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.
«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
A Note From Our Recipe Tester
Ingredients
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2 cups confectioners' sugar (organic)
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3/4 cup cocoa powder
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2 ounces soy margarine (softened)
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1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or unsweetened soy milk)
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1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Steps to Make It
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Gather the ingredients.
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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.
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Refrigerate and spread just before serving on fully-cooled cookies, cakes or cupcakes.
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 | |
|---|---|
| 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. | |
