Keto Frosting
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My 3-ingredient fluffy keto frosting recipe is the perfect accent to your favorite keto desserts. Make vanilla, chocolate, or cream cheese frosting for only 2 grams of net carbs.
Ready to use your sugar-free frosting? Try it on my keto Boston cream pie, keto cupcakes, and keto cinnamon rolls.
Let’s be real; the best part about dessert is the frosting. But what about those of us rocking that low-carb lifestyle?
Well, friends, my low-carb frosting is here to save the day. It’s every bit as thick, creamy, and sweet as regular frosting, just with some low-carb substitutions.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Adjust the consistency. Depending on what you’re in the mood for, it can be made thick like buttercream or thinned out like a glaze or icing.
- Three sugar free frosting recipes. I give you the base recipe for keto buttercream frosting plus three equally delicious frosting flavors!
- The perfect texture and taste. It’s silky smooth with the perfect balance of sweetness.
- Diet-friendly. It’s gluten-free, low-carb, and with a few swaps, it can even be made vegan!
Ingredients needed
- Powdered sugar. The key to any good frosting recipe. I used homemade keto powdered sweetener made with a mix of allulose and powdered erythritol.
- Unsalted butter. Use room temperature butter, but not melted. Also, avoid using salted butter as it’s hard to gauge the amount of salt added.
- Vanilla extract. A must for frosting!
How to make keto frosting
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Mix. In a large mixing bowl, beat the powdered sugar and butter with a hand mixer until smooth. Add in the vanilla extract.
Step 2- Add extra flavors. Add additional flavors and beat until thick and creamy.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Adjust the consistency. For a thicker frosting, add more powdered sugar. For a thinner frosting, add a splash of milk or heavy cream.
- Play around with extracts. Add a teaspoon of lemon extract, maple extract, or coffee extract for a different flavor.
- Make vegan frosting. Use vegan butter and vegan cream cheese if you’re making cream cheese frosting.
Variations
- Keto chocolate frosting. Add ½ cup of cocoa powder and 1-2 tablespoons of milk.
- Keto cream cheese frosting. Add 8 ounces of softened cream cheese and 1-2 tablespoons of milk.
- Keto vanilla frosting. Add 1-2 tablespoons of milk.
Storage instructions
To store: Store leftover frosting in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week. Let it come to room temperature for 30 minutes before using.
To freeze: Store the frosting in a shallow container and use within 2 months. Let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Frequently asked questions
If you don’t want to add more powdered sugar, refrigerate the frosting for at least 30 minutes or add thick ingredients like cocoa powder or cream cheese.
Recipes using keto frosting
Keto Frosting {3 Flavors}
Ingredients
For the frosting base
- 3 cups sugar free powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Frosting
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1-2 tablespoon milk of choice * see notes
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1-2 tablespoon milk of choice * see notes
Vanilla Frosting
- 1-2 tablespoon milk of choice * see notes
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, beat your powdered sugar and butter until combined, and smooth. Add in your vanilla extract.
- Add your flavor ingredients and continue beating until the desired texture is received. For a thinner texture, add more milk.
Hi, made the cake and cream cheese frosting but the after taste was not good 😞. Could you tell me what brand of Allulose, Monk fruit you use?
Hi Jae, sorry to hear that. Did you use a monk fruit blend with an erythritol base? That can have a bit of an aftertaste. I would aim for a straight allulose sweetener. Perhaps Pyure or Wholesome Yum.
Use PURE Allulose! It is a rare earth sugar that doesn’t metabolize in the body and has all the same properties of regular sugar in baking and other food applications.
It is 1/3 less sweet so you need to adjust recipes accordingly ! It tastes and has the same palate feel as regular sugar.
Blends will be bitter, cooling, and mess with your palate!
You can purchase pure Allulose in bulk on Amazon which I recommend. We use it for everything including this recipe and keto gelato / sorbetto, keto baking, etc. I actually make my own simple syrup and lavender simple syrup (keep refrigerated) with it.
This cake and icing recipe are fabulous! I actually made this combination for a wedding to feed guests who are G/F, Diabetic and Keto. I made it a lavender Earl Grey flavour to match the Bride’s tier of the Wedding Cake and placed rose petals on the icing to make more wedding themed.
The cake got rave reviews from the bride and guests who stated it was so moist and delicious they would never guess it wasn’t a regular cake!
Arman, love these recipes! Keep them coming!!!
I have been trying allulose powdered for frosting and find it still tastes cooling like erythritol. I do not like that taste. Any suggestions?
Hi Dana- that is so odd- is it a blend? Let me know the brand and I’ll troubleshoot for you!
Try 2 c powdered allulose + 1 c powdered Splenda. Gets rid of the aftertaste. Powdered Stevia probably works too.
Dana, that sounds like a blend of some sort! Pure Allulose should have the same mouth and palate feel as regular sugar only 1/3 less sweet.
It’s a rare earth sugar so shouldn’t have any cooling, or bitter aftertaste.
Bitter usually means there is stevia or monk fruit mixed in.
Any of the sugar alcohols like swerve, erythtitol, etc have a cooling effect on the palate.
I would check the brand you are getting. There are plenty of Allulose choices on places like Amazon and you can even buy in bulk to save money.
Can you combine the cream cheese and chocolate frosting? If so what would the adjustments to measurements be?
That should be fine Holly! I would make the cream cheese frosting as described and then slowly add the 1/2 cup of cocoa powder to that. Once you have a thick chocolate/cream cheese mixture, add tiny bits of milk until you have the consistency you need. Let us know how you go.
Soooooo good! I’ve done your low carb cookie recipe and now this delicious cake recipe. It doesn’t even taste keto. I had the cream cheese frosting with it and it is delish!
Aw, thank you Alexis. When I was working on this recipe (or all my keto ones, rather), it was super important that they tasted as close to the real thing as possible! The cream cheese is my favorite 🙂
Try using soft silken tofu to replace the butter in your frosting, low fat high protein.
A great option, depending on your nutritional goals! Thanks Lindsey.
I made this the cream cheese version today and it was wonderful. The only thing I tweaked was I only used 1 cup of powdered Allulose for sweetener. That was plenty and let the cream cheese flavor shine through. This will be my go to in various flavors. Thanks!
Hey, please add the metric conversions for ingredients, thanks!
We’re working on rolling that out for all recipes 🙂
I just wanted to comment on the Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting. LOVED IT! I followed the directions to the letter and it turned out FANTASTIC! It was moist and flavorful. I could not be happier. I am addicted to “Big Mans World”! I have tried just about every recipe and all I can say is Thanks for doing all the work and making My life easier. I want to mention one of my favorites, Dinner Rolls! LOVE THEM
Krissi from Kennewick,WA
you are too kind, Krissi!
do you have a keto royal icing recipe for cut out cookies? thanks I loved this one on my cupcakes