Chocolate Frosting with Cocoa Powder and Powdered Sugar

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This is a simple chocolate frosting recipe that you’ll use over and over again. Chocolate Frosting with Cocoa Powder and Powdered Sugar is ready in minutes with ingredients your more than likely have on hand.

This is not a mind-blowing original recipe. I’ve been making it for years and years. It is a basic Chocolate Frosting recipe that you need to have in your arsenal. Plus, it’s my favorite. If I could, I would eat spoonful after spoonful of it straight from the pan….oh, wait, I did do that!

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Chocolate Frosting with Cocoa Powder and Powdered Sugar

Chocolate Frosting with Cocoa Powder and Powdered Sugar

Chocolate Frosting with Cocoa Powder and Powdered Sugar is my go-to basic chocolate frosting recipe. I use it for my Chocolate Coca-Cola Cake and on my Famous Rocky Road Brownies. This frosting is great on donuts, over ice cream, and on a classic white cake.

This recipe is also easily adaptable. If you have a large sheet pan of brownies, you may want to double the recipe. For just a few cookies, you may want to half the recipe.

It really is a delectable 5-minute frosting that goes great on cakes and cupcakes. Add an additional 2 tablespoons of milk to make it into an easy pouring sauce for ice cream and bread pudding.

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Chocolate Frosting tips

One tip you must remember when making this icing recipe is to sift your sugar. Otherwise, you’ll have lumps and will have to stir A LOT, to get them out. I find that lumps are nearly impossible to get out once the sugar is stirred into the mixture.

Another tip—okay, I know this is two—is to use real butter. Margarine really doesn’t work well because it’s mostly oil. Use real butter at room temperature.

chocolate Frosting

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*The calorie count is for the whole recipe.

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Chocolate Frosting with Cocoa Powder and Powdered Sugar is smooth, creamy, and rich.
Chocolate Frosting with Cocoa Powder and Powdered Sugar is smooth, creamy, and rich.

Chocolate Frosting with Cocoa Powder and Powdered Sugar

Chocolate Frosting with Cocoa Powder and Powdered Sugar is a must-have recipe. It’s creamy, smooth, and rich. This icing can be made stove-top or in the microwave and just takes minutes to stir together. It goes well on cakes and cupcakes.
Author: Paula
4.91 from 74 votes
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Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 2 cups

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Sift sugar.
  • Heat butter in a small pan on medium heat, do not let butter get brown.
  • When butter is melted, whisk in cocoa, milk, and vanilla. Add sugar 1/2 cup at a time, whisking after each addition.
  • Remove from heat, after all the sugar has been added.
  • Whisk until smooth.
  • Immediately pour over cake.
  • If icing is too thin, add additional sifted sugar 1/4 cup at a time until desired thickness or sit it in the refrigerator a few minutes. Take it out and whisk it until creamy again.
  • Frosting will thicken as it cools, but it’ll be harder to spread.

Nutrition

Calories: 1084kcal | Carbohydrates: 220g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 227mg | Potassium: 272mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 208g | Vitamin A: 775IU | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are important to you, I recommend calculating them yourself.

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119 Comments

  1. First time for everything.
    Great with white cake or brownies
    Cherie

  2. Mine came out hard as it cools. Not good! ((Sigh!) Maybe I shouldnt heat everything from the ingredients next time. Just mix all the ingredients together. Well, maybe!

  3. How come u have to heat it, cant u just melt butter an mix together?

  4. Why can’t you just use plain granulated sugar for this ? Does it help in the thickness to use powdered sugar ?

  5. This was the easiest frosting to make. I used it to frost a bundt cake. My kids loved it.

  7. Mine came out a little harder d not really creamy. Did I overlook?

  8. Looking for coffee cake chocolate frosting. Have you ever tried a bit of coffee in this?

    1. I have not, but it would be delicious. Replace some of the liquid with cold coffee depending on how strong of a coffee flavor you want.

      1. 5 stars
        This recipe is exactly what I was looking for. My mother used to make this icing with coffee, and I forgot all about it. I made it with 1/2 milk and 1/2 brewed coffee, so it has a faint coffee taste. And yes, it is delicious!

  9. I’m looking for a chocolate frosting that’s cooked stove top. Pour it over the cake, It cools to a slightly hardened (crack) stage. Old church sister used to make it all the time. That’s all I remember of it. I regret I never got the recipe from her.

    1. From the looks of the picture, I think I found it in your post for “Chocolate Coca-Cola cake” or “Diet Dr Pepper® Texas Sheet Cake”. I’ll try both!😊

    2. I make this kind of frosting. Pour over and it hardens as it cools.

    3. My grandmother used to make that kind of frosting. I have been looking for it for years. I remember cocoa, Crisco, Milk and sugar…. But I remember her putting it on the cake really quick because it would get hard, like a fudge stage hard..OMGoodness. On yellow cake was the best. I hope this is it 🙂

      1. My mother made the same kind. Regretfully, i didnt get her recipe before she passed away. I’ll try this one.

      1. Not the same. Ganache is made with heavy cream just to boiling stage then poured over chocolate chips.

  10. How long will this frosting last in the fridge? It’s delicious, just made it. First time ever making frosting. I hope the cake turns out well

Comments are closed.

4.91 from 74 votes (55 ratings without comment)