Making homemade buttercream frosting is surprisingly super easy. This recipe will help you make the perfect buttercream frosting step-by-step, so there’s no need to feel intimidated – it’s kid friendly, simple, and delicious! We love baking and have always enjoyed cupcakes over traditional cakes for birthdays – they’re small, kid friendly, and portable – so we thought what better time to try to find the BEST frosting for our cupcakes and this one was incredible!

pro tip: use this recipe for the most delicious cupcakes to pair this frosting with ; )

Best Buttercream Frosting

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Ingredients Method

Ingredients

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted measure first, then sift
2 sticks unsalted butter room temperature
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsps pure vanilla extract
1-2 tbsps heavy or whipping cream

Method

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the sugar and butter.
Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase the speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
Add the salt, vanilla, and cream and beat on medium speed for 1 minute, adding more cream if needed.

This recipe makes enough buttercream to frost about 12 to 15 cupcakes. You can add a few drops of whatever food coloring you need at the time of use. (We used about 4 drops of red to get a beautiful pink color.)

We got the inspiration from this Harry Potter Baking Cookbook for the cute pygmy puff cupcakes!

If you don’t use it right away, you can transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let come to room temperature and re-whip in the stand mixer until light and fluffy again. Add a tablespoon or 2 of powdered sugar if it needs to thicken.