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 to that!
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. It would be great on donuts, drizzled over ice cream, or 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. I halved the recipe for these chocolate cake.
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 a easy pouring sauce for ice cream and bread pudding.
Chocolate Frosting with Cocoa Powder and Powdered Sugar
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. Lumps are near impossible to get out once the sugar is stirred into the mixture.
Another tip, ok, 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.
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 and 1/2 cup confectioners sugar sifted
- 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.
Recipe from Paula @CallMePMc.com All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission that includes copying the ingredient list or entire recipe and posting in the comments on Pinterest for Facebook. If you want to share this recipe, please simply link back to this post for the recipe.
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Gil Ferguson says
OMG…this is the best frosting and so quick and easy…Thank You so much
Cherie Lynn Benoit says
First time for everything.
Great with white cake or brownies
Cherie
Jiei says
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!
Robbi says
How come u have to heat it, cant u just melt butter an mix together?
Steve Howland says
Why can’t you just use plain granulated sugar for this ? Does it help in the thickness to use powdered sugar ?
Paula says
Granulated sugar would be ‘gritty’
Diane Rosen says
This was the easiest frosting to make. I used it to frost a bundt cake. My kids loved it.
Paradigm says
Can I coat toffee with this, if so will it harden?
Paula says
No, you will need melting chocolates for toffee. I like https://amzn.to/2JX8UKf or https://amzn.to/2JSU5YP also info> https://www.callmepmc.com/how-to-melt-chocolate-call-me-pmc/
Andrea says
Mine came out a little harder d not really creamy. Did I overlook?
DeeDee says
Looking for coffee cake chocolate frosting. Have you ever tried a bit of coffee in this?
Paula says
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.
Diane Barker says
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!
Paula says
oh gosh! Coffee sounds great!
Kari Taylor says
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.
Kari Taylor says
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!😊
Nikt says
I make this kind of frosting. Pour over and it hardens as it cools.
Sonya says
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 🙂