Spice up your frosted desserts with this delicious The Best Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting. It is so easy to make and tastes sweet, spicy, and amazing!

Closeup three chocolate cupcakes topped with The Best Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting sitting on a board next to a bowl filled with cinnamon sticks.

This Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting is so delicious.  It is the perfect topping for your pumpkin, apple, carrot, or spice cake, cupcake, bread, or bar. It is super delicious, so easy to make, and truly the best cinnamon frosting you’ve ever tasted. Sweet, spicy and so very yummy, your family will beg you to make this frosting again and again.

How to Make

Collage image showing how to cream the butter, vanilla and cinnamon.

Step 1: Add the butter and the vanilla to a mixing bowl. The butter needs to be what we call “slightly softened” which is somewhere between straight out of the refrigerator and room temperature.
Step 2: Mix the butter and the vanilla together on medium speed until thoroughly combined (about 2 minutes.)  You really want the vanilla to meld with the butter to enhance the flavor of the frosting.
Step 3: Use a spatula to scrape the butter mixture down from the sides of the bowl, add the cinnamon and mix until combined.  

Collage image showing how to add the powdered sugar to the frosting mixture.

Step 4: We use a food scale to measure 1 Pound of Powdered Sugar.  If you don’t have a food scale, measure 4 cups instead. We normally do not sift the powdered sugar and instead rely on the mixer to do that work for us.
Step 5: Add the powdered sugar to the butter/cinnamon mixture in the mixing bowl.
Step 6: Here is a Two Sisters Tip – cover the mixer with a towel during this part of the mixing process to keep the powdered sugar from flying out of the mixer.
Step 7: Start your mixer (or electric beater) on the lowest setting and keep it on low until the butter and sugar are incorporated (about 30 seconds). Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and then increase the speed to medium-high and mix for another 30-45 seconds so the frosting gets light and fluffy.

Closeup on a mixing bowl filled with Cinnamon Icing and a white wooden spoon.

Step 8: This is the fun part of the recipe where you get to taste your frosting. You are trying to determine if the consistency is correct or if it needs a little more vanilla extract or cinnamon. If it tastes great, test the consistency.  Too thick? Add a teaspoon of milk and mix again to check to see if the consistency is better.  The amount of milk to use depends on the state of your frosting and sometimes the time of year (if it is a hot humid day, you might not need to add any milk.) A good rule of thumb is to add the milk a teaspoon at a time. You can check out our FAQ section below to see some other advice on making the perfect batch of frosting.

A decorated bag filled with Cinnamon Frosting sitting in front of a batch of unfrosted chocolate cupcakes.

How much frosting will you need?  That always depends on how thick or thin you apply the frosting or how much decorating you do but here are a couple of guidelines. Our Cinnamon Icing should make enough icing to cover a 9″ x 13″ sheet cake or a two-layer 8″ cake.  If you are making cupcakes, you should be able to frost 24 cupcakes if you apply the frosting with a knife.  If you swirl on the frosting with a pastry bag and a decorating tip you should be able to frost 15-18 cupcakes depending on the size of the swirl.

Expert Tips and FAQ’s

Does the frosting need to be refrigerated?

No, the frosting does not need to be refrigerated. For example, brownies frosted with this Cinnamon Frosting would be fine left out on the counter for 2-3 days if the pan was tightly covered with aluminum foil. That said, we usually refrigerate our frosted desserts to keep the baked good from going stale even if the frosting would be fine. We think frosting tastes best at room temperature so we will then remove the item from the refrigerator a couple of hours before we will serve them.

How do I store any leftover frosting?

Frosting stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator should be good for up to a week. If you carefully wrap the frosting in order to avoid freezer burn, the frosting should be fine in the freezer for 3-4 mon

What should I do if my frosting is too sweet?

Buttercream is a sweet frosting. One thing you can do if it seems too sweet for your palette is to add a pinch of salt to the frosting. But please note that a little salt goes a long way. We cannot stress enough that a pinch (10-15 granules of regular table salt) is all you usually need. Even 1/4 a teaspoon of salt would probably ruin the frosting. Add the salt and mix again and see if that has cut down on the sweetness level.

What should I do if my frosting turned out too thick?

Add another teaspoon of milk and mix again. Continue to add the milk, a teaspoon at a time, until the frosting is the consistency that you like it

What should I do if my frosting turned out too thin?

Temperature plays a big part in the consistency of frosting. A thin frosting could mean that the butter has gotten overworked and is too melted. The first thing to do is refrigerate the frosting for an hour and then check to see if the frosting has set back up again. If not, the next step is to add more powdered sugar or cornstarch. Start with either 1/2 cup of Powdered Sugar or 1 tablespoon of Cornstarch. Mix again and see if the consistency is better.

Closeup on a chocolate cupcake topped with The Best Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting sitting on a cutting board next to a ramekin filled with Cinnamon Sticks.

Other Frosting Recipes You Will Love

The Best Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

Yield 2 1/2 cups
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Spice up your frosted desserts with this delicious The Best Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting. It is so easy to make and tastes sweet, spicy and amazing!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Butter, softened (We use Salted Sweet Cream Butter)
  • 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
  • 1 pound Powdered Sugar (or 4 cups)
  • 1-2 tablespoons Milk (if needed)

Instructions

  1. Add the butter and the vanilla to a mixing bowl. The butter needs to be what we call “slightly softened” which is somewhere between straight out of the refrigerator and room temperature. 
  2. Mix the butter and the vanilla together on medium speed until thoroughly combined (about 2 minutes.)  You really want the vanilla to meld with the butter to enhance the flavor of the frosting.
  3. Use a spatula to scrape the butter mixture down from the sides of the bowl, add the cinnamon and mix until combined.  
  4. Use a food scale to measure 1 Pound of Powdered Sugar.  If you don’t have a food scale, measure 4 cups instead. 
  5. Add the powdered sugar to the butter/cinnamon mixture in the mixing bowl.
  6. Start your mixer (or electric beater) on the lowest setting and keep it on low until the butter and sugar are incorporated (about 30 seconds). Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and then increase the speed to medium-high and mix for another 30-45 seconds so the frosting gets light and fluffy.
  7. Taste your frosting. You are trying to determine if the consistency is correct or if it needs a little more vanilla extract or cinnamon. If it tastes great, test the consistency.  Too thick? Add a teaspoon of milk and mix again to check to see if the consistency is better.  The amount of milk to use depends on the state of your frosting and sometimes the time of year (if it is a hot humid day, you might not need to add any milk.) A good rule of thumb is to add the milk a teaspoon at a time.

Did you Make this Recipe? Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @twosisterscrafting on Instagram so we can see it!