Classic Buttercream Icing, Frosting Icing (Without Shortening); Gluten Free, Soy Free, Nut Free, Egg Free Recipe (with option for Dairy Free & Vegan) (2024)

Yesterday I posted a recipe for an allergen free cake I made for my little one’s cake smash photos. The cake (of course) is not complete without some frosting. Personally, I always hated the icing on cakes. I look back now and it is pretty gross with all of the hydrogenated oils :(. This frosting is SUPER rich, sweet, and delicious. I modified it slightly from a recipe by A Savory Sweet Life. It’s made without shortening (hydrogenated oils) and only includes 4 ingredients. This frosting is gluten free, whey free, soy free, and nut free! I’m dairy free but can tolerate butter, if you can’t tolerate butter or are vegan I’ll be testing this recipe with coconut oil later on in the week. Stay tuned for Coconut Oil “Buttercream” Icing!

I didn’t invest in a good hand mixer until just last year. I don’t know why – I guess I figured I didn’t really need one. Honestly, it’s worth the investment! I use it all of the time! If you need one and buy through my links I’ll get a small percentage of the sale to help cover the costs of my blog, please read my affiliate disclosure here. The one I use can be purchased here, Cuisinart Handheld Mixer.Also don’t forget your other tools:Icing Spatulas, 6 inch Round Cake Pans, and some decorating tools like theWilton Dessert Decorator Plus.Now onto the recipe 🙂

Classic Buttercream Icing without Shortening

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), softened (I use grass fed butter like this,Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter – Unsaltedand have also made it with salted butter – still tastes great 🙂

4 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp Simply Organic Pure Vanilla Extract Certified Organic

up to 4 tbsp coconut milk (or milk if you’re not whey free like me!)

Directions:

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl. Add vanilla extract and beat to combine. Slowly add powdered sugar (1 cup at a time because it can poof up and get really messy). After all of the powdered sugar is added your mixture will look dry and clumpy (see the photo below). Add coconut milk 1 tbsp at a time until you reach your desired consistency (I almost always need 4 tbsp).

If your frosting is too dry, add more milk; too wet, add more powdered sugar! It’s fool proof! This frosting will harden after it sits for awhile so it’s perfect to ice both cookies and cakes like the one below! Isn’t it pretty? I used cabbage to dye the frosting blue. I’ll post that tutorial soon too so stay tuned!

All of my recipes are gluten free, soy free, dairy free, and nut free, meaning that they are peanut free, cashew free, tree nut free, walnut free, pecan free, and almond free. They are also free of a lot of other grains and legumes because I’m intolerant to them, along with gluten. My recipes are amaranth free, barley free, chick pea free, buckwheat free, fava bean free, flax free, garbanzo free, oat free, rye free, sorghum free, spelt free, and teff free. If there are easy substitutions to make the recipe egg free I try to include them. My recipes are dairy free – I personally am intolerant to whey and therefore can eat butter. Most recipes can be made completely dairy free with a butter substitute. Feel free to leave any changes you’ve made in the comments for others to see!