This chocolate frosting has only two ingredients and no powdered sugar or butter. It’s also gluten-free and vegan friendly!
For the longest time I searched for a way to make frosting for cakes and cupcakes that contained no powdered sugar. I’m not against using it on occasion, but since buttercream typically requires several cups of it to thicken, it’s usually too sweet for me.
Then I found swiss meringue buttercream, which uses whipped egg whites as the base, instead of butter and powdered sugar. It’s fluffy and not overly sweet either. It makes perfect vanilla frosting, although it can be a little time consuming.
But I still needed a good chocolate frosting. I finally came across whipped ganache, which was just chocolate and cream melted together. Instead of using the ganache right away, you chill it, similar to making truffles. Once the chocolate mixture has cooled and is firm enough to scoop, you beat it with an electric mixer until it’s nice and fluffy.
It creates the most deliciously rich chocolate frosting, which I still can’t believe has only two ingredients! I hope you give it a try!

Two-Ingredient Chocolate Frosting
- Total Time: 5 mins
- Yield: 3 cups 1x
Description
This chocolate frosting has only two ingredients and no powdered sugar or butter. It’s also gluten-free and vegan friendly!
Ingredients
- 3 cups chocolate chips or chopped chocolate of choice. (Use dairy-free/grain-free chocolate if needed. Can use dark, semi-sweet, milk or white chocolate.)
- 1 cup full-fat coconut milk
* from can
Instructions
- Place your chocolate in a heat-safe mixing bowl and stir in coconut milk. Place bowl over a pot of boiling water (double-boiler) and stir often until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth, 4–5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Cover bowl and place into the refrigerator (or freezer if you’re in a pinch for time) for an hour or more, until fully cooled and mixture is firm.
- Beat firm chocolate mixture for several minutes, until fluffy. Add additional coconut milk, if needed, until mixture reaches desired consistency. Use to frost cakes or cupcakes. Makes approximately 3 cups.
Notes
*Full fat coconut milk is necessary because it’s thicker than regular milk and has a high fat content, which whips up well. I don’t suggest replacing with almond or another milk because it would make it too runny. If you consume dairy, you can try replacing with heavy cream, although I haven’t tried it myself so I cannot say for sure if this cream to chocolate ratio would work.
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Category: Vegan, Dairy-Free
You may also enjoy these similar recipes:
Lightly Sweetened Vanilla Buttercream
Naturally Sweetened Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Vegan Chocolate Cake with Whipped Ganache
Tried the heavy cream worked great
So happy to hear that, Bill! Thanks for the helpful tip!!
This was amazing! Chocolate goes so fast around here so I made it with white chocolate & added coco powder! Saved my “depression chocolate cake” (limited ingredients cake) with this frosting recipe, with very few ingredients this was a spectacular find for someone who doesn’t have powder sugar on hand usually. So happy for this recipe. TY!
Hi Lynn, thanks for giving this recipe a try and for sharing your delicious substitutions! I bet it was a yummy addition to that chocolate cake too! Really appreciate you taking the time to leave feedback! Enjoy your weekend!
Hello 🙂
can I use organic coconut butter from glass container? I do not like buy can food. Thanks.
Hi Genesis, coconut butter won’t work as a substitute for the milk, but they do have coconut milk in cartons: (https://www.amazon.com/Delicious-Culinary-Coconut-Original-Everyday/dp/B00VTR1962)
This frosting looks great! I’m just wondering if it would taste like coconut, or if there would be a coconut aftertaste.
Hi Akhila! I don’t think it has a coconutty flavor and my daughter, who doesn’t like coconut, says she doesn’t think it tastes like coconut either. It’s very chocolatey and fudgy, so you don’t taste much else. However, if you don’t need to be dairy free, heavy cream can also be used. Let me know if you give it a try!
My cupcakes are often left ‘naked’ because I don’t like the idea of too much powdered sugar in the frosting. Finally I find an alternative. Thank you!!! Will try this once I find the full cream.coconut milk.
This sounds amazing. Love the simplicity of it and it really does look so appetizing. Yet another valid reason for indulging in a bit of chocolate!
This sounds incredible…though certainly not what I need lol. Chocolate is my weakness 🙂
OMG, that looks delicious! Your photography is amazing. 🙂
Thanks, Jeanne!
I was just thinking about how to make vegan chocolate treats that are easy and quick to make! these look mouth wateringly delicious! Will give this a try. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the encouragement, Sophia!
Only two ingredients and vegan? Wow! I need to try this soon!
Thank you Ginger! Have a wonderful weekend!
Wow, this looks so good!
Thanks Raja!
Genius! I’ll be trying this out very soon xx