Keto Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

4.60 from 5 votes

This Vanilla Keto Buttercream Frosting is a staple recipe to always have on hand. Even though it's not fancy or complicated, it's creamy, rich, and melts in your mouth while sturdy enough for piping and designs. It makes enough for 12 cupcakes or the crumb coat of one 8 or 9-inch 2 layer cake.

*Note- Refer to the post above for dairy-free options.

Course Dairy fre, Dessert, gluten free, keto, Low Carb

Cuisine American

Diet Diabetic, Gluten Free, Vegan

Diet Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, grain free, Keto, Low-Carb

Prep Time 5

Total Time 5

Servings Cupcakes

Calories 176kcal

Author Cassidy Stauffer

Ingredients

1 Cup Unsalted Real Butter room temperature
8 oz Block Full-Fat Cream Cheese not cream cheese spread, softened
2 Cups Keto Monk Fruit/Allulose Sweetener see notes below for substitutions
1 tablespoon Pure Vanilla
4 Tbsp Heavy Cream or unsweetened non-dairy milk, as needed
pinch Sea Salt optional, to taste

Instructions

Bring the butter to room temperature and set out the cream cheese to soften, or remove the packaging and soften the cream cheese in the microwave for 5 to 10 seconds. Then, with a handheld or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese until creamy - around 2 minutes.
Add the powdered sweetener, pure vanilla, and heavy cream. Beat on low speed until incorporated - around 30 seconds.
Increase speed to high and beat 3 full minutes, or until ultra-creamy and smooth. Add additional powdered sweetener if too thin or additional cream if too thick. If frosting is too sweet, add a pinch or two of sea salt.

Video

Notes

See how easy this recipe is to make on my YouTube channel! Watch the full video here: YouTube Buttercream Video
Softened butter is essential! To get the butter at the right temperature, I love this tutorial from Sally’s Baking Addiction on how to soften butter quickly for perfectly softened butter. To soften the cream cheese, you can remove the packaging and pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds or so 👍
If the frosting won't come together: If this happens, the butter is still too cold. Pop the frosting in the microwave for just a few seconds (be careful not to melt it!) so the butter will soften enough for the frosting to come together.
If the frosting is too runny: If the frosting is too runny, it may be that the butter is too soft. This can easily be fixed by adding more powdered sugar.
For the sweetener, I prefer to use powdered monk fruit with allulose. It tastes just like powdered sugar with NO aftertaste and results in a super-smooth texture. However, an erythritol-based powdered sweetener, such as Lakanto or Swerve, can be substituted.
The cream cheese is required to make the frosting creamy instead of grainy. Even though powdered monk fruit/allulose sweetener dissolves better than other keto sweeteners, it's still ever-so-slightly grainy in frostings, which cream cheese fixes. While the frosting has a slight cream cheese taste, there's not as much cream cheese as in traditional cream cheese frosting to keep a classic buttercream taste.
If you're new to frosting cakes, be sure to check out my how-to frost a semi-naked cake for beginners tutorial!
As a special gift to my readers, I've teamed up with Besti Sweeteners to give you guys 10% off! Simply use the code "CRAVEABLE" at checkout.

How To Use A Ziplock Bag For Piping

If you don't have a fancy icing pastry bag, it's super simple to pipe frosting with a Ziplock or plastic baggie! Here are the easy steps:

1. Cut a very small piece from the bottom corner of a large plastic baggie, then place the piping tip into the cut corner.
2. Place the baggie into a cup with the piping tip down.
3. Fold the excess baggie over the outside edge of the cup.
4. Add frosting.
5. Remove the baggie from the cup and push the frosting towards the tip, removing any air.
6. While holding the baggie straight up and down, pipe the frosting on the cupcakes - easy peasy!!!

Nutrition