How to Make AIP Frosting

Making dairy free, refined sugar free and nut-free icing is easy with these simple recipes and tips for AIP frosting.

If you’re following the autoimmune paleo protocol, you’ve likely had a hard time finding a fluffy cake recipe and an even harder time finding a really good frosting recipe. I’ve got you covered on both those fronts!

This post contains several AIP Frosting recipes that have a variety of different textures and flavors. Choose your favorite to decorate cookies, pies, cakes and whatever else you desire!

How to make AIP Frosting

Without butter and powdered sugar, you might be wondering how to create a delicious AIP frosting. Well, there are a variety of options for both fats and sweeteners that you can use. First there are the fat replacements. You’ll notice that many AIP recipes use coconut butter or coconut cream as the base, but this is problematic for many who are also coconut free. Below, you’ll find the recipes for two coconut based frosting recipes as well as two that are completely coconut-free.

In terms of sweeteners, you can use honey, maple sugar or maple syrup, coconut sugar and even sweet potato! You’ll note that some of the recipes for frosting below also contain some type of flour or starch. Whether it’s tapioca tapioca starch or carob powder, this is used to help thicken the frosting and give it a bit more stability.

What’s the best AIP Frosting for cookies?

For a frosting that hardens at room temperature, I would recommend the coconut-maple frosting. I use this frosting on some cookies as well as on things like these AIP Pumpkin Spice Donuts. While the other variations of AIP frosting can/do harden in the fridge, they don’t hold up particularly well to something like stacking cookies in a cookie jar. That said, none of these options performs quite like powdered sugar in terms of hardening.

What’s the best AIP frosting for cake or cupcakes?

My favorite for cakes is the Vanilla Frosting that I use in this Apple Cake recipe. This recipe is reminiscent of a buttercream frosting. You can also create different variations of it by adding spices, like I did in these Spiced Apple Cupcakes and Peppermint Patty Cupcakes. This recipe hardens in the fridge and gets soft again at room temperature.

What do you recommend for pies?

The whipped coconut cream frosting is definitely my recommendation for using with pies as toppings, like this AIP Pumpkin Pie. It’s light, fluffy and the perfect topping for things like AIP Pancakes, hot chocolates and other desserts.

If you enjoy any of these AIP Frosting recipes, I would appreciate it if you would give the blog post a rating and review. Be sure to snap a picture of the finished product and share it with me on Instagram by tagging @healmedelicious and using the hashtag #healmedelicious. 

AIP Frosting (paleo, vegan, gluten free)

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5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Nicole Charles
• Total Time: 60 minutes
• Yield: 6–8 servings 1x

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Description

Making dairy free, refined sugar free and nut-free icing is easy with these simple recipes and tips for AIP frosting.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

Coconut-Honey Frosting

• 1/4 cup coconut butter, melted
• 1 TBSP honey (or maple syrup for vegan)
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of sea salt
• 2–4 TBSP full fat coconut milk, warmed

Sweet Potato “Chocolate” Frosting

• 1 medium sized sweet potato (any variety)
• 1/2 cup carob powder
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• pinch of sea salt

Vanilla Frosting

• 1 cup palm shortening
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• pinch of sea salt

Coconut Whipped Cream

• 1 can additive-free coconut cream, chilled overnight
• 2 TBSP powdered maple sugar***
• 1/2 TBSP vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

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Instructions

Coconut-Honey Frosting

1. In a small bowl, combine melted coconut butter, honey or maple syrup, vanilla extract and sea salt. Add warm coconut milk to desired consistency. Depending on the recipe, feel free to add a dash of your favorite spices to the frosting as well. Cinnamon is a great addition!

Sweet Potato “Chocolate” Frosting

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Place sweet potato on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until tender ~ 45 mins.*
3. Remove flesh from the skins and place sweet potato into food processor with 1/4 cup of the carob powder, maple syrup and sea salt. Add remaining carob powder by the TBSP until you achieve your desired consistency.

Vanilla Frosting

1. In a stand mixer or food processor, combine palm shortening with tapioca starch, maple syrup, vanilla extract and pinch of sea salt. Whisk or pulse until combined.**

Coconut Whipped Cream

1. Chill can of coconut cream in the fridge overnight. 
2. Before whipping the cream, chill the bowl of a stand mixer or mixing bowl (if using handheld mixer) for 15-30 minutes in the fridge. 
3. Open can of chilled coconut cream and scrape out the hardened/ thickened cream into your chilled mixing bowl. Discard any remaining liquid or reserve for another use.  
4. To the bowl, add powdered maple sugar, vanilla extract and sea salt.
5. Mix on medium speed for 30-45 seconds until soft peaks form. Do not over mix/whip or the coconut cream can separate. 

Notes

*Canned sweet potato puree has a much higher water content than roasting a sweet potato. Likewise, boiling your sweet potato before pureeing it will also result in a more watery potato. I prefer the roasting method for the thickest texture and sweetest flavor.

** If making this vanilla frosting in advance, store it in the fridge and allow to come to room temperature before whisking it once more before frosting your baked good.

***To make powdered maple or coconut sugar, place at least 1 cup maple or coconut sugar into a high powered blender or Vitamix and blend until a powder-like texture is formed.

• Prep Time: 60 minutes
• Category: Desserts