It’s kind of funny that one of my earliest recipes has suddenly become one of the most searched, so I’m bringing it back to the forefront with a new picture and a printable recipe card. And it totally deserved this, because I had forgotten how really, truly delicious this icing is.
Before I began doing much in the way of baking and understanding the chemistry behind it, before I had more than one set of measuring cups, before I even really found my groove as a blogger, there was a need: need to make a dairy-free frosting for my kid. Frosting was there for me, because it was a by-feel project (unlike the decorating cupcakes part which apparently I can use all the help I can get with).
You definitely *do not* have to be a vegan to appreciate this as the a great frosting. Coconut obsession is for every person.
So why coconut oil?
You can technically make a frosting with any liquid oil. My chocolate frosting works equally well with canola or light olive oil. But I opted for coconut oil for two reasons: when it comes to mimicking butter in a vegan frosting, you ain’t going to get any closer with a single oil. Also, while you can use unscented coconut oil if you’ve got a problem with the awesome power and flavor of coconut (weirdos), I happen to love the awesome power and flavor of virgin, cold-pressed coconut oil.
It makes an intense, rich coconut frosting. Refined coconut oil is very subtle by comparison, and will be more likely to be drowned out by vanilla or any other flavoring. Which is OK. I guess. If you don’t like coconut (weirdos).
- 2 cups icing sugar + 2-3 more cups reserved
- 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, room temperature
- 1/4 cup soy milk (or alternative)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- In a large bowl, add the first two cups of icing sugar, coconut oil, milk and vanilla. Blend at medium-high speed with a hand mixer, until well-blended. Occasionally scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure that the icing sugar gets mixed in properly.
- Gradually mix in the reserved icing sugar until a somewhat firm, spreadable texture that holds a shape is achieved. You may not need all of the icing sugar.
- If you overshoot and your icing is too stiff, or add it all and still find it's too liquid, don't panic! If it's too solid, just add a drizzle of milk; if it's too liquid, add more icing sugar; and blend some more until you find the right balance.
- This recipe will make more than enough frosting to do 2 dozen cupcakes or a full layer cake.
- Make the frosting either before baking the cake or the next day; a hot kitchen will make it difficult to get the frosting to firm up.
Now, your first thought might be to put the frosting into the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to use it. While you can do this (especially if your kitchen is really warm), I recommend that you don’t, for two reasons 1) The oil and icing will firm up and you will lose the easy-spreadable texture, and may have to add more liquid and blend again to attain the right texture when you’re ready to use. 2) You really don’t have to worry about ingredients in the mixture spoiling right away. I can personally assure you that frosting will be fine unrefrigerated for at least three days– assuming it lasts that long!
Need some ways to use up what’s left? Sweet dip for tart fruit, or–if you’re not a coconut-flavor-hating weirdo–make my death-by-coconut version of the cinnamon bun, add a little more liquid to make it a little less thick, and use it as frosting for that.
Larger quantities of leftover frosting will freeze fine, and can be reconstituted later with a little warmth to melt the oil again and maybe a touch of milk… defrosting on a warm counter or a few seconds in the microwave is almost all it needs.
Lydia says
Can this icing be used like buttercream icing in cake decorating? To make flowers and swirls and such?
Food Retro says
Hi Lydia, thanks for reading! Many coconut oils have a lower melting point than butter, and so for summer, you may find that they won’t hold shape very well. Sometimes adding a little more icing sugar helps if it’s pretty soft, but it’s unlikely you’ll get the same crisp texture to hold at anything slightly above room temperature. If you need vegan and a higher melting point, I recommend switching up from coconut oil to something more solid, like the Earth’s Balance shortening sticks.
If you’re making chocolate icing, you can also melt a little pure food-grade cacao butter and add it into the coconut oil. It’s rock-solid at room temp, but it will taste of chocolate 🙂
Rhonda Ortiz says
Question: You say to use the coconut oil at room temperature. Solid or liquid state? My room temperature at the moment feels like 8 billion degrees. (Summer, no a/c, old house issues, yadda yadda.) Should I put it in the fridge for a while?
Food Retro says
Hi Rhonda! Thanks for reading. I consider room temperature to be between 68-75 degrees F (~20-22C) by standard. You can quite legitimately use melted coconut oil to make frosting (I use liquid light olive oil to make vegan chocolate frosting) but as a rule, the more liquid the oil the more sugar you’ll have to add to stiffen it up. I also find too that the quality of coconut oil can play a huge part in the melting temperature. So I wouldn’t put it in the fridge unless you’re going to serve the cake right from the fridge, because your icing will melt in the heat if there’s insufficient sugar! 🙂
You can do one of two things… add more icing sugar by the 1/4 cup until the icing becomes a good texture, and/or you can add another fat with a higher melting point to help stabilize the coconut icing if it’s really, really hot out! A little melted pure flavourless cocoa butter (which is rock solid at temperatures to nearly 100F) or a tablespoon or two of something like Earth’s Balance shortening are both good options.
Hope this helps!
Rhonda Ortiz says
This does! Thank you.
Rachel says
Thanks for the great recipe! How long does this keep in the fridge? I’ve been treating it like a spread 😉
Food Retro says
Haha, in the fridge, it’ll likely keep much longer than you’ll have it around! I’d say about 7-10 days to be on the cautious side. The sugar seems to keep the soy milk stable! You can freeze part of the batch if you want to keep some of it for longer. Thanks for letting me know how much you enjoy it! It makes me happy 🙂
Natalie says
Hi, I was reading other replys and just want to get it right. I like how easy this recipe is and so my question is, I’m making cupcakes and I’d like to know should I make the frosting the day of and pipe it out and store in the fridge? Would that be ok because I’ve been reading other recipes and most don’t hold there form.
Thanks
Food Retro says
Hi Natalie, thanks for reading and taking the time to comment! Because coconut oil begins to melt at a relatively low temperature (~75F/24F), and you can add sugar to the amount you need to keep it stable in whatever weather you’ve got going on that day… the warmer the room temperature, the more sugar you’l have (which is why you shouldn’t make it in a hot kitchen :)). So I always recommend you make coconut frosting to suit your current weather as the best hedge against melting. There’s no harm though in piping them out ahead of time and storing them in the fridge if you’re unsure if the weather might get hotter, especially if you’re trying to make something especially fancy. Your cupcakes may be cool or cold when served, that’s all.
Just for reference… the cupcakes pictured in the photo above held their shape all day (or at least until they were devoured;)), un-refrigerated, indoors in July (I kept my house thermostat at 74, but the kitchen’s always about 76-80F when I’m baking)… I just stored them in a cupcake transport, set it on the table in another room and I kept them out of the sun when we transported them to the party, which was also indoors.
Hope this helps!
Natalie says
Yes thank you! I can’t wait to try this!
travina says
yuuuuummy! it turned out deliciously. thx!
Food Retro says
Glad you liked it! Thanks for coming back to comment. 🙂
Peady says
Oh, you just have so much goodness on your site!
This is fantabulous! Yeah, I just said that. 🙂
I can’t wait to try this.
Patricia says
If I wanted to make it lemon, would you recommend leaving out milk altogether? If you can let me know how to succeed (I’m making a cake for a shower and it NEEDS to turn out perfect! )
Thanks!
Food Retro says
Hi Patricia! The icing sugar tends to stabilize the acid somewhat, but you’d still want to keep any added milk to a minimum… lemon and lime can denature all dairy and dairy substitutes in my experience, including coconut milk, and cause it to curdle.
I’ve made dairy-free lemon icing a couple of times, but I haven’t tried lemon with coconut oil (yet) ;). You could do a lemon glace icing, which is usually made with just mixing the lemon juice and icing sugar into a thick but pourable drizzling glaze. You can do a dairy-free lemon buttercream by using a vegan shortening stick, the lemon juice and icing sugar–and just using a drizzle of milk to thin it out if you want a mild lemon taste, or more lemon juice if you want a powerful lemon flavour.
Theoretically the coconut oil should work similar to the shortening stick… but my motto is to test things when you need perfect results on a deadline. 🙂 Try a test batch on cupcakes maybe with a half cup of the coconut oil, ~1tbsp of lemon juice, and a couple cups of icing sugar. Thin it out using either the milk or the lemon juice til you get the creamy consistency you’re looking for. Decorate your cupcake up and let it sit on the counter a couple hours.
Good luck!
Joe says
I love this frosting! The consistency was so perfect I may never go back to regular old butter/shortening frosting the next time I need it for a cake or cupcakes or whatever. Thank you!!
Food Retro says
Thanks Joe! That made my day. Thank you for taking the time to let me know how much you enjoyed it 🙂
Sharon Hansen says
I tried to make something similar using my old standard recipe but substituting coconut oil for the shortening and it was a disaster! I used organic powdered sugar which costs a fortune and I hate to throw it away so I didn’t. Then I decided to look for a recipe online and found this recipe. It should have worked! The taste is awesome but the texture is awful. It is not holding shape at all. Not even spreadable. My dilemma is, do I just give up and use shortening with another pound of powdered sugar or try to salvage this? I’m practicing on this cake for my birthday so that next month when I make my grandsons birthday cake, it will be delicious and yummy and sort of healthy for a cake. Any thoughts?
Food Retro says
Hi Sharon! Coconut oil has a very low melting point, and lower quality coconut oil can have an even lower melting point than the high quality stuff. If you’re having difficulty with it holding its shape due to hot climate, sometimes adding more powdered sugar helps. You can also try melting in another fat with a much higher melting point, like cacao butter, or adding a bit of shortening to the mix. You might be able to try to salvage what you have by adding more powdered sugar, but if it doesn’t work, toss it in the freezer and save it for a fruit dip 😉