Identical to basic vanilla buttercream frosting you’re keen on on muffins and cupcakes, this 5-ingredient cookie adorning buttercream is deliciously creamy and candy. It’s good for cookie adorning learners, and soft-sets after just a few hours. You possibly can pipe designs onto cut-out cookies, like sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies, or just unfold it on and high with sprinkles! See video tutorial within the recipe for inspiration.
Whereas royal icing is my first selection on the subject of adorning sugar cookies, I do know it’s not everybody’s favourite cookie icing to work with. Which is why I developed this straightforward cookie icing, a beautiful glaze-like various. However generally you simply don’t wish to mess with both!
It’s good to have choices.
If you would like a creamy buttercream frosting, that holds its piped form and may be tinted any shade you would like, then this cookie adorning buttercream is for you. And it tastes SO scrumptious on high of a cookie!
This Cookie Adorning Buttercream:
- Is fast and simple to make
- Will be tinted any shade with gel meals coloring (right here is my favourite model)
- Is good and creamy and flavored with actual vanilla
- Will be piped into designs with completely different piping suggestions or just unfold onto cookies
- Is fantastic on high of so many varieties/flavors of cookies
- Delicate-sets after just a few hours
The cookies you see listed here are my basic sugar cookies. They’ve an irresistible buttery vanilla taste and comfortable, thick facilities. Plus, they maintain their form when baking and have a flat floor that’s good for adorning.
However be at liberty to make use of this cookie adorning buttercream on one other taste of cut-out cookies, like:
Or just unfold it on high of one other form of cookie, like we do on these comfortable and cakey sugar cookies.
Seize These 5 Elements:
- Butter: You possibly can’t make buttercream with out butter! Although salted is okay, I like to recommend utilizing unsalted butter so you’ll be able to management the added salt. Whichever you utilize, be sure you are utilizing correct room-temperature butter.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Sweetens vanilla buttercream and provides stability and pipe-ability to the frosting.
- Heavy Cream: A bit cream smooths out the frosting. Although complete milk or half-and-half are completely acceptable, use heavy cream for max richness. I exploit much less in right this moment’s buttercream than in my common vanilla buttercream, to maintain it thicker.
- Vanilla Extract: As a result of that is the primary taste within the frosting, I strongly advocate utilizing high-quality pure vanilla extract (not imitation vanilla). You possibly can additionally use do-it-yourself vanilla extract.
- Salt: Only a pinch, to stability the candy.
How one can Make It
American-style buttercream is fast and simple.
Be sure your butter is softened to room temperature earlier than starting. Use a hand or stand mixer to beat it till clean and creamy. Beat within the remaining substances. At this level, you’ll be able to add extra confectioners’ sugar to thicken, a splash of heavy cream to skinny out, or a bit extra salt if desired. That’s it!
I’ve the total written-out, printable recipe under.
How one can Rid Buttercream of Air Bubbles
Over-whipping buttercream creates air bubbles. The style isn’t any completely different, however the buttercream is now not clean and velvet-y. Right here’s find out how to do away with air bubbles in your frosting:
Flip off the mixer and seize a wood or steel spoon or silicone spatula and start stirring the buttercream by hand. Mash the frosting up in opposition to the edges of the bowl to “pop” the bubbles. Do that till a lot of the air bubbles deflate, about 1–2 minutes. This trick requires a number of arm muscle!
Tint the Frosting and Fill Piping Baggage
You possibly can preserve the buttercream white or tint it with gel meals coloring. To paint it, divide it into small bowls. Add gel meals coloring to every bowl and blend properly. For lighter tints, I like to recommend utilizing the tip of a toothpick so as to add shade, somewhat than squeezing a complete drop into the bowl of frosting.
Seize a piping bag for every shade of icing. Match every with a coupler and piping tip. After I’m utilizing a number of colours with the identical piping tip, I all the time use couplers.
What are couplers? Couplers are 2-piece gadgets that connect to small piping suggestions, and preserve them OUTSIDE of the piping bag. This makes it straightforward to swap piping suggestions among the many completely different coloured luggage of icing.
Fill the piping bag: Spoon the buttercream into the piping bag, ensuring to depart just a few inches of house on the high of the bag. A tall cup makes this simpler! Place the piping bag inside, with the tip close to the underside of the cup, and fold the top of the bag over the edges of the cup, then fill with frosting. You possibly can see me doing this within the video under.
Whereas not completely vital, I exploit these clips to safe the top of the piping bag, so the frosting doesn’t leak out the top of the bag.
Piping Suggestions I Use to Enhance Cookies With Buttercream
This cookie adorning buttercream holds form fantastically and works for intricate designs. To embellish the sugar cookies you see pictured right this moment, workforce members Allison and Stephanie and I used piping suggestions from this actual Wilton 55-Piece Piping Suggestions Set.
Once more, you may get all of the following pointers in a useful Piping Suggestions Set, which additionally contains the piping suggestions I exploit to brighten cookies with royal icing.
You possibly can pipe zig-zags, swirls, strains, or no matter your coronary heart wishes! See video tutorial under for inspiration. We used white balls from these sprinkles for tree “ornaments” and coarse sugar on the “snow.”
If you wish to skip piping luggage and suggestions, use a knife or icing spatula to frost the cookies.
It doesn’t totally crust, but it surely does “comfortable set,” which implies it units sufficient to be dry on high. You’ll nonetheless must be a bit cautious stacking the embellished cookies. To make a crusting buttercream, substitute half of the butter (1/2 cup) with shortening.
Sure, completely! Cut back the vanilla extract to simply 1/2 teaspoon, after which you should use one other extract resembling peppermint, coconut, lemon, maple, or almond. I’d begin with just one/2 teaspoon of any of those, style, after which beat in additional if desired.
Relying how a lot frosting you placed on every cookie, this buttercream is sufficient for at the least 24 to 30 cookies.
Sure, you should use this buttercream to brighten a gingerbread home. See my gingerbread home recipe. The recipe under doesn’t crust as a lot because the buttercream recipe I embody within the gingerbread home recipe, as that one comprises shortening (which aids in crusting). Immediately’s buttercream will not be ideally suited as a “glue” for the gingerbread home items. For that, you’ll want royal icing.
Extra Adorning Tutorials
Need to discover ways to enhance cupcakes? Watch my find out how to use piping suggestions video to study 5 primary however stunning methods to pipe frosting onto cupcakes.
Need to give royal icing a strive subsequent? Right here’s my find out how to enhance sugar cookies with royal icing video.
And these are my high really useful cookie adorning provides.
Cookie Adorning Buttercream
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Whole Time: 5 minutes
Yield: 2.5 cups (at the least 24-30 cookies)
Class: Dessert
Technique: Mixing
Delicacies: American
Description
Identical to basic vanilla buttercream frosting you’re keen on on muffins and cupcakes, this 5-ingredient cookie adorning buttercream is deliciously creamy and candy. It’s good for cookie adorning learners, and soft-sets on the cookies after just a few hours. You possibly can pipe designs onto cut-out cookies, like sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies, or just unfold it on with a knife and high with sprinkles! See video tutorial within the recipe for inspiration.
Directions
- Have your cookies baked and cooled fully. You possibly can use this recipe, or your favourite recipe for cookies.
- Make the buttercream: With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium velocity till creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat on low velocity for 30 seconds, then enhance to medium-high velocity and beat for two full minutes. Style. To thicken the buttercream, beat in additional confectioners’ sugar. To skinny out the buttercream, beat in additional heavy cream. To assist offset extra sweetness, beat in an additional pinch of salt.
- Colour the icing: In the event you’d wish to tint the icing, divide it into separate bowls for every shade, or tint your complete batch one shade. A bit gel meals coloring goes a good distance, so use a toothpick to dot the gel into the icing. Stir it in, after which add extra to deepen the colour if desired.
- Use piping suggestions or knife/icing spatula: You should use a knife or icing spatula to frost the cookies. Or, if utilizing piping suggestions, match a piping/pastry bag with a piping tip (and use a coupler in case you plan to change frosting colours and/or piping suggestions). Spoon the buttercream into the bag, ensuring to depart just a few inches of house on the high of the bag. Twist the top of the bag or use a clip to seal it shut. You possibly can pipe zig-zags, swirls, strains, dots, or no matter your coronary heart wishes! See video tutorial under for some inspiration.
- When you have leftover buttercream, cowl it tightly and retailer within the fridge for as much as 1 week.
Notes
- Make Forward and Freezing Directions: Freeze in an hermetic container for as much as 3 months. Thaw within the fridge in a single day, then beat the frosting on medium velocity for just a few seconds so it’s creamy once more. After thawing or refrigerating, beating in a splash of heavy cream or milk will assist skinny the frosting out once more, if wanted.
- Particular Instruments (affiliate hyperlinks): Electrical Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer) | Silicone Spatula | Gel Meals Coloring | Disposable or Reusable Piping Baggage | Couplers | Wilton 55-Piece Piping Suggestions Set | Bag Clips | Small Icing Spatula | White Sprinkles | Coarse Sugar Sprinkles
- Amount: Relying how a lot frosting you placed on every cookie, this buttercream is sufficient for at the least 24 to 30 cookies.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: In case your confectioners’ sugar is especially lumpy, I like to recommend sifting it earlier than measuring and utilizing.
- Heavy Cream: You should use half-and-half or complete milk as a substitute if wanted. The decrease the fats, the much less creamy your buttercream might be. Whichever you utilize, make sure that it’s at room temperature. In any other case your frosting may separate or seem grainy.
- Does This Buttercream Crust? It doesn’t totally crust, but it surely does “comfortable set,” which implies it units sufficient to be dry on high. You’ll nonetheless must be a bit cautious stacking the embellished cookies. To make a crusting buttercream, substitute half of the butter (1/2 cup/8 Tbsp/113g) with shortening.
- Can I Taste the Buttercream with Different Extracts? Sure, completely! Cut back the vanilla extract to simply 1/2 teaspoon, after which you should use one other extract resembling peppermint, coconut, lemon, maple, or almond. I’d begin with just one/2 teaspoon of any of those, style, after which beat in additional if desired.
