Brown Sugar Buttercream (Keto)

This is a unique take on traditional buttercream frosting featuring Brown Sugar - it is rich, creamy, and delicious. The brown sugar makes this unique homemade frosting taste just like chocolate chip cookie dough with just a hint of caramel. It is extremely yummy and would be great on so many types of baked goods: Chocolate, Apple, any kind of Spice Cake, Pumpkin, let your imagination be your guide. This recipe should make enough Brown Sugar Frosting to cover a 9x13″ 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 as we have done here, you should be able to frost 15-18 cupcakes depending on the size of the swirl.

1 cup butter, slightly softened
½ cup Erythritol Gold
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 lb Monk Fruit Sweetener with Erythritol (Powdered) (~ 4 cups)
1-2 Tbsp. milk (if needed)

Measure the Brown Sugar. We usually use Light Brown sugar but if you are looking for a deeper, richer taste you can try Dark Brown Sugar. One important trick, make sure you sift out all the tiny brown sugar stones before you add the brown sugar to the mixing bowl. They will clog a decorating tip and are unappetizing to eat. Lightly pack the brown sugar and add it to the mixing bowl.

Add the butter and the vanilla extract to brown sugar in the mixing bowl. The butter needs to be what we call “slightly softened” which is somewhere between straight out of the refrigerator and room temperature.

Mix the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla together on medium speed until thoroughly combined (at least 2 minutes.) You really want the brown sugar to dissolve and meld with the butter to enhance the flavour of the frosting and get rid of any graininess in the frosting.

Use a spatula to scrape the butter mixture down from the sides of the bowl before moving on to the next step.

Measure 1 lb of powdered sweetener. If you don’t have a food scale, the equivalent would be 4 cups.

Add the confectioners' sugar to the butter/brown sugar mixture in the mixing bowl.

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.

If the frosting is dry, add 1 tsp. of milk and mix again.

Taste your frosting. You are trying to determine if the consistency is correct or if it needs more milk or maybe a little more vanilla extract. If it tastes great, test the consistency. Too thick? Add some milk and mix again to check to see if it is now the right consistency. 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 tsp. at a time.

Cook's Notes:

• 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 months.
• Does the frosting need to be refrigerated? No, the frosting does not need to be refrigerated. For example, brownies frosted with this Brown Sugar 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.
• 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 ¼ a tsp. 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 tsp. of milk and mix again. Continue to add the milk, a tsp. 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 confectioners’ sugar or cornstarch. Start with either ½ cup of Powdered Sugar or 1 Tbsp. of Cornstarch. Mix again and see if the consistency is better.
• Is there a substitute for milk? Yes. You can use Half n’ Half or Whipping Cream or even almond milk or another milk substitute.