Old-Fashioned Vanilla Frosting made without Powdered Sugar.
My *NEW* favorite vanilla frosting recipe! I used this recipe to frost an Easter bunny cake this spring, on cupcakes I made for my birthday last month & several times in between. The frosting is made with regular granulated sugar not powdered sugar. It comes in super handy if you don’t have powdered sugar on hand but still need to make vanilla frosting. It has to be cooked on the stovetop but it does not take long to make. It also works good for those that are allergic to corn because powdered sugar from the store has corn starch in it, this recipe contains no corn.
This recipe is pretty forgiving & easy to make. You cook the flour and milk together on the stove until it becomes a thick paste then you add it to the butter/sugar mixture to make a nice whipped vanilla buttercream frosting. If I am using the frosting to pipe on to cupcakes I sometimes add extra sugar to thicken it up more so you can add extra sugar if you need to when making it.
Note: This recipe will not taste 100% like powered sugar frosting recipes you may be used to, to me it is more whipped, creamy, & buttery. It is a little less sweet. I love it! Sometimes I find regular vanilla frosting to be too sweet. It is normal for this to be more grainy then powdered sugar recipes you may be used to because regular sugar is more coarse.
3/1/2021 Update: I’m adding some additional photos of the process to help give readers a better idea of how to make it.
The first photo below shows the sauce pot with the flour/milk paste. I stir it over medium heat until it thickens into a paste and I start to see bubbles popping up. Then I let it cool for about 10 minutes off the burner.
The second photo is what I do while I’m waiting for the flour/milk paste to cool, I cream the butter and sugar together. Then the third photo shows when I scoop in the flour/milk paste. The fourth photo is what it looks like when I whip it for several minutes, then I mix in vanilla. If I want a thicker frosting I add in around 1/2 cup of additional sugar and whip for several more minutes.
- ½ cup milk
- 2 tablespoons flour
- pinch of salt
- ¾ cup sugar (add up to ½ cup extra sugar if you want it on the thick side)
- ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Whisk milk, flour, and salt together in a saucepan over medium heat. Keep stirring until the mixture gets very thick and bubbly.
- Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
- In a mixing bowl using an electric mixer beat sugar and butter together until smooth and creamy. Beat in the cooled flour mixture until it is light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla.
- *Note* If you want it to be thicker you can add more sugar. This recipe is very forgiving and if you want it a really thick consistency keep adding sugar to it.
Hard to get the lumps out of the flour milk mixture!!! I tried a few times then gave up
Hi Shawnee, I’m not sure what the problem could. There should be no lumps whatsoever in the mixture, it turns into a paste. Did you use a whisk or fork to mix it until it starts to turn thick and bubble?
how many cupcakes can this batch of icing cover?
Hi Lea, I frost about 18 cupcakes with this recipe. Thanks!
Katie thanks for the recipe i frost 12 cupcakes its was pretty good!!?
Hi Isabelle, I’m glad it worked for you. Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it!
Can this cover a doubble layer cake thats 9 I.n.
Hi Amy, I have frosted a 9×13″ take with this frosting recipe but I have read that 9″ double layer cake usually take 1 extra cup of frosting compared to a 9×13″. I guess it depends on how thick you want it frosted also. Thanks!
hi Katie i am allergic to butter and vanilla extract what can i use instead
Hi, I would look for another recipe that is dairy free if you can’t have butter. I have used earth balance dairy free buttery spread and coconut milk to make dairy free frosting before. As for vanilla, you could use almond extract if you like the flavor or some people like to add lemon to flavor frosting. Thanks.
Hey, how many cups of frosting does this make?
Hi Sophia, I have not measured out the cups but I use this recipe to frost a 9×13″ sheet cake and it also frosts 18-22 cupcakes. Thanks!
My mother taught me this recipe years ago. But, found a simpler one that you don’t have to cook but tastes the same. My favorite vanilla frosting.
1 c of sugar, 1/2 c of milk, 1/2 c of butter, 1/2 c of Crisco, 3 Tablespoons of flour, 1 Tablespoon of vanilla.
Place all ingredients in mixing bowl and beat until fluffy and sugar is dissolved. Beat on high, it will take awhile. Rub between fingers to see if the sugar is dissolved. I start clean up while it’s beating.
This frosting is amazing and pipes well.
Hi Patti, Thanks for sharing your families recipe. I would give it a try but I’m allergic to Crisco. I have heard that it works good for frosting though.
can you make this icing before you need it as I have a lot of cakes to make and it would be good if I can make this before hand
Hi Pauline, I have not tried making it ahead but I think it would work if you refrigerate it and then bring it to room temperature to frost cakes. Thanks.
You can substitute coconut oil for the crisco.
I followed your directions but it’s almost liquid, How do I thicken it ?
Hi Cynthia, It will be almost liquid in the beginning. I would continue to mix it with an electric mixer, add some more sugar, then continue to mix it, it should thicken up.
For everyone who is having trouble getting the clumps from the flour, I would suggest sifting the flour. Hopefully that helps!
Hi Zein, Thanks for sharing the suggestion about sifting the flour. We appreciate it!
@Shawnee Opunui Re Flour lumps. Use cold (the colder the better) milk and whisk your flour in. No lumps. Same goes for gravies. Warm liquid forms a layer of gluten faster than cold, hence you get lumps.
I added mine to cold milk and mixed it before turning on. Continued to mix with the wisk and it turned out perfect
This is absolutely delicious. So good , next time I double it for my cinnamon rolls. Thank you so much!!
Hi Joanne, I’m so glad you liked the recipe. Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it!
This recipe did not work at all for me … would not completely combine .. just looked watery and curdled .. never got “fluffy” at all
Hi Danielle, I’m not sure what the problem could be, the flour was a thick paste when you added it to the butter/sugar mixture correct? That should have been what thickened the frosting. If the frosting is too thin you can keep adding more sugar until it thickens to the consistency you want.
The watery curdle happens when the moisture is beaten for too long. Hope this helps.
Same problem. I added extra sugar and it came out watery.
Hi Heidi, I’m not sure what the problem could be, I make this recipe all the time now. It does look different then powdered sugar frosting and although it sometimes looks thin to me when I frost a cake with it it turns out to be just fine. You can add an extra 1/2 cup or more of sugar to it if you want it to thicken.
Mine didn’t come out watery at all! It’s actually a very cool way to make up for having no Powdered sugar in the house, &needing a good vanilla frosting. Some people just don’t understand the concepts of actually doing “one step at a time”
Only could become watery if the elbow work in the whisking’ part was t applied.
Hi Julie, I’m glad you had good success with the frosting recipe. It is one I make frequently. Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it!
A friend makes a similar recipe but uses 5 tablespoons of flour in the milk, perhaps that might help to thicken the icing a little more? I am going to try your recipe, though.
Hi Jean, I hope you like the recipe. Let us know how it turns out for you. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Hi, everything seems great except it’s grainy… what can I do? I really love the flavor
Hi Lisa, This recipe is a little grainy compared to frosting that uses powdered sugar because the sugar granules are not as fine.
This is a recipe I always use for red cake but always use the superfine sugar like my mom did. Never grainy ?
Due to quarantine I have no vanilla extract can I do without it
Hi Davonya, You can definitely make it without the vanilla extract, adding it just helps to give it less of a butter/sugar flavor.
Hi! The flavor is absolutely devine! I used your recipe to make dairy free frosting, I swapped out milk and butter with subs, everything worked out fine until it became too thin, I tried to add more sugar but that didn’t work. I don’t want to waste it so I have it in the freezer, hoping it will set until my cakes are cooled. Ik sometimes dairy free butter can get too warm when whipped but I am still new to gf df baking. Any tips? A veteran gf df baker will absolutely be able to use this recipe with subs btw, like I said, I’m just new to it, haha. Ty!
Hi Ashley, I hope that cooling the frosting helps to thicken it up. This frosting doesn’t hold well when it gets too warm even with regular butter. I keep whatever I frost in the refrigerator so it stays firm. Adding more sugar helps too, I’d say you could add an extra 1/2 cup of sugar to the recipe and see if that helps too.
I’m making it now, but have a question, when I combine everything, do I cook it or just bet it, I’m using an electric beater, and it’s still really grainy, is that how it’s supposed to be,
Hi Vanessa, The only thing you cook on the stove top is the flour, milk, and salt. Then once it has cooled down some you then mix it in with the other ingredients with an electric mixer. Having it be more grainy then powdered sugar frosting recipes is 100% normal because powdered sugar is much finer.
I made this frosting today and I’m now converted! It was absolutely delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Deann, I’m so glad you liked the recipe. I make this recipe more often then the powdered sugar version now. Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it!
Thank you for the incredible recipe! It worked perfectly as expected. I run a small organic baking operation and was faced with paying $1.60/Kg for organic granulated sugar or $9.00/Kg for powdered sugar. Needless to say, your recipe fixes a big problem, saves a ton of money, but does not compromise flavor, texture and pure perfection when it comes to butter cream as it should be. The granule size of my sugar is also much bigger than typical granulated sugar, but no crunchy sugar can be detected when all said and done. I have made every type of butter cream in my life (Italian, French, American) and this stands up next to those easily in both quality and indulgence.
I ended up tweaking your recipe to make a chocolate version. I simply added 15g of organic cocoa powder in with the butter and sugar. I then added 25g of melted organic 54% chocolate in with the final whipping where the vanilla is added. Delicious!
Thank you again!