Perfect Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting Recipe for Fall Cookie Decorating
If you’re looking for a cozy twist on classic buttercream for your decorated sugar cookies, this cinnamon buttercream is it. Rich, smooth, and packed with warm spice, this frosting not only tastes like fall in a bowl — it also crusts beautifully, making it ideal for cookie decorating.
Cinnamon is a classic fall flavor that often gets the it’s-not-enough quick thought, BUT, did you know it is one of the top reported flavors for fall? Sometimes simple is seriously the way to go, especially when your sugar cookie designs will be stealing the show!
Whether you’re piping fall flowers, outlining golden leaves, or piping delicious pumpkins, this recipe gives you structure, flavor, and that signature soft bite of a buttercream sugar cookie.
Ready to upgrade your sugar cookies with something a little extra?
Let’s get started!
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Skip to
- How to Make Perfectly Fall Cinnamon Buttercream
- Crusting Cinnamon Buttercream Recipe
- Recipes to Use Cinnamon Buttercream
- Frequently Asked Questions About Using Crusting Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting for Sugar Cookies
- How do I prevent my buttercream from becoming grainy?
- My buttercream icing is too sweet, how can I make my icing less sweet?
- I heard that you can’t package buttercream sugar cookies, is that true?
- I heard that you can’t get a smooth buttercream iced cookie for fun details, is that true?
- Can I use crusting buttercream on cakes and cupcakes?
- Save the Recipe for Cinnamon Buttercream for Later
How to Make Perfectly Fall Cinnamon Buttercream
Gathering the Ingredients for the Cinnamon Buttercream
To make this crusting cinnamon buttercream recipe, you will want to gather:
- salted buttercream
- unsalted buttercream
- powdered sugar
- vanilla extract
- cinnamon
- milk
I prefer to use Ceylon cinnamon rather than Saigon cinnamon in this recipe, but it’s really up to you.
Ceylon cinnamon is milder and sweeter while Saigon cinnamon brings in more of the spicy heat. Choose the one you prefer (or have on hand!).
Making the Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, whip one half cup of room temperature unsalted butter with one half cup room temperature salted butter until light and fluffy. One half cup of butter is equivalent to one sticks of butter or 8 tablespoons.
Once light and fluffy and all of the lumps are gone, mix in four cups of powdered confectioner’s sugar, one teaspoon of cinnamon, and one tablespoon of vanilla extract.
We use four cups of powdered sugar in order for the frosting to form a slight crust. All that means is that the outer layer of frosting will dry to the touch.
*If you are making a cake or cupcakes and would prefer a frosting that is less sweet and doesn’t crust, go ahead and use just 2-3 cups of powdered sugar and lower the vanilla to one teaspoon so it doesn’t get too runny.
Mix everything on low speed until the powdered sugar is mostly mixed in to the butter. Do not turn the mixer higher than low. If needed, use a rubber spatula to stir the frosting.
Over mixing buttercream can cause air bubbles. If you do overmix, here’s a post on how to fix it. I promise it’s not terribly hard to fix, but, as always, prevention is better.
Add in 1-4 tablespoons of milk. I typically go with two tablespoons for a crusting buttercream, but it will all depend on if you used more or less powdered sugar and if you want a thinner or thicker frosting.
To achieve a non-crusting buttercream, start with one tablespoon of milk, as there is less powdered sugar causing it to thicken.
Mix in the milk until everything is combined.
Once the frosting is mixed, place it into a piping bag with your preferred decorating tip and decorate.
If you aren’t ready to decorate, keep the buttercream in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or the freezer for up to three months.
Are you decorating for Christmas, by chance?
Make sure to check out my online Christmas cookie decorating class, Merry Cookies! It’s completely beginner friendly and has about two hours of in-depth instructional video so you nail your Christmas cookies this year!
Crusting Cinnamon Buttercream Recipe
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
- Rubber Spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup salted butter room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 1-4 tbsp. milk
Instructions
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the room temperature butter until soft and fluffy.
- To the stand mixer, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until most of the powdered sugar has blended with the butter.
- Add in one tablespoon of milk and again mix on low speed. Add up to three more tablespoons of milk until the desired consistency is reached.
Notes
Recipes to Use Cinnamon Buttercream
All of my fall sugar cookie flavors would taste delicious with cinnamon buttercream:
- Get my recipe for Halloween sprinkle cut out sugar cookies
- cinnamon brown sugar cut out cookies
- pumpkin spice cut out sugar cookie
- almond cut out sugar cookie recipe
- espresso cut out sugar cookies
Or use my everyday cut out sugar cookie recipe with gluten free and egg free options available too!
Frequently Asked Questions About Using Crusting Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting for Sugar Cookies
How do I prevent my buttercream from becoming grainy?
To fix grainy buttercream icing, there are a few tips I want to share with you. First, make sure that you’ve added enough liquid. You want the frosting to be a smooth peanut butter consistency for the majority of your decorated sugar cookies. Again, if you need a lot of florals, it can be a bit stiffer, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be grainy.
Allow the frosting to sit at room temperature for a bit, possibly even overnight. Because we added powdered sugar with liquid, the powdered sugar needs to have time to incorporate or melt into the liquid.
Be careful with the temperature. If the buttercream frosting is too cold, the powdered sugar has a hard time mixing in with the butter and vegetable shortening. This can cause a grainy buttercream. Remember, the fats (butter and/or vegetable shortening) should be room temperature, or around 70 degrees.
The last tip I have for grainy buttercream is to make sure you are using the correct type of sugar. Avoid using powdered sugar made from beet sugar, which doesn’t blend very well. Use powdered sugar made from cane sugar instead.
My buttercream icing is too sweet, how can I make my icing less sweet?
Crusting buttercream does need quite a bit of powdered sugar in it to create a buttercream icing that hardens. However, if you want a less sweet tasting buttercream, substitute the unsalted butter for salted butter. The salt can help offset that sweet taste.
I would encourage trying the too-sweet buttercream on your sugar cookies prior to making adjustments, however. I have found that the sugar cookie recipe I use is the perfect balance with this buttercream icing recipe.
Remember too, if you are taking a spoon of icing to test-taste it, it will be sweet. When you are decorating sugar cookies, there will be less frosting on the cookie. Unless, of course, you are making cookies covered in some fall florals, which will have quite a bit of icing. But, typically, the amount is less than the thickness of the actual sugar cookie.
You probably couldn’t package sugar cookies decorated with non-crusting buttercream. However, you can definitely package and transport buttercream iced cookies using crusting buttercream. For more on this, check out my post, How to Package Buttercream Sugar Cookies.
It is not true. You can for sure achieve a smooth buttercream icing for decorated sugar cookies. This is great if you like the look of royal icing but want a tastier option. You can also add painted details onto a smooth surface. Check out my post here for how I achieve smooth buttercream icing on sugar cookies, How to Smooth Buttercream for Cookies.
Can I use crusting buttercream on cakes and cupcakes?
Yes, I do all the time. If you are not planning to decorate your cake with piping tips then you can opt for less powdered sugar/a non crusting buttercream.
Save the Recipe for Cinnamon Buttercream for Later
If you want cinnamon buttercream for your fall baking this year, make sure to save this recipe! You can pin the image below to your Pinterest account or use the social sharing icons on the page.
