Rich Chocolate Frosting is creamy, fudgy, and indulgent with only 5 ingredients and ready in just a few minutes! Incredibly EASY to make!
There’s nothing like the perfect topping to the perfect dessert, and just like this frosting, we’re perfecting our Chocolate Ganache, Homemade Marshmallows, and Easy Whipped Cream!

Rich Chocolate Frosting is fudgy, creamy, and insanely easy to make in only a few minutes with 5 ingredients. All you need is butter, cocoa, confectioners sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. This frosting recipe is richer than your average buttercream, with a stronger chocolate flavor, making it the perfect addition to chocolate cake or brownies.
You can substitute the vanilla with other flavorings in this frosting, like peppermint or almond extract. This is a great recipe to make with homemade Cupcakes because it’s spreadable, and also perfect for piping. If you are decorating a cake or cupcakes, you can even make a double batch, because you can never have too much!

In order to make fluffy Rich Chocolate Frosting, bring your frosting to room temperature. Then put in the stand mixer, and beat on medium-high for 1-2 minutes. This will help incorporate some air into the frosting, giving it a fluffier texture.
Keep in mind that this is a really rich frosting, so you may not be able to get the same fluffy texture as you would from a regular buttercream or cream cheese frosting.

This is not a traditional buttercream, although there are some similarities. Both frosting recipes contain butter, so it’s easy to get confused. However, a typical buttercream frosting calls for softened butter that’s creamed together with powdered sugar (and sometimes egg whites), then with the other ingredients like cocoa or vanilla extract. It turns out light and fluffy, with a strong sweet butter taste.
This frosting recipe calls for cooking the cocoa powder and butter together first, which makes a frosting that turns out more fudgy and richer than a chocolate buttercream would be. Chocolate buttercream frosting would have a lighter texture than this chocolate frosting recipe.
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Tips for Making Rich Chocolate Frosting:
- You can add more milk to achieve a thinner texture with your frosting, but add very slowly so you don’t overshoot it.
- This is the perfect frosting to use as a crumb layer before adding fondant to a layer cake.
- Don’t substitute this homemade chocolate frosting with anything other than butter, because margarine has a lower fat content and the texture won’t turn out right.
- If your frosting is coming out too sweet for your taste, add a dash of salt to balance the flavor.
- Unsalted butter is recommended because you can control the flavor, but you can use salted if you’d prefer the salty flavor.
- This chocolate frosting is a lot more indulgent then a normal chocolate buttercream frosting, which means it’s perfect to use for Brownies, along with the usual chocolate cake, yellow cake, layer cake, or cupcakes.
- Use this frosting as a dip for strawberries, bananas, or graham crackers!
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Frequently Asked Questions
Instead of powdered sugar, substitute with 2 (14oz) cans of sweetened condensed milk. Mix the condensed milk in at the same point in the recipe you would have added the powdered sugar. This is a liquid, so wait to see if you need any added milk until the very end.
Substitute the cocoa powder for a dark chocolate cocoa powder to make dark chocolate frosting. If that’s too bitter for your taste, you can mix half dark chocolate and half milk chocolate cocoa powder.
If you want an even richer chocolate frosting, sub the milk with heavy cream or whipping cream.
You can use baker’s chocolate instead of cocoa powder for this recipe, start with 4-6 oz of semisweet chocolate. You may need less milk, to compensate for the added moisture, just watch the texture and add accordingly.
Add a teaspoon of cinnamon to this chocolate frosting recipe for a Mexican-style chocolate. You can also add a dash of cayenne pepper.
Add peppermint extract to this chocolate frosting recipe, then crush peppermint candies on top of cupcakes for a holiday version. Or use orange extract, then after you’ve frosted the cupcakes, top with orange zest for chocolate orange cupcakes!

How to Store Rich Chocolate Frosting
- Serve: Don’t leave the Rich Chocolate Frosting at room temperature for more than 4 hours.
- Store: Rich Chocolate Frosting can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.
- Freezer: You could also store it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. The day before you’re ready to use it, let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then bring it to room temperature before re-whipping again.



Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 2/3 cups milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan and whisk in the cocoa powder then remove from the heat and let cool.
- Add the cooled chocolate mix to your stand mixer and whip on medium speed adding the powdered sugar and milk, alternating them ⅓ at a time and finally add the vanilla in last.
- If the frosting is too thick, add a bit more milk.
Video
Notes
Nutrition

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Would it work to substitute a bit of the milk for espresso to add a deep coffee flavour to the frosting?
I make w/ reg sugar…. good
This looks great but I don’t have milk. Can I substitute half & half?
Yes 🙂 Enjoy!
Can use sour cream same amount
I have made this frosting many times. It is the best I have ever had.
Yay!! So glad you enjoy it!
Nothing beats a rich homemade chocolate frosting! I could eat it with a spoon!
Sounds like a yummy idea!
This looks so good, I am pretty sure I could eat it by the spoonful!
I like the way you think!
This frosting has the perfect texture! I should try for my next cake!
I hope you love it!
This looks DIVINE! Love how thick and rich it is!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I’ve been searching for a frosting that was this wonderful. Yours is fantastic!!!
Thanks, Chrissie!
Going to give this a try for my daughter’s birthday party; everyone loves chocolate, right?!
It’s always a fan favorite!
Perfectly acceptable to eat by the spoonful, right?! Asking for a friend.
Totally fine idea!