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Healthy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting {Low-Sugar}

October 24, 2015 by Lindsay 40 Comments

 
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Healthy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting that is low-sugar, all-natural, vegan and dairy-free options. Made with only 5 basic ingredients and easy, delicious low-sugar vanilla frosting.

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Healthy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting {Low-Sugar} - Veggiebalance.com

After our little adventure into low-sugar, healthy vanilla buttercream frosting smothered on top of fresh cinnamon breakfast bars, it’s time to bring this healthy buttercream frosting to the forefront. It deserves its very own spotlight for a day.

Healthy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting – does that sound like an oxymoron?

Regardless, healthy buttercream frosting belongs on everything. (This is my official foodie opinion.)

Chocolate cookies, peanut butter cookies, and cinnamon rolls all have something in common: Frosting is divine on them all. Why is that?

It’s because it’s buttercream frosting – duhhhhhh.

Today, I’m going to teach you how to make low-sugar buttercream frosting. It is possible to do without using any low-cal sweetener.

Right about now, you are saying, “Tell me more, Lindsay!”, aren’t you?

Healthy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting {Low-Sugar} - Veggiebalance.com

Alright, alright. So I apologize if I repeat myself from the recent post.  (I repeat myself all the time in real life.) Here it goes though, two simple words that are the super duper secret to this frosting: Potato. Starch.

Say whatttttttt. Trust me.

Potato starch is my absolute favorite ingredient. Much like frosting, it goes well with just about everything.

Not so much in cookies, but more so in soups, dips, and anything that needs some thickening action.

Using less powdered sugar would result in a watery, extremely buttery frosting. If that is your sort of thing, then by all means go for it. Otherwise, you have two options: add more powdered sugar (boo) or add potato starch.

Adding potato starch allows you to keep the frosting on the low-sugar spectrum, avoiding a total sugar-rush. I do not need extra sugar in my life; I am already wired to begin with.

Sugar-rushes are great for 30 minutes, then it’s nap time.

Healthy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting {Low-Sugar} - Veggiebalance.com Healthy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting {Low-Sugar} - Veggiebalance.com

This thick puffy frosting will thicken and harden just like normal frosting. It goes great on cakes, cookies, or whatever your heart desires. Like say, goes great simply on a spoon?

If you are looking for some other wondrous recipes that include potato starch, check out Gluten-Free Party Food. I used potato starch in most of the crispy, crunchy, dollop-worthy bar munchies and entertaining recipes found in GFPF. If your heart pulls you to those onion rings, french fries, and blue cheese sliders, then Gluten-Free Party Food is calling your name.

While you’re at it, make sure you check out our giveaway of Gluten-Free Party Food with an opportunity to win a signed copy of the book!

If instead your heart pulls you in the direction of frosted cookies, no worries. Something is coming your way soon to satisfy those cravings.

If there is one thing we must ask ourselves after all of this, it is,

“Can we just eat frosting with a spoon?” Yes, yes we can. Come join me. 🙂

 

Healthy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting {Low-Sugar} - Veggiebalance.com

buttercream frosting, dairy-free, gluten-free, gluten-free frosting, healthy frosting, healthy vanilla frosting, low sugar, low-sugar frosting, nut free friendly, vegan, vegan friendly, veggie balance, recipe

Healthy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting {Low-Sugar}

Dessert

Gluten-free, vegetarian, low-sugar

Healthy

Healthy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting that is low-sugar, all-natural, vegan and dairy-free options. Made with only 5 basic ingredients and easy, delicious low-sugar vanilla frosting.
Print Recipe

Yield: 2.5 cups

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 0 min

Total Time: 5 min

Ingredients:

  • 3 Tablespoons grass-fed butter, softened (Use Earth Balance 'butter' if vegan)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 Tablespoons milk or almond milk
  • 2 cups powder sugar
  • 4-5 Tablespoons potato starch

Directions:

  1. Add softened butter in medium bowl.
  2. Beat butter with mixer until creamy (30-45 seconds), add vanilla extract, milk, continue beating with mixer, slowly add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time incorporating into butter mixture. Beat for another 2-3 minutes.
  3. Frosting will still be a little runny, begin adding potato starch 2 Tablespoons as a time, combine into frosting, add remaining potato starch.
  4. *If frosting is still a little runny then what you would desire add additional Tablespoon. Frosting will continue to thicken over a course of an hour.

Nutrition Information:

Serving size: 1 TBS
Calories: 35
Other nutrition information: Fat: 1 g Saturated fat: .5 g Unsaturated fat: 0 g Trans fat: 0 g Carbohydrates: 7 g Sugar: 5 g Sodium: .5 mg Fiber: 0 g Protein: 0 g Cholesterol: 2 mg
Recipe, images, and text © Veggie Balance

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Filed Under: 5-Ingredients or Less, Dairy-Free, Desserts, Gluten-Free, Low Sugar, Nut Free, Quick and Easy, Side Dishes, Under 30 Minute Meals, Vegan, Vegetarian Tagged With: buttercream frosting, dairy-free, gluten-free, gluten-free frosting, healthy frosting, healthy vanilla frosting, low sugar, low-sugar frosting, nut free friendly, vegan, vegan friendly, veggie balance

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hanna says

    December 13, 2015 at 10:55 pm

    Hi! Would you recommend this recipe for frosting sugar cookies and using food coloring with it? I really want to make some cute Christmas designs 🙂

    Reply
    • Hanna says

      December 13, 2015 at 10:57 pm

      Also, is coconut oil an acceptable substitute or would it make the frosting too runny? I don’t eat dairy but I don’t love Earth Balance. If not, I’ll get over it and just use it anyways!

      Reply
      • Lindsay says

        December 14, 2015 at 8:32 am

        I unfortunately have a coconut allergy so I don’t work with coconut oil ever. My understanding is that it does melt and harden similar to butter though, I think it would be worth a try. If it’s a little runnier then add 1 TBS of potato starch at a time to get desire thickness.

        I would absolutely love if you came back and reported how it turns out for other people to know for reference! 🙂

        Reply
        • Hanna says

          December 21, 2015 at 9:43 pm

          Hey! I ended up making the frosting with ghee (my first time trying it!) and it worked wonderfully. Thank you so much for the fabulous recipe! 🙂

          Reply
          • Lindsay says

            December 22, 2015 at 1:48 pm

            Yay! Thanks for coming back and sharing Hanna! I still haven’t jumped on the ghee bandwagon yet – definitely on my list to try though! 🙂

          • Barbara says

            January 18, 2016 at 9:30 pm

            Oh dear, ghee is butter, it’s just clarified butter. So, it is a dairy product. I hope you’re okay and it didn’t make you sick!! :-/

    • Lindsay says

      December 14, 2015 at 8:28 am

      Yes most definitely this frosting would work for that! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Terrie says

    December 20, 2015 at 6:31 pm

    Unfortunately, this is still not low carb, which is the usual reason for needing a lower-sugar recipe. Potato starch is super carb-y.

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      December 20, 2015 at 6:49 pm

      You are correct Terrie, this frosting is not low carb. It was not my intention to make it low carb, it was to make it using less powdered sugar than the traditional recipe I grew up with which called for 4 cups of powdered sugar. 😉

      It is still lower than the average traditional frosting though. The sugar grams per Tablespoon is cut in half along with about 3g less Carbs then the traditional frosting. Again, this TBS nutrition. Obviously everything is still needed to be consumed in moderation. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Anuradha says

    April 8, 2016 at 8:52 pm

    I tried this recipe although it does work for low sugar but it is not very stiff i had to add a buttload of starch for such a little amount i made. Will this frosting be at all stiff?

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      April 9, 2016 at 12:21 pm

      Potato starch does take just a little bit of time to thicken once added. It won’t thicken to its full stiffness immediately upon stirring it in – Normally about 5-10 minutes. I’ve made this recipe several times myself, sometimes on accident I’ll add just a hair too much milk or extract and I’ve had to compensate with extra potato starch to reach the desired thickness. Hope this helps!

      Reply
  4. Alayza says

    October 11, 2016 at 8:55 am

    Hi, Lindsay! Yey! found a recipe that doesn’t use too much powdered sugar 🙂 I’ve been struggling to find the right buttercream for my vegan cupcakes it’s either too sweet or I can’t use the buttercream because it’s melting easily 🙁

    I do have a question can I use this to frost my cupcakes? How many cups can this make.
    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      October 13, 2016 at 9:27 am

      Yes you can definitely use this frosting to frost cupcakes! Its the frosting I use for every baked good of mine. It makes roughly 2 cups.

      Reply
  5. Irene Ilachinski says

    November 18, 2016 at 6:25 pm

    This was so good! I was searching for a dairy-free frosting for our son’s birthday cake, and came across this one. I substituted earth balance vegan butter for regular butter. The potato starch idea is ingenious. I will say that it was a bit too sweet for me…As I get older, I find I prefer mild sweetness. Next time I would reduce the sugar by 1/3 to 1/2. Also I should probably refrigerate the frosting for about 30 minutes before applying it to the cake. I did not do that, so it was a bit runny, but whenstill it refrigerated well and was awesome!

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      November 20, 2016 at 10:54 am

      So glad you enjoyed it Irene! You can most definitely swap the powdered sugar with even more potato starch if you are needing even less sweetness. I’ve done that before myself. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Beth Dulay says

    December 18, 2016 at 12:12 pm

    Will corn starch work in place of the potato starch?

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      December 19, 2016 at 9:27 am

      It can work, it just has a slightly stronger taste compared to potato starch in my opinion.

      Reply
  7. Laina says

    February 18, 2017 at 7:07 pm

    Will this work to pipe on a cake?

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      February 19, 2017 at 8:34 pm

      Yes! I use it all the time for frosting cakes. 🙂

      Reply
  8. T says

    February 22, 2017 at 2:30 am

    This is recipe gluten and dairy free? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      February 28, 2017 at 11:07 am

      Gluten-Free – Yes. All my recipes (provided you use the same ingredients as I do) are gluten-free since Mid 2015. Dairy-Free – Also yes, provided you use a dairy-free butter swap. Hope this helps! 🙂

      Reply
  9. Gretchen says

    March 15, 2017 at 10:50 am

    1. Does these remain firm? I’ve read some other dairy free frosting recipes say that it melts at room temperature. I’ll be decorating the cake a day ahead of time and may need it to sit at room temp.

    2. This appears to have a more yellowish tint. Does that affect food coloring? I need a solid royal blue, but I’m afraid adding blue to this yellowish tone will turn slightly green.

    It is for my son’s first birthday this weekend. He cannot have dairy or soy.

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      March 24, 2017 at 2:29 pm

      It does! My family and I actually prefer it to sit out so it gets that crisp outer coating on the frosting. For some reason my organic powdered sugar is what is causing that yellowish tint. I’ve used my non-organic powdered sugar and it turns out a normal buttercream color. You should be fine with the color. 🙂

      Reply
  10. Julia says

    January 21, 2018 at 5:39 pm

    Hi,
    What’s the “shelf life” for this icing(for lack of better wording)? I’m a newbie at baking and needed a lactose-free option. Anything I should know about refrigeration?

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      January 23, 2018 at 8:46 pm

      I frost cakes with this and leave the cakes on the counter for 2-3 days myself. I actually prefer that ‘frosting crunch’ cakes get when sitting out. I’ve lived leaving it out after frosting items. Before frosting anything I leave I’d leave it in the fridge in a air tight container up to 1-2 weeks.

      Reply
  11. Sarah says

    March 23, 2018 at 4:14 pm

    This is a great recipe! I’ve used it in many adventures, turing into chocolate icing, chai spiced and dulce de leche! It’s so versatile! I just wanted to comment to mention that you CANNOT make it too far ahead of time, and store in the fridge as you can with other icings. I learned the hard way: once the potato starch was added and everything looked right, I placed it in the fridge (as I had a big celebration planned and I made it the day before). It came out rock hard in the morning, with no hope of ever softening up again.

    So, great recipe, just be ready to use it right away! 🙂

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      March 27, 2018 at 8:37 am

      So glad you’ve liked it and thank you for adding in that tip! 🙂

      Reply
  12. Hannah says

    June 4, 2018 at 3:01 pm

    Hi- this sounds great, so clever! – do you know if tapioca flour would work the same as potato starch? Thanks

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      June 11, 2018 at 8:17 am

      I have not tried it so I’m not sure. I thinkkkkkk it might work similar though so it’s definitely worth a shot.

      Reply
  13. Raquel says

    July 11, 2018 at 4:44 pm

    Hi do you think arrowroot powder would work?

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      July 13, 2018 at 4:32 am

      I haven’t tried it myself but I definitely could see it working! 🙂

      Reply
  14. Jake says

    September 24, 2018 at 9:36 pm

    Would corn starch substitute the potato starch If we don’t want to use it

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      September 25, 2018 at 5:14 am

      While I haven’t tested it out with cornstarch. Yes I imagine it would work.

      Reply
  15. Kaylene says

    January 8, 2019 at 5:54 pm

    Hi! I’m wondering what brand of powdered sugar you usually use. I’ve read that not all sugar, weather regular or powdered, is considered vegan. But other than that, I can’t find hardly any other info when I look into certain brands. Any help would be appreciated!!

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      January 18, 2019 at 6:47 am

      I personally love the brand wholesome…

      Reply

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