Candy cane frosting is a fun and festive frosting to top your cakes and cupcakes with before Christmas! The frosting is easy to make and has a nice peppermint flavor from the crushed candy canes combined with the sweetness of the confectioner’s sugar and the salted butter used to make the base for this frosting. You may enjoy this candy cane frosting on my Fluffy vanilla cupcakes or sandwiched between Amish sugar cookies to make candy cane whoopie pies.
For more festive Christmas treats, keep scrolling below the recipe card.
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Candy Cane Frosting
Equipment
- Mixing bowl (linked below)
- Handheld mixer (linked below)
- Piping bag (linked below)
- Wilton Piping tips (linked below)
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter softened slightly
- 1/2 cup candy cane powder from finely crushed candy canes *see note
- 1/4 cup whole milk *see note
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract optional
- 1 dash salt
- 3-4 cups confectioner's sugar
- Several drops of red food coloring optional
Instructions
- Using a food processor, process enough candy canes to make 1/2 cup of fine powder. Sift the powder to remove any large chunks that may be left behind.
- Combine butter and two tablespoons milk. Add confectioner's sugar, 1 cup at a time, adding the remaining milk as needed until the frosting has a stiff, but pipeable consistency.
- Fold in the candy cane powder, peppermint extract and red food coloring (optional) then use the frosting for cupcakes, cakes, cookies and more! Storage notes below.
Notes
Equipment needed for this Cany Cane Frosting:
- Mixing bowl A mixing bowl is needed for combining the frosting ingredients.
- Handheld mixer I prefer to use a handheld mixer to mix the frosting until it is well combined and fluffy.
- Piping bag A piping bag is useful if you plan to use this frosting to top cupcakes, or even to decorate cakes and fill cookies for whoopie pies.
- Wilton piping tips I prefer to use a Wilton 2D tip or a Wilton 1M piping tip to pipe this frosting onto cupcakes.
Additional holiday recipes you may enjoy:
- Christmas Monster Cookies
- S’mores Cracker Cookies
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Ritz Cookies
- Amish Christmas Themed Whoopie Pies
- Christmas Cracker Toffee
- The Best Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies
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Ingredients needed for this candy cane frosting: butter, confectioner’s sugar, candy canes, milk and salt. Optional add-ins: Peppermint extract and red food coloring.
To add peppermint extract or not?
I personally do not add additional peppermint flavor because we prefer the frosting with more of a mild peppermint flavor. If you prefer to add it, feel free to add it to taste.
Why add red food coloring?
I like to add a little red food coloring to get the color of the frosting a little deeper shade of pink. Without the food coloring, the frosting will be more of a light pink color. Leaving the food dye out is a healthier option, so be sure to do whatever is the best for you!
Frosting tips:
Candy canes: as mentioned above, be sure to grind the candy canes into a fine powder before adding it to the frosting if you plan to use a piping bag and tip. The crushed candy cane shown in the photo above is fine for spreading, but I did have some chunks getting stuck in my piping tip because I didn’t pre-sift it.
Softening the butter: softening butter at room temperature is the best option for frosting. I do not recommend using the microwave to soften the butter because it is too easy to melt the butter. You also do not want the butter to be too soft for frosting as it will not hold up as well. Butter should be soft enough to leave an indentation when touched, but not so soft that it collapses when touched.
Adding milk: I recommend adding milk sparingly to the frosting until you know how much confectioner’s sugar you want to add. The more confectioner’s sugar you add, the thicker the frosting will be, but also the sweeter it will get.
Mixing the frosting: Be sure to mix the confectioner’s sugar, milk and butter well to remove any lumps. Add-ins can be gently mixed/folded in, but do not overmix once the candy cane, extract and colorings are added to help the frosting keep its consistency.
Storage options for the candy cane frosting:
This candy cane frosting can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for up to a week or two before use. Allow the frosting to come to room temperature before frosting. I personally have not tried freezing my frostings, but according to the web it can be done for up to several months if kept tightly wrapped or in an airtight container.
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