides and whip again until light, fluffy and smooth, 1-2 minutes.
- Frost your cake or cupcakes*!
Video
Notes
- If your frosting is too thick, slowly add in milk little by little to get the consistency you want.
- If your frosting is too thin, add a little extra powdered sugar little by little to get the consistency you want.
This icing was AMAZING it was the perfect richness!!! I did have to add a few more tablespoons of milk but overall perfect for a cake!!!
Amazing! Quick and easy for a last minute cake! Perfect for the holidays as they tend to get so busy! I made this for my bf’s parent’s and they hated but i thought it was delci lol it was distustgusting
i tripped on the over door with the bowl in hand and face went in, 10/10 took awhile to get out hair burned in eyes but tasted great.
I love this frosting. I used it on my sons birthday cake and then ate the leftovers with strawberry ice cream. So good.
How sweet is this just wondering because 24 servings calls for a lot of sugar, and how much does 12 servings make?
Let me start by saying this recipe is wonderfully forgiving. I’m not prone to following any directions to-the-letter, but I flubbed this one admirably.
First, I read 1 cup of softened butter as 1 stick, so my recipe had half as much butter as needed, then I didn’t sift my cocoa powder, then I didn’t mix my cocoa powder and butter before adding the powdered sugar and instead added them all at once (which led to me having to mix everything using my hands rather than a whisk or spoon). Followed by me misreading “3-4 tablespoons of milk” as water, adding 5 tablespoons of water, wondering why it’s still so dry, then rereading directions again and adding two tablespoons of milk.
The frosting was still wonderful, 10/10. Truly fool-proof
Not what I expected:( very light brown and not chocolate flavor I was hoping for. Didn’t work for me.
Bleh just sweet. Very little chocolate flavor. Chocolate colored American buttercream
This was a very good recipe. Will save for next time. Thanks.
I tried to make this in Germany but I am not sure why it went so wrong. From the very start, trying to whip (I used a hand mixer) the butter (it was softened from sitting at room temp for a while) with the sifted cocoa powder was a disaster. I just had dusty clumpy balls of cocoa-butter. It didn’t seem this could ever become smooth or even one mass, so I added a bit of milk at this point already to give it something to slightly liquify enough to mix together. I’m not sure if there is something different about our ingredients here that caused this.
love this iceing sooooo much i just made some cupcakes and i am haveing a second one now
This recipe tasted like a nasty, store-bought icing pack. It was disgusting.
I used dark chocolate cocoa to cut the sweetness a little & it tastes like chocolate ice cream. Absolutely the best chocolate buttercream I have tried.
So delicious!! So easy!! It’s my new favorite chocolate frosting.
So easy, tasted wonderful!
So smooth, so quick, and sooo tasty!
Really yummy icing.
Tastes amazing thanku.
I used less powdered sugar than it called for. I used ghirardelli cocoa and this icing came out AMAZING
I’ve had the best experience so far learning alot and experiencing a lot of fun and sweetness with simple recipes 👍🏼
Thank you for the recipe. Easy Chocolate Frosting with only five ingredients is what I need. If you use Hershey’s dark chocolate cocoa you get a richer chocolate flavor. And add a few tablespoons of espresso powder and we add even more flavor to the frosting.
Hi! Does it make enough to frost a 2 layer cake on the outside and inside? Thanks!:)
Yes, it should be enough for that.
Thank you so much for the recipe. I had to change it because when i made it ( i follow recipes to a T) It tasted too much of powdered sugar and like a weird cake taste even adding more milk just still tasted like cake. It was a fast and simple recipe but it was wayy to sugary
This would have been a very easy 5 if it hadn’t turned out a very pale chocolate color. I was planning on the dark fudgy color to top my vanilla cupcakes. I used Ghirardelli’s 100% premium baking cocoa so that’s not the problem. It is delicious, very easy to make, pipe and it made a generous amount.
So how do I get the rich dark chocolate color?
Do not bake at 325degrees in a Bundt pan. Cake was soupy.
Wow this recipe is fantastic! I substituted with gluten free (Hungry Harry’s brand) and oat milk and they came out perfect. They are fluffy and very cake like, taste is on point. These are definitely the best I’ve made subbing in GF flour to a normal recipe. Thank you!
Love this chocolate frosting!!
What amount of chocolate chips would I need for this?usually use coco powder but🤷♂️!
It’s supposed to be sweet, not send you into immediate diabetic shock. If you add sugar at all, congratulations, it’s sweet. I made a third of a recipe because I didn’t have much butter; that still comes out to 5/3 cups (1 2/3 C) of powdered sugar. After adding the first cup, I gave it a taste, and it’s a good thing I did, because I COULD NOT TASTE THE CHOCOLATE, ONLY SUGAR! Which, if you’re making chocolate frosting, what’s the point, even?? Had I been making the full recipe, that would have been 2 CUPS too much, meaning this recipe is MORE THAN 40% too sweet! I added the juice from a mandarin and a splash of vinegar to cut the sweetness, and a couple tbsp more sugar to thicken it up, but definitely not the remaining amount! OP would rathe gaslight us than admit fault to this over-sweetened atrocity.
I added 4 cups and it was the perfect amount
Super good with a vanilla cake
I used this recipe on a birthday cake that was made on Saturday morning. It is excellent.
On Tuesday, the frosting was still soft and delicious. It may last longer than that but I wouldn’t know because the cake is no longer around.
This frosting is really, really good!! I had a craving and my son is home for Spring break and loves chocolate cake. I had a cake mix in the pantry, but wanted homemade frosting. I saw this recipe and decided to try it. Wow! It was really easy and so DELICIOUS!! It’s my new “go to” recipe!!!
When you apply the buttercream to the cake, do you crumb it first?
Are you talking about using a crumb coating with the frosting? If your cake is particularly ‘crumbly’ then it can be extremely helpful. Coat the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting, not worrying about crumbs. Then freeze for 10 to 15 minutes before adding a second layer.
Can’t remember when I last made a chocolate cake, but wanted one tonight. I wanted a super quick, easy frosting recipe that I didn’t have to cook and let cool. I found this recipe and decided to give it a try. Perfecto! This will now be my go-to recipe for chocolate frosting. ☺️
Life is sweet! The frosting doesn’t have to be that sweet!
FIVE CUPS?!?
You gonna die at a young age
I was very disappointed when I made this for my 8yr son’s birthday , the frosting tasted
horrible and was very chunky. I love your other recipes , but this one wasn’t it .
I’m so sorry you had trouble! It sounds like the butter wasn’t soft enough or you didn’t beat it enough to get the lumps of powdered sugar out.
Love this frosting!
My delightful wife is no fan of chocolate….more a spice person! But now I catch her dipping into the extra frosting I had left over…..it is that delicious.
Light and creamy and so so chocolatey.
Happy to have found this recipe. ThNk you Lauren
Can chocolate cake mix be used for cake icing?
No, I wouldn’t recommend that.
This is the most amazing frosting! I think we could eat bowls of it! Thanks for a totally awesome recipe!
This is a FAB chocolate frosting and it’s so easy not to have to worry about melting chocolate. I used a bit less sugar because I wanted a thick version and it is very creamy! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Delicious. I was too lazy to pull out my kitchenaid, I won’t make that mistake again 🙂
it was so fire
I made chocolate cake for my baby brothers birthday and used this frosting!
It tasted great!
I would highly recommend this recipe!
Its super creamy and chocolaty.
the best of the best any day.
100% the best ever.
I’ll hate you forever unless you try it
And I’m not lying.
Very chocolatey, rich, sweet but easy to make. I added more milk for a more whipped consistency. I’ve made it twice today (first cake stuck in the pan). First cake tasted amazing even tho it looked like a toddler made it.
Thank you for the easy recipe! Been using your recipes for years.
This frosting was the BEST!!!!!
Loved this recipe and I have also used vegan margarine and coconut milk to substitute the milk I made it soft consistency and flat covered my cake in this and then used a smaller quantity but subbed the cocoa with powdered sugar to write a message on the cake.
can I use anchor milk ?
I don’t see why not.
Made this for the first time and it’s amazing. Best buttercream recipe I have found yet.