Easy Vegan Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Quick and easy vegan strawberry buttercream frosting is bright pink and perfect! Only a few ingredients and 1 bowl needed to mix this up for cakes, cookies, and more.
No cooking is required for this amazing dairy free strawberry buttercream frosting! With only a few simple ingredients, you just need one bowl to mix up a big batch of this rich, creamy, and wonderfully strawberry packed frosting.
This is my preferred method of making strawberry frosting: Using freeze dried strawberries. Whole frozen or fresh strawberries can be too wet, resulting in runny frosting. Plus, they never get the right color or flavor. This is the perfect way to get pretty pink frosting without any food dyes at all. This easy vegan strawberry frosting is a delicious topping for your favorite desserts.
Pop it on top of your favorite vegan vanilla cupcakes, vegan vanilla cake, chocolate sheet cake, or even as a topping for soft sugar cookies!
Why You’ll Love this Strawberry Frosting
- Bright, Fluffy, and Smooth
- Made with simple ingredients
- Mixes up in one bowl
- Food dye free!
- Dairy free, Egg free, Nut free, Gluten free
Ingredients
Here is a quick look at what you need to pull this frosting together.
- Vegan butter: There are so many amazing vegan butters on the market and in most grocery stores. Use ones that are made into butter sticks and not butter tubs. The tubs have a higher water content, making them easier to spread on toast, but that can mean they won’t turn into a good stiff frosting. My favorite brand is Earth Balance.
- Freeze dried strawberries: The best for making strawberry frosting! This ingredient may be a bit trickier to find then just a pack of berries from the produce section. Places like Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Thrive Market carry them.
- Powdered Sugar: For making the frosting sweet and giving it body. If you live in the US, make sure that you choose organic sugar so that it isn’t processed with bone char.
- Vanilla extract: Adding a touch of vanilla extract really brings out the sweetness of the strawberries.
- Salt: A good pinch of salt helps to balance out all the sweetness of the berries and sugar.
- Dairy free milk: Optional ingredient if you need to make your frosting a little bit smoother in texture. You may or may not need this depending on the moisture content in your vegan butter.
Variations
If you are not avoiding almonds, you can replace the vanilla extract with almond extract.
So I know this is a strawberry frosting recipe, but since it uses freeze dried fruits, you can use this same technique to make any flavor of fruit frosting you like! Blueberry, mango, raspberry, pineapple, etc. all would make delicious frosting flavors.
Instructions
Make sure to check out the recipe card below for the full recipe and ingredient list.
First up, transform the freeze-dried strawberries into freeze-dried strawberry powder. You can do this in a food processor, a blender, or even just a big bowl with something like a rolling pin. I used my food processor and pulsed it a few times until a powder formed.
Next, sift the strawberry powder. This catches all the seeds and little bits that didn’t get as fine. That in turn makes the final frosting smooth and creamy.
Now the frosting comes together just like any other American Buttercream recipe. In a large bowl with a hand mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, cream the vegan butter for 5 minutes or until it is light and fluffy. Make sure the butter is room temperature so that whisks up as fluffy as can be!
Next add the powdered sugar, powdered strawberry, vanilla, and salt. Starting on low, incorporate all the sugar. Whisk it on low speed until the ingredients come together, then on medium-high speed again and check for consistency. You may need a few tablespoons of dairy free milk to get a good texture.
Tip! For extra smooth frosting, switch to the paddle attachment after mixing the frosting together. This will smooth out any lumps and bumps in the frosting without deflating it.
That’s it! You can frost this right away or pop it in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to use it.
FAQs
Yes, you can add some strawberry extract to this if you like, however, I really don’t think you need any! It is super flavorful.
Anything strawberry lovers will love! I think this tastes amazing on vegan vanilla cupcakes, chocolate cake, birthday cake, on top of vegan sugar cookies, or on your favorite vegan cupcakes. Top with more fresh fruit and you have a delicious dessert!
No. While I love to add a big star tip to my piping bag when decorating cupcakes, you can also use a spoon or butter knife to spread this frosting on top of your favorite cake.
How to Store
As this is a frosting it’s best to keep this in the fridge. Store any frosting or frosting covered desserts in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Frosting can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months in a freezer safe container.
Let any frosting from the fridge or freezer rest on the countertop for a few minutes before using to frosting any desserts. You can also add it to the mixer to mix for a few minutes to help make it fluffy.
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Equipment
- Food processor or blender
- Sieve
- Mixing bowl
- mixing spoon
- Piping bag plus tips
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
Ingredients
- 1 cup freeze dried strawberries
- 1 cup vegan butter room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon dairy free milk optional
Instructions
- Prepare the strawberries. In a food processor, blender, or large bowl with a heavy rolling pin, crush the freeze dried strawberries into a fine powder. Place the powder into a fine sieve and sift to remove any seeds.
- Mix the frosting. In a large bowl with a hand mixer, or in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, cream the vegan butter for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the powdered strawberries, powdered sugar, pinch of salt, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until the ingredients are combined, then whisk on high to finish fluffing the frosting. Add milk as needed for the desired consistency. Use immediately or store for later. Enjoy!
Notes
- Variations
- If you are not allergic to almonds, you can replace the vanilla extract with almond extract.
- So I know this is a strawberry frosting recipe, but since it uses freeze dried fruits, you can use this same technique to make any flavor of fruit frosting you like! Blueberry, mango, raspberry, pineapple, etc. all would make delicious frosting flavors.
- How to Store
- As this is a frosting it’s best to keep this in the fridge. Store any frosting or frosting covered desserts in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Frosting can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months in a freezer safe container.
- Let any frosting from the fridge or freezer rest on the countertop for a few minutes before using to frosting any desserts. You can also add it to the mixer to mix for a few minutes to help make it fluffy.
Nutrition
