Easy! Vegan Banana Cream Frosting

This luscious vegan banana cream frosting is light, creamy, and completely dairy-free, with the perfect balance of fruity banana and vanilla flavours! Perfect for single-layer cakes and cupcakes, this frosting recipe is a versatile addition to your baking repertoire. Frost a birthday cake or jazz up a batch of muffins with this quick, easy and simple recipe, it’s guaranteed to delight everyone at the table!

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Raise your hand if you’ve ever wanted to frost a cake with something that tastes like sweet and creamy banana pudding! This vegan banana cream frosting is exactly that. Creamy, sweet, and bursting with real banana flavour. It’s the ultimate frosting for topping chocolate cakes, cupcakes, and yes, even on banana bread! I made this frosting for my upcoming recipe, vegan chocolate banana cake and it was so good everyone loved the cake and the frosting combo, it was honestly heavenly.

The consistency of this frosting is creamy rather than traditional buttercream frosting because of the fresh banana paste in it, so it’s suitable for spreading on a single-layer cake or cupcakes rather than piping with a piping bag and star tip. Use other frosting recipes like my caramel buttercream frosting, vanilla frosting, and cream cheese frosting for piping and layer cakes.

Main ingredients and substitutions

*Use room temperature ingredients unless otherwise instructed.

Banana: Use ripe bananas to get a lovely banana flavour in the frosting for maximum sweetness and creaminess. No swaps are available here, the banana is the star after all!

Vegan butter: This frosting’s base is buttercream frosting so I used some vegan butter. It adds richness and stability. I used vegan butter from Flora, but you can use any other vegan butter too like Earth Balance, Stork, Miyoko’s, etc.

Icing sugar: Icing sugar is used to sweeten and thicken the banana frosting. Powdered erythritol may work as a sugar-free option if you want to make this recipe low-sugar.

Soy whipping cream: I added some soy whipping cream to add richness to the frosting. Swap with coconut cream or oat-based whipping cream if soy whipping cream is not available to you.

Vanilla extract: A bit of vanilla goes a long way! It enhances the banana flavour. Skip or use almond extract for a nutty twist if you want.

Note: Substitution may change the final taste and texture of this recipe.

*I use bone char-free sugars for all of my recipes. I cover the topic in my article Vegan Baking 101. Go to the “Is sugar vegan?” section to learn more!

Recommended equipment for this recipe

Electric hand mixer or stand mixer: I used a stand mixer with a paddle attachment for whipping the frosting to perfection. A hand mixer and a large mixing bowl work perfectly too!

Spatula: Use a silicone spatula to scrape the side and bottom of the bowl for a uniform consistency.

How to make vegan banana cream frosting

Ready to whip up this dreamy frosting? It’s easier than you think! With just a few simple steps, you’ll have a creamy masterpiece that’s perfect for spreading on cakes, or eating straight from the bowl (I won’t tell don’t worry).

Step 1: Mash the banana

First thing first, let’s mash some banana and make a banana paste. Weigh the banana with a digital scale and mash it until completely smooth with no lumps. You can use a fork or potato masher, which actually works quite fantastically. Set aside.

Step 2: Cream the Butter

Beat the vegan butter with a stand mixer or hand mixer until it’s light and fluffy, about 2-3 mins. The butter should look a little paler as it incorporates air. Use still cold but slightly softened vegan butter so that it’s easy to beat!

Step 3: Add the banana paste, vanilla extract, and soy whipping cream

Next, add the banana paste, vanilla extract, and soy whipping cream to the whipped butter. Beat further until they are all well combined, about 1-2 mins. 

Step 4: Add icing sugar

Add the icing sugar all at once and beat more starting with the lowest power to avoid the icing sugar flying and floating around. Trust me, you don’t want to go full power from the get-go, or you’ll be tasting icing sugar in your nose and lungs and cleaning up will be a bit of a mess!

Increase the speed once everything is combined and beat a little bit more, about 1-2 mins. There you have it! Creamy banana cream frosting ready to be spread on anything.

Serving tips and ideas

• Spead some on vegan chocolate cake! I initially made this recipe for my single-layer vegan chocolate banana cake and it was so, so good. 
• This frosting actually works well as a cupcake filling as well as spreading on cupcakes! Core cupcakes and pipe the frosting inside before piping a thicker frosting on top. Yummy!
• Use this frosting recipe as a pancake or waffle topper! Swap your maple syrup for this creamy goodness.

Expert tips and tricks

Use ripe banana and mash until very smooth

Green bananas = starchy, bland frosting. Ripe bananas = sweet, creamy magic! Ripe bananas are also easier to mash, making a perfectly smooth banana paste for this recipe.

Use cold soy whipping cream

Warm whipping cream can alter the texture of the frosting as it can make the frosting too runny. Take your whipping cream from the fridge just before you make the frosting to ensure the cream is still cold when beating with the vegan butter.

Adjust sweetness

You can adjust the amount of icing sugar to your liking. Taste before frosting and add more or less icing sugar if needed.

Use a digital scale to weigh ingredients

Always use a digital scale rather than measuring cups when you are baking. It’s so much more accurate and measuring correctly is very important to achieve the best result.

Recipe variations

• You can spread this frosting on chocolate cakes to enjoy the chocolate banana flavour combo, or, add 2 tbsp cocoa powder to the frosting and make a chocolate banana frosting to spread on a vanilla cake!
• Mix 1-2 tbsp of homemade vegan caramel sauce and make caramel banana frosting. Mmm, yummy.
• Swap the vanilla extract with almond extract, or other flavourful extracts!

How to store

• Room temperature: Avoid! This frosting is butter-based, plus the fresh banana makes this frosting perishable.

• Refrigerator: If you want to keep the frosting for the next couple of days, store it in an airtight container for up to 2 days. You can frost your cake or cupcakes straight from the fridge. The colour of the frosting may darken because of the fresh banana in the frosting.

• Freezer: Freeze in a sealed airtight container for up to 1 month for longer storage. Thaw in the fridge overnight and frost your cakes. Again, the colour of the frosting may darken because of the fresh banana in the frosting.

*Although you can store this recipe in the fridge or freezer, it’s always best to consume it fresh and as soon as possible.

Q and A

You will LOVE this vegan banana cream frosting because it is:

• super easy and simple to make
• full of banana pudding like taste and flavour
• pairs great with any cakes and cupcakes

Want more recipes like this?

Try my other delicious banana recipes and dessert recipes you might enjoy!

• Banana chocolate chip cookies
• 5 ingredient banana bread
• Caramel buttercream
• Cream cheese frosting
• Vanilla buttercream frosting
• Cookie dough frosting
• Almond buttercream frosting
• Banana tahini muffins

Visit the dessert page and recipe page for more delicious recipes!

Please leave a comment and rate this recipe with 5 stars in the comment section below if you like the recipe! Let me know and tag me @thechestnutbakery on Instagram too. Thank you for making my recipe, friends!