Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting

This brown sugar buttercream frosting is fluffy, smooth, tasty and super easy to make at home. It is made with brown sugar, softened butter, powdered sugar, and a little bit of milk. It has a delicious deep flavor and is perfect to use on cakes, cupcakes, and more!

Brown sugar has such a comforting flavor. It's made by adding molasses to sugar, which gives it the rich, deep caramelized flavor we know and love. Brown sugar frosting is the perfect addition to your cozy Fall and Winter bakes!

This silky smooth frosting pairs perfectly with pumpkin desserts (like a pumpkin snack cake), spice cakes, and apple desserts too (like apple cider cupcakes). It's delicious piped on brownies and cookies too. Because of the brown sugar, the frosting is a light brown color but can easily be dyed with food coloring to decorate Holiday cookies like spritz and classic cutout cookies.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• Silky smooth- If you blend the brown sugar, the buttercream will be fluffy and super smooth.
• Perfectly spreadable- The consistency can be customized and is perfect to spread, pipe, and even drizzle.
• Easy quick recipe- You can make this frosting in 5 minutes! You don't need to melt the brown sugar or do any other additional, time consuming steps.

Watch How to Make This Recipe

Ingredient Notes

Here are some notes about the ingredients used. For quantities, see the recipe card below.

• Unsalted butter- Make sure it is softened and at room temperature but not melty. Pull it out of the refrigerator about an hour before making the frosting.
• Brown sugar- Light or dark brown sugar work to add sweetness and depth of flavor. Make sure it's fresh and not dry, clumpy, or hard.
• Vanilla extract- Enhances all the flavors.
• Salt- Balances the cloyingly sweet powdered sugar.
• Powdered sugar- Adds structure and sweetness to the buttercream.
• Milk- Add milk or cream to get the frosting to whatever consistency you want. You can add 1 tablespoon or more depending on if you'll be spreading or piping the frosting or using it as more of a glaze/icing.

Substitutions

• Unsalted butter: Use salted butter if you don't have unsalted; leave out the extra salt in the recipe. Vegan buttery sticks can be used to make the frosting dairy free.
• Powdered sugar: Use powdered monk fruit sweetener if needed.
• Milk: Use non-dairy milk if needed, like almond, oat, or soy. Heavy cream and half and half are also suitable substitutes.

Helpful Equipment and Tools

To make the buttercream, you'll need a large mixing bowl and either a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (or flat beater) attachment or an electric hand mixer. A food processor is optional, but blitzing the brown sugar makes the frosting ultra smooth.

Expert Tips for Success

1. Sift the powdered sugar. This isn't a necessary step, but sifting the powdered sugar helps ensure that you won't have any clumps.
2. Cover the bowl. If you don't want to make a mess, cover the bowl of your stand mixer with a kitchen towel to keep powdered sugar from flying everywhere.
3. You can fix it easily! There's really no way to mess up homemade frosting. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time. If it's too thick, add more milk or cream 1 teaspoon at a time to loosen it.
4. Add chopped pecans. To make a praline frosting, fold in some chopped pecans!

Storage and Freezing

Storage: Store the frosting in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Before storing, place a piece of plastic wrap directly over the frosting to prevent it from forming a crust.

You can also wrap the frosting tightly in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator that way.

Freezing: You can freeze buttercream for up to 2 months! Wrap the frosting in plastic wrap and seal tightly or place in a ziplock freezer bag and store in the freezer.

Make ahead: You can make buttercream ahead of time for birthdays or other events and celebrations. The frosting can be stored in the fridge if it's a week out.

Frequently Asked Questions