This classic Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe is the only chocolate buttercream recipe that you will ever need. It tastes amazing, pipes beautifully, and has been our go-to chocolate buttercream for years!
You are going to LOVE how easy this chocolate frosting is to make. Throw that canned chocolate frosting in the trash, it won't taste good to you anymore!
How to Make Chocolate Buttercream
This chocolate buttercream recipe comes together in no time! You can find the full, printable frosting recipe below. This is an American Buttercream, meaning that it consists primarily of butter, powdered sugar, flavorings, milk, and in this case, cocoa powder as well.
It makes a great chocolate filling, frosting, and pipes great too!
- Add softened butter to the mixing bowl and mix on low to medium speed until smooth. Add vanilla and blend into the butter. Add powdered sugar, salt, and cocoa powder.
- Add most of the milk. Begin mixing at low speed so you won't have a cloud of powdered sugar in your kitchen.
- Continue to mix adding remaining milk as needed. It may take 5 to 6 minutes to reach the smoothness and consistency you like. It will take longer if using a hand mixer. As you mix the frosting will become very smooth. You can add additional milk (1 Tablespoon at a time) if the frosting is too thick or additional powdered sugar if too soft.
What Cakes Taste Great with Chocolate Frosting?
This Classic Chocolate Buttercream is silky smooth, has a fantastic chocolate flavor, and it is the perfect complement to SO many flavors of cakes and cupcakes!
We love it as a filling or frosting for so many of our cake recipes, including:
- Classic Chocolate Cupcakes, and many more.
What I'm realizing in making this list of cakes that pair well with chocolate frosting is that I want to put every cake on the list! Haha.. that's when you know you have a good frosting (or maybe I just like chocolate a little too much).
This Chocolate Frosting is Perfectly Pipeable
This Chocolate Frosting recipe should give you a nice medium consistency. This makes it perfect for piping.
Whether you're making buttercream ruffles, buttercream roses, or piping pretty scrolls or borders, this frosting couldn't be simpler to work with.
You'll have a bit of wiggle room when it comes to the amount of sugar and liquid. For a thicker frosting, mix in more confectioners sugar.
For a softer frosting, add a bit more milk. I also prefer to use whole milk rather than skim or 1% as it gives a richer flavor and a lighter crust when it sets.
If you'd like to learn more about simple buttercream piping techniques, check out some of our free tutorials: Piping Basics: Petal and Ruffle Tips, Piping Basics: Round Tips, Piping Basics: Star Tips.
Other Chocolate Frostings to Try...
We have a couple of other delicious chocolate frostings in our recipes section!
Our Fluffy Chocolate Buttercream recipe is similar to this classic chocolate buttercream, as it is a crusting recipe which is great for piping. The difference is that it contains shortening, which makes it more heat resistant.
It's always nice to have a heat friendly option for those hot summer days. Just remember that no frosting is 100 percent heat-proof. Shortening based frostings will hang in there for a bit longer though! You can find the recipe here: Fluffy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.
Next, if you are looking for something even more rich, you will also love our Chocolate Ganache Frosting in the Recipes section! If you've never tried ganache, it is a decadent mixture of chocolate and cream. Hop on over for the details!
Click Here to Save this Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe to Pinterest!
More Recipes for the Chocolate Lovers!
If you love chocolate cakes and frostings, don't miss our full roundup of favorite chocolate cake and frosting recipes!! These are SO delicious and we have a great variety in this roundup of chocolate fillings and frostings, scratch chocolate cakes, doctored chocolate cake mix recipes, and favorite chocolate cake and frosting pairings!
Best Chocolate Cakes and Frostings
My Cake School Recipes & Cake Tutorials
Don't you just want to dive into a bowl of chocolate buttercream? Ahhhhh....so good. We think that you'll love this Classic Chocolate Frosting!
If you give it a try, please leave a comment and photo below!
Also, make sure to check out our full collection of delicious cake recipes and free cake decorating tutorials in our Recipes & Tutorials section! We have so many cakes to share with you!
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
The most delicious and simple Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe! This chocolate frosting pipes great also.
Ingredients
- 3 sticks (339g) unsalted butter, softened (do not soften butter in the microwave)
- 8 cups powdered sugar (icing sugar in UK) (920g) more if needed. ** For cupcakes, I like to use 7c. (805g) for a softer frosting
- 1 cup (82g) unsweeteded cocoa (not Dutch processed, measure then sift
- ¾ (180g) milk plus 2 Tablespoons or more if needed to reach the spreading consistency you like
- 2 teaspoons vanilla (12 grams)
- 1 teaspoon salt (6g) we like the finer grain of plain popcorn salt, to cut the sweetness
Instructions
- Add butter and mix on low to medium speed until smooth. Add vanilla and blend into the butter. Add powdered sugar, salt, and cocoa powder.
- Add most of the milk. Begin mixing at low speed so you won't have a cloud of powdered sugar in your kitchen.
- Continue to mix adding remaining milk as needed. It may take 5 to 6 minutes to reach the smoothness and consistency you like. It will take longer if using a hand mixer. As you mix the frosting will become very smooth. You can add additional milk (1 Tablespoon at a time) if the frosting is too thick or additional powdered sugar if too soft.
This is my favorite chocolate frosting! Recipe can easily be doubled or halved.
This recipe makes approximately 7 cups of frosting.
When you reference unsweetened cocoa in a recipe should I use Dutch processed unsweetened cocoa or just unsweetened cocoa?
Hi Juliet, You will need to use just unsweetened cocoa powder, not Dutch processed.
Would it be possible to make a faux cream cheese chocolate frosting by using 1 tsp of Loran Oils Cream Cheese Super Strength Icing Flavor instead of the vanilla flavoring? I love the cream cheese flavor, but I want a buttercream that will pipe well.
I have hazel nut extract can I sub 1 teaspoon of it for 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. I know hazelnut extract can be very strong.
Thank you.
Claudia
Hi Claudia, I have never used hazel nut extract so I'm not sure of the outcome with this recipe. You could experiment with a tiny amount added to 1/2 cup of the frosting.