The BEST Vegan Chocolate Frosting – This dairy free chocolate frosting recipe has all the rich, chocolate-y goodness without the dairy! No one believes me when I tell them it’s vegan!
While we eat a diet mostly built around whole foods and clean ingredients, if there’s a time to splurge, it’s your birthday. We have two birthday celebrations coming up, and this is our favorite chocolate frosting. In fact, it’s the best chocolate frosting we’ve ever eaten–I mean it. And it’s dairy and gluten free!
I didn’t want to dance around sugar in this frosting, so there it is, loud and proud. It’s your birthday! We like the powdered sugar from Wholesome! brand, as it’s produced without any animal products. Any kind will work (though if you have gluten sensitivities, be sure your brand doesn’t have any trace gluten in it).
If you’re not dairy free, there’s no reason that butter and dairy milk wouldn’t work in this recipe. I actually really like the coconut oil here, and I don’t feel like the coconut oil flavor is overly prominent in either the cake or frosting.
You know how Ina Garten (and lots of other people) swear by adding a little coffee or extra vanilla to a chocolate-y recipe to enhance the chocolate flavor? My secret weapon is a combination of vanilla and a little almond extract. It’s not enough to be overpowering, but I often have people ask what was in my recipe. They love the little something extra it brings to the table, and I totally agree. I love a little almond extract.
As for the cake…well, I have yet to master my own dairy/gluten-free cake. I have dreams of coming up with one that’s dairy and gluten free as well as naturally sweetened. But in the meantime, our favorite boxed mix is the Devishly Chocolate Cake Mix by Among Friends. We can find it at our Sprouts store for less than Amazon carries it, but if you can’t find it locally, Amazon is a great resource. Baked in round cake pans and layered with this beautiful, close-your-eyes-while-you-eat-it frosting, you’ll have a happy birthday indeed.
p.s. If you’re fancy, you could certainly pipe this frosting. I am not fancy yet, so spreading it is 🙂
Vegan Chocolate Birthday Frosting
- Total Time: 10 minutes
Description
You’d never believe this gorgeous, rich vegan chocolate frosting is made without dairy! It’s the perfect way to top your birthday cake.
Ingredients
- 3 oz unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped or broken up
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1/3–1/2 cup almond milk (dairy or other nondairy milk also ok)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa powder
- 3–5 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, gently melt together chocolate and coconut oil until smooth and glossy. Remove from heat and slowly stir in the almond milk, vanilla, and almond extract. Mixture will thicken.
- Transfer chocolate mixture to a large bowl. Add powdered baking cocoa. Using a hand mixer (or your muscles), blend in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time until you’ve reached your desired consistency.
- If the mixture gets too dry, thin it out with a little more almond milk as needed. If the mixture gets too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. You should reach a nice thick frosting texture between 4-5 cups of powdered sugar. Use immediately for best results.
- This will yield enough frosting for the tops of a 2 layer (8-9″) cake, or 1 (9×13) pan.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Frosting, Cake
- Cuisine: American
Yum! This cake looks absolutely amazing! I wish it was my lunch!
No wonder this is a hit. It looks delicious!!
Does this icing refrigerate ok or does It dry out in the fridge? I made it for cupcakes and am trying to figure out how to store them now. By the way, this icing is AMAZING and is my husbands new favorite!
Brittany – We always refrigerate ours. We frost our cake/cupcakes, then cover and refrigerate them. It’s held up well for us that way. I’m glad you liked it!
Thank you for posting this. I used it for frosting this amazing vegan cake (link below) and it was truly the best chocolate cake ever. YUM!!! and SO easy too!
https://food52.com/recipes/24484-margaret-fox-s-amazon-chocolate-cake
★★★★★
Oooh, that cake sounds brilliant! I’ll have to try it next time! Thank you for the suggestion!
Powdered sugar isn’t vegan.
It absolutely can be depending on the sugar you choose. Many organic brands (like Wholesome) use sugar that does not use bone char. I’m trusting that vegan eaters are mindfully sourcing their own products.
This is a great vegan frosting! I left out the almond extract as I’m not a fan of it.
Also did not have unsweetened chococolate so used a dark chocolate bar. I usually don’t change a recipe the first time but didn’t want to go to the store!.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you liked it!! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Hi would the texture be affected if I have the sugar?
Pri – The biggest issue you’ll run into is that the recipe would only make about 1/2 as much frosting. It will also likely be wetter, so you’d want to start with less milk.
Alrighty thanks alot for the feedback. Haha sorry for the typo. *Half
★★★★★
No worries! I knew what you meant 🙂
Do you think this icing would hold up ok, if I wanted to do some decorating with it (with piping bag and tips)?
If you plan to pipe with it right after you make it, it should work great! I’ve decorated several cakes with this frosting. You can also test it on a piece of parchment or a plate before adding to the cake. If it’s holding its shape well, go ahead and pipe! If it’s a bit loose, you can add a little more powdered sugar to stiffen it up and try again.
Hi! how many days we can keep the frosting *expiration date?
Mary – Most frostings will keep about 1 week in the refrigerator, though they will continue to dry out a bit each day.