This is the easiest, BEST fast three ingredient chocolate icing ever! As you have seen, my family is big on chocolate desserts. I personally don’t care much for them, but when it comes to baking around here, chocolate is king! Like these chocolate fudgy cookies…or dutch brownies with walnuts…
I remember when I was a kid, my friends and I would always have sleepovers complete with staying up all night long and eating a TON of junk food. One of my closet friends would always bring a jar of icing as her junk food treat and dip animal crackers in it lol. Her idea came from the packaged dunkaroo mix with the icing. Remember that stuff?? Yes, those were the days, right? The 90s were all about packaged junk food!
Being a chemist is both a blessing and a curse sometimes. I constantly analyze the ingredients on anything store bought, and frankly, I end up not buying things because the ingredients are just way too harsh. I am always sharing information about this on instagram when I do a baking tutorial. Many of you have asked about processed or packaged mixes like icing!
Super Fast Three Ingredient Chocolate Icing
The ingredients on a jar of icing from the baking section are incredibly long and full of chemicals that aren’t that great for us! The label has at least 10 or 15 different, most of them are preservatives and things to achieve a thick texture.
Although they are easy to use and delicious, it can be just as easy to make your own at home. I promise!
This icing is my go-to all the time! I always have the ingredients on hand, and it is seriously so simple! Even easier than going to the store for a jar of icing. I love doing variations of this too, sometimes I make it thick for cakes or brownies. Other times, I will thin it out and make a glaze!
This is amazing on donuts too! Here is my easy, fast three ingredient chocolate icing recipe:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, dutched see notes
- 1.5 tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 0.5 tsp espresso powder optional
- Simply whisk together the powdered sugar with the cocoa powder. Dutch processed cocoa powder makes this very rich. See link below for details on cocoa powder. You can also use regular. Add in the espresso powder next. This is optional, but it really makes the chocolate pop!
- Add in 1 tbsp of the almond milk, whisk and see if it needs a touch more. I usually end up using exactly 1.5 tbsp or up to 2 tbsp of almond milk to achieve the texture I like.
- If it seems too chunky or isn't mixing well after this, add one tiny drop more of almond milk.
- Store in the fridge or use immediately for a cake or brownies. This mixture should cover an 8x8 or 9x9 pan. For a larger cake, simply double all the ingredients!
- To use after being in the fridge, just stir vigorously.
Chemist Tips for Super Fast Three Ingredient Chocolate Icing
- Read this post about cocoa powder and why to use dutch processed! If you don’t have any of that kind on hand, regular cocoa powder works great too! Dutch processed cocoa will just create a more rich chocolate flavor!
- To make this a glaze, add another few tsp of almond milk until it reaches a thinner texture. You can also swap out the almond milk for your favorite or even water, it just won’t be quite as creamy.
- If you want another depth of flavor, add 1/2 tsp of homemade vanilla extract (or your favorite!) I love the flavor combination of vanilla and chocolate, you can never go wrong with that.
Do you like to make your own icing? If you have never tried, you will love how easy this is! Be sure to come back next week for my Chemist Solutions series where I show you my favorite way to use this icing!
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I’m in love with this recipe. LOVE. I’m making it this weekend and might not even put it on anything except a spoon. Haha!
Thanks Mia!! It is so good, I hope you enjoy it!
Perfect no-nonsense frosting-love the simplicity of it:) a little old fashioned too:)!
Thanks for joining us at TOHOT!
Jemma
Yes!! The easier the better for sure!! 🙂
OMGGGG yes please! I’m not a huge chocolate fan but this sounds amazing! I bet it would be SO good on brownies!!
Oh for sure! It is great on brownies!!!!
I would so be tempted to eat this just with a spoon! Skins delicious!
Evelina @ Fortunate House
Oh yeah!! My husband eats it while I make it…and then I have none for the cake lol
Oh yum… I have to ask, but can this be made w/low fat or skim milk in lieu of the almond milk… If so, this would be very “dangerous” to make to top all sorts of stuff… Could I make nut clusters if I made the icing thick and refrigerate afterwards? Or, as a icing for toffee candy… homemade Almond Roca?
You can definitely do it with regular milk. It will make it a little bit thinner in texture, but otherwise just as good 🙂 You can totally do a cluster with it. Make it a little thicker than you would for icing. It will harden as it sits out. I bet that would be so good!!
I always make my own icings and frostings. To use the can stuff, just isn’t going to happen. I really don’t understand why others use that stuff because it is quick and easy to do your own.
I agree! I think so many people don’t know you can make it and they just grew up with it. I made this for a friend after we baked her husband a birthday cake, and she said WOW, I had no idea you could make your own…and without butter too!
Very interesting! I actually have a birthday cake to ice today so I’ll have to see if I have those ingredients on hand. I’m sure the addition of the almond milk gives it a nice flavor. Thank you for linking up with Funtastic Friday!
I hope you got to make it! My favorite part about this icing is how it hardens a little bit after you put it on a cake!
Who doesn’t love chocolate icing! I’ve never considered making it dairy free – Do you think it would work with soy milk? I have a lot of that at home. Thank you for sharing on #YumTum
You can definitely use soy milk! It may be a little thinner than with almond or cashew, but you can always add a little more powdered sugar to thicken 🙂
Love your blog! As a biology person, I love reading how things work and why! Better living through chemistry! Thanks for linking up to Saucy Saturdays!
Thank you Jennifer!! There are so many awesome things chemistry does for us 🙂 It is so interesting too!! Have a wonderful day!
Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop
Thank you!
what can be used in place of cocoa to get chocolate flavor ? Can’t digest chocolate very well. Dairy is also a problem as well as gluten intolerence. Hope you can help
There isn’t really anything to replace the cocoa in this recipe. Cocoa nibs are a good cocoa alternative, but they are very hard. It would be difficult to crush them up into a fine powder for icing
I’m looking for an icing for an 8 x 8 cake, but can I use regular milk? I have Dutch coco and the powered sugar. Thank you
Yes you can, but since regular milk is a little more thin, I would do maybe 1/2 tsp less.