A smooth and creamy delicious milk chocolate buttercream frosting that’s perfect on chocolate or yellow cakes or cupcakes.
If you’re a milk chocolate fan, you are going to love this frosting. It’s creamy, yet light and has the flavor of real milk chocolate.
Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
It’s really easy to make this frosting, partly because it’s quick to mix up with no cocoa powder needed.
It’s also not as rich and chocolatey as some of the darker chocolate frostings, which is the best kind of chocolate frosting if you ask me.
This homemade milk buttercream pairs perfectly with chocolate cake or yellow cake and works great on cupcakes as well.
Even if you don’t have time to make a scratch cake or cupcakes, it goes really well on cake mix cakes and cupcakes as well.
Ingredient notes:
Now let’s talk a little about just some of the ingredients in this milk chocolate frosting. (The printable list of all ingredients are in the recipe card below.)
Unsalted butter: Buttercream needs butter and this recipe calls for 2 cups. It really gives this frosting a nice buttery chocolate flavor.
Confectioner’s sugar: This is the same thing as powdered sugar and it’s what will make the frosting sweet and will thicken it up.
Milk chocolate chips: This is the star of this buttercream and what makes it taste amazing. Using milk chocolate chips as opposed to semi-sweet chocolate chips is what gives it that classic milk chocolate taste.
(Make sure to check out the FAQ section below in this post for ingredient and substitution questions.)
How to make this buttercream frosting
Let’s talk a little about how to make this milk chocolate buttercream. (The printable instructions are in the recipe card below.)
Step 1:
First, you’ll want to heat the milk chocolate in the microwave until just melted. That’ll be about 45 seconds. Make sure to stir it until it’s smooth and then set it aside to cool down a bit.
Step 2:
Next, add the room-temperature butter to a large mixing bowl and mix it on medium-high with an electric mixer until it’s completely smooth.
Step 3:
Now, add the melted chocolate to the smooth butter and mix on medium until well incorporated. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again.
Step 4:
Add the salt, vanilla and 3 cups of confectioner’s sugar and mix everything well on medium to medium-high.
Step 5:
Next, add 2 tablespoons of milk plus the last 3 cups of confectioner’s sugar and mix well until it’s smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again.
You can adjust the consistency by adding another tablespoon of milk and mixing well.
Step 6:
Add the buttercream to an 8-inch round layer cake a 13×9 inch cake or about 24 cupcakes.
(Remember that the instructions will also be in the recipe card below.)
Tips & FAQs:
Regular chocolate buttercream is darker in color and much more chocolatey in flavor than milk chocolate buttercream.
This frosting reminds me of a Wendy’s frosty. It’s a lighter chocolate flavor and is not too overly rich.
I usually don’t measure the amount of buttercream in cups, but this recipe will make enough buttercream to cover a two-layer, 8-inch round cake a 13×9 inch cake, or about 24 cupcakes.
Yes, but if you use salted butter instead, then omit the salt that the recipe calls for.
Make sure to set the butter out ahead of time as it needs to be close to room temperature.
You can, but you don’t have to unless the confectioner’s sugar is lumpy. If you do decide to sift it, measure it first, then sift it.
These can be found at most grocery stores on the baking aisle over by the other chocolate baking chips.
Yes, however, it won’t be milk chocolate frosting and it won’t taste the same as if you’d used milk chocolate.
If you’re looking for a regular chocolate frosting with a bolder chocolate flavor, you’ll want to check out this recipe: Double Chocolate Buttercream
Yes, this frosting will be lighter in color than regular chocolate buttercream because it’s made with milk chocolate and not cocoa powder or darker chocolate.
Yes, just add to a container with an airtight lid, or add mounds onto plastic wrap, then roll it up and place into freezer bags. See this post that goes into more detail about freezing buttercream: How to Freeze Buttercream
This buttercream can be frozen up to three months.
This buttercream can be stored at room temperature, in an airtight container for about three days. After that, it can be refrigerated to prolong freshness for an additional 2-3 days.
Add this buttercream to chocolate or yellow cake or cupcakes.
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Supplies used:
Video:
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Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe
Milk Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 pinch salt
- 6 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups milk chocolate chips, melted and cooled down a bit (measure before melting)
- 2 tablespoons milk (can add in another tablespoon if needed)
Instructions
- Heat the milk chocolate in the microwave until just melted, about 45 seconds. Stir until smooth. Be careful not to heat too long or the chocolate will become very firm. Set the melted chocolate to the side to cool down for about 30 minutes. You can also pop it in the fridge to cool down for about 10 minutes, but don't let it firm back up. It needs to be closer to room temperature, but still stirrable.
- Add the room-temperature butter to a large mixing bowl and mix on medium-high with an electric mixer until it's smooth.
- Add the melted chocolate and mix on medium until well incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again.
- Add the salt, vanilla and 3 cups of confectioner's sugar. Mix on low until combined, then on medium until fully incorporated.
- Add 2 tablespoons of milk plus the last 3 cups of confectioner's sugar. Mix on low until combined, then on medium until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then mix again.
- Check the consistency of the buttercream and if it's too thick, add milk only a tablespoon at a time, and mix after each addition. If the buttercream is too thin, add another ½ – 1 cup of confectioner's sugar and mix well.
- Mix on medium-high for a couple of minutes to make it fluffy.
Notes
This recipe card may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition
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Kathy
Absolutely delicious. It also makes a great cake filling. I used The milk, chocolate filling between chocolate, layered cake, with a semi sweet frosting. It both looked and tasted wonderful.
Kara
So glad you loved it!
Tanit
This is the best chocolate frosting ever! 🩷
Kara
So glad you love it and thanks for the great review!
Victoria
Excellent! Exactly what I needed. I only had 3 sticks of unsalted butter so I used salted butter for the 4th stick and omitted the extra salt. Came out great and made plenty of frosting for a two layer 8” round cake.
Kara
That’s awesome! So glad you loved it and thank you for the great review!
Jennifer Semo
I only added 4 cups of sugar and it was enough. Also, all I could taste was the butter and sugar. Very little of the chocolate came through. I wound up adding a cup and a half of semi sweet chocolate frosting that I had made and stored, just to give the flavor some depth.
Kara
Hi Jennifer, I appreciate your honest feedback. This buttercream does have a bit of a lighter chocolate flavor than my original chocolate buttercream. Milk chocolate is just a lighter chocolate, but if you’re interested in making a richer, more chocolatey buttercream, feel free to check out my double chocolate buttercream recipe here: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/double-chocolate-buttercream-recipe/
Dianne
Question:
I would like to use this to decorate a cake for my granddaughter. Does it hold the definition enough to use for piping?
Kara
Hi Dianne, it would depend on the what you’re piping. Super intricate designs like string work etc, would need something closer to royal icing, but this buttercream would work fine for regular shell or pearl borders, rosettes and general flowers. If you’re piping roses, you can add a bit more confectioner’s sugar to it to firm it up a bit.