This Healthier Dairy-Free Buttercream is made with vegan butter and a homemade powdered sugar that's sweetened with honey. It has a rich, creamy and buttery/cream cheese flavor with the perfect amount of sweetness and a hint of vanilla.
📝Ingredient Notes
Vegan butter- Use one that you really like the taste of, because it's flavor will shine through. I like to use country crock plant butter with avocado oil for its real, butter-like flavor.
Vanilla bean paste is optional, but it gives it a really nice vanilla flavor.
Here's the link for the vanilla beans I use.
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🍯Substitutions
Tapioca starch- This starch is used in making powdered sugar, and is needed in larger quantities for this recipe (2 cups). If you can't get your hands on any tapioca starch, you can use corn starch.
Honey- Use 100% pure maple syrup in place of honey.
✅Pro Tips
- Use Country Crock Plant Butter with Avocado oil for the same tasting results from this recipe. The butter you use will affect the flavor.
- You can pipe the cupcakes ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Just leave it on the counter about an hour before you're ready to eat them! They are still perfectly edible out of the fridge though.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
While this recipe isn't the most healthiest on the blog, it does provide some nutritional value in comparison to a traditional vegan buttercream. What makes this version healthier is that it doesn't use refined sugars such as cane sugar. Powdered sugar is used in a typical buttercream recipe, and consists of tapioca starch and ground up cane sugar. Here, we swap the cane sugar for honey.
While honey is still high in sugar and carbs, it does provide some nutritional value, as opposed to cane sugar. Honey contains some antioxidants and is a bit lower on the glycemic index than cane sugar. It is still advised to consume it in moderation.
Yes. Just leave it in the piping bag stored in an airtight container or a ziplock bag until you're ready to use it. If your buttercream seems too stiff, just let it come to room temperature some to soften it.
Because it contains honey, it is not vegan. A vegan substitute for honey would be to use 100% pure maple syrup.
Did you make this Healthier Dairy-Free Buttercream frosting? Comment down below and leave a review if you enjoyed it. I love to hear from you!
📖 Recipe
Healthier Dairy-Free Buttercream
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegan butter
- 2 cups tapioca starch
- 6 tablespoons honey or to taste
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 vanilla bean optional
- 1-2 tablespoons plant milk such as unsweetened/unflavored almond milk, optional
Instructions
- Set the vegan butter out on the counter to thaw. It should take about 15 minutes. You just want it to be thawed enough to be mixed with a hand mixer or a stand mixer.
- Place the vegan butter in a bowl if using a hand mixer. If you're using a stand mixer, add the attachment to catch the powder from flying everywhere. It is messy!
- Slowly add the tapioca starch, about ¼ cup at a time, until well incorporated.
- Add in the vanilla extract, vanilla bean and honey.
- Prepare your piping bag and place the buttercream in the bag.
- Pipe onto cupcakes or spread on your cake of choice and enjoy!
Nutrition
Note: The nutrition label is only an estimate. Amounts may vary.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!