Creamy Chocolate Frosting with Cocoa Powder
This creamy chocolate frosting is made with cocoa powder, powdered sugar, butter, milk and vanilla, so there’s no chocolate to melt and nothing to cook. It mixes up in about 10 minutes, spreads smooth and silky, and makes enough to frost a pan of brownies, a one-layer cake or about 12 cupcakes.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Creamy Chocolate Frosting
- Serves: 12
- Main Ingredients: confectioner's sugar, cocoa powder, butter, milk, vanilla extract
- Why You'll Love It: This creamy chocolate frosting recipe is so easy to make and tastes delicious spread on top of cakes and brownies.
It’s budget-friendly, family-approved and a whole lot better than the canned stuff. Folks take one look at it and expect store-bought, then they taste how buttery and chocolaty it is and do a double-take. My favorite thing to spread it on is a pan of big batch brownies with chocolate frosting.
How do you make chocolate frosting with cocoa powder?
Beat 1 stick of softened butter with 1 cup of powdered sugar, 2/3 cup of cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons of milk until there are no lumps. It will be thick. Then add the remaining 2 cups of powdered sugar, 4 tablespoons of milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and beat until smooth and creamy.
Why This Chocolate Frosting Turns Out So Smooth
Cocoa powder clumps easily, so the frosting gets mixed in two stages. The butter, cocoa, one cup of the powdered sugar and just two tablespoons of milk get beaten together first. It starts out lumpy and very thick, but stick with it and it turns smooth, which works the cocoa lumps out before you add the rest of the sugar and milk.
The kind of cocoa you use changes the flavor. Regular unsweetened cocoa gives you a classic milk chocolate frosting, and Dutch process cocoa makes it darker and richer, more like a dark chocolate buttercream.
Ingredients for Chocolate Frosting with Cocoa Powder
- Butter: It needs to be truly softened at room temperature. Cold butter leaves little lumps that never fully beat out.
- Cocoa powder: Regular unsweetened or Dutch process both work, so pick the flavor you like best.
- Milk: Add it a little at a time. More milk loosens the frosting for a smoother spread on cupcakes.
You’ll find the exact amounts in the recipe card below. If you use unsalted butter, taste the frosting at the end, since a pinch of salt makes the chocolate flavor pop.
Helpful Tips Before You Start
- Make sure your cake, cupcakes or brownies are completely cool before frosting, or the butter will melt and the frosting will slide.
- I’ll confess I don’t always hunt for a tablespoon. Three capfuls from the milk jug comes out to about two tablespoons, though measuring is the more accurate way to go.
- If the frosting is too thick, beat in milk a teaspoon at a time. If it’s too thin, add powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time.
How to Make Chocolate Frosting with Cocoa Powder
1Start with Butter and Sugar
Add the softened butter and 1 cup of the powdered sugar to a large mixing bowl.
2Add Cocoa and a Splash of Milk
Add the cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons of milk.
3Beat Until Smooth
Beat with a hand or stand mixer until the mixture is smooth with no lumps of cocoa. It will be very thick at this point.
4Add the Rest of the Sugar and Milk
Add the remaining 2 cups of powdered sugar and 4 tablespoons of milk.
5Finish with Vanilla
Beat in the vanilla until the frosting is silky and creamy. Taste it and add a pinch of salt if it needs it.
6Frost and Enjoy
Spread the frosting over your cooled cake, cupcakes or brownies, and don’t forget to lick the beaters.
What to Frost with Chocolate Frosting
Spread it over an easy birthday cake from scratch for a classic yellow and chocolate combination, or swirl it on a batch of cake mix cupcakes when you need a quick party treat. It’s also wonderful on a simple vanilla cake or a moist chocolate zucchini cake, and spread over a chocolate depression cake it turns a simple pantry cake into a double-chocolate dessert.
The frosting keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to three months. Let it thaw in the fridge, then beat it for a few seconds to fluff it back up before spreading.
Chocolate Frosting FAQs
What’s the difference between chocolate frosting and chocolate icing?
It comes down to thickness. Icing is thinner and usually poured or drizzled like a glaze, while frosting like this one is thick and fluffy thanks to the butter, so it spreads and holds its shape.
Why is my chocolate frosting lumpy?
Usually the butter was too cold or the cocoa went in all at once. Beating the cocoa with just part of the sugar and milk first, like this recipe does, works the lumps out before the frosting gets too stiff.
How much does this frosting cover?
It frosts about 12 cupcakes, the top of a one-layer 9×13-inch cake or a full pan of brownies. Double it for a two-layer cake.
Creamy Chocolate Frosting with Cocoa Powder
Ingredients
- 3 cups confectioner's sugar powdered sugar
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup butter one stick, softened
- 6 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, place butter, 1 cup of sugar, cocoa powder, and two tablespoons of milk.3 cups confectioner's sugar, 2/3 cup cocoa powder, 1/2 cup butter, 6 tbsp milk
- Beat until mixed well and no longer lumpy. It will be thick. Add all remaining ingredients and beat the buttercream mixture until smooth and creamy.1 tsp vanilla extract
I made a white cake and topped it off with the chocolate icing this weekend. WOW! So easy and soooo good! It was a hit with my whole family. I will never do store bought again!
I know your hubby is not a cook like you, but how does he manage meals for the family when you are gone? Eat out? Visit grandma? Leftovers? Freezer meals? Or does he have a few “Dad’s famous” recipes?
Whenever I go out of town (which is pretty rare but usually once or twice a year..) I make up tons of food ahead of time.
I make some of the kids favorite meals and put them in individual containers so all Ricky has to do is heat them in the microwave. He has a bad habit of not thinking about supper until the kids are already hungry – whereas I have supper planned out and am putting it on the table by the time they feel their stomachs rumble! So I try to take this into account and fix it so he can easily feed the kids in under a minute or two.
I also make up homemade macaroni and cheese and put that in individual containers as well. I then make some pizza rolls (Ricky’s Fave) and cookies for snacking and even make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ahead of time and cut them into squares or triangles and place those in little individual containers where the kids can reach them so they can serve themselves a quick lunch.
You’d be amazed at how much cooking and grocery shopping I do whenever I have to leave my family, even if its just for two days. To top it all off, I place a list on the refrigerator listing all of the meal options I have left for them. Of course, there is always a pantry and a few freezers full of endless options but I swear I think I am the only person in this house who can so much as boil water. 🙂
Yes, in truth, I really do fear my family will starve without me!
That was a neat question to get asked!
Gratefully,
Christy 🙂
Honey, if it bothers folks when you say “Whatever cranks your tractor” too much, just swap it up with “Whatever floats your boat”. Then maybe they won’t comment so much about your use of tractor-themed southern sayings.
On this note, I have a friend who works at the Days Inn here in Athens. She had a bunch of out-of-towners in for a conference. She was talking to one lady, and at the end of the conversation (when the lady was leaving the hotel), she told the lady to “Be careful”. She said that lady looked at her as if she had told her the world was ending today. She asked what my friend meant by that. My friend had to explain to the woman what “Be careful” means down here, and that we tell everyone that at the end of a visit. 🙂
I bet you ran into some of that out in California.
Martha says “It’s a good thing.” Rachel says “Yum-o.” Paula says–oh heck I don’t know what Paula says–but Christy says “Whatever cranks your tractor.” and “Easy/Peasy.” I’d say she oughta just go with it.
Kel,
You just mentioned me in the same sentence as Martha Steward, Rachel Ray, and Paula Deen!
Consider my tractor cranked!!!!!!!!
Gratefully,
Christy 🙂
Is that Kraft t-shirt I spy Brady wearing?! hehe
And Katy always has the cutest bows in her hair.
Well Christy to the rescue again. I was going to the internet to look for a choclate icing recipe, and decieded to check my emails first thanks Christy this is just what I wanted! Your kids are very cute and the cats aren’t to shabby either!!!lol Thanks again
Welcome back to Bama – hope your trip outside the South was great and look forward to hearing about it! This frosting looks really good. I don’t recall ever making homemade chocolate frosting before so I’ve got to try it. Take care!
I like the idea of using Alphabits to spell things out on the cake! I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it, but the idea of TWO cakes is a great one, too. I have a 6-year-old and 4-year-old and I’m sure they’d agree! Thanks for sharing your kid-friendly ideas. Reading your e-mails is always a bright spot in my day.