Pumpkin Frosting

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4.49 from 129 ratings

Pumpkin frosting is easy to make with 4 ingredients. This is our go-to no fail pumpkin buttercream recipe!

Prep Time5

Total Time5

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: 4 ingredient pumpkin frosting, how to make pumpkin frosting, pumpkin buttercream, pumpkin frosting, pumpkin spice frosting

Servings: cups

Author: Beth

Equipment

Ingredients

1 ½ cups (339g) unsalted butter, room temperature* 3 sticks
½ cup (113g) pumpkin puree
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
5-7 cups (567-791g) powdered sugar

Instructions

Place room temperature butter (see note) in a mixing bowl. Beat using an electric mixer until smooth, 1 minute.
1 1/2 cups (339g) unsalted butter, room temperature*
Add in the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice. Mix using a spatula.
1/2 cup (113g) pumpkin puree, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Add in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing with a spatula at first so the powered sugar doesn’t puff up everywhere. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, beat the buttercream using an electric mixer, 1-2 minutes or until smooth.
5-7 cups (567-791g) powdered sugar
Use on your favorite desserts like pumpkin cupcakes, chocolate cake, vanilla cupcakes, and brownies.

Video

Notes

*The original recipe called for half butter half vegetable shortening, but I now prefer an all butter frosting.

To frost..

-6 inch 3 tier cake, double the recipe.

-8 inch 3 tier cake, triple the recipe.

-12 cupcakes, you could get by with the original recipe, otherwise increase the recipe by half.

-24 cupcakes, double the recipe. I always like to err on the side of having leftover buttercream. Plus, I pipe a lot of buttercream onto each cupcake.

*Optional: replace 1 stick of butter with 1/2 cup vegetable shortening for a more stable frosting, especially in hot weather

Some have commented that they used 3 & 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and liked the flavor. The amount of powdered sugar all depends on your taste and how stable you want the frosting.

Nutrition