A few months ago, Nancy from Cookie-a-thon had asked if I’d ever tried rolled buttercream – I had never tried it, and saw it again on a FB group, so I pulled up Pam Kennedy Bake’s recipe as a starting point. Pam, thanks a bunch for sharing your knowledge with us. I made a few modifications to her recipe to reduce the butter taste (just my preference) and increase pliability for my environment, please see below.
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Equipment
- stand mixer
- rolling pin with guides, dough sheeter or pasta roller (you’ll want to use it on one of the thicker settings)
Ingredients to make Rolled Buttercream
- 2 lbs powdered sugar (sifted)
- 1 stick (4oz) of salted butter, room temp
- 4 oz of vegetable shortening like Criso, room temp
- 4-5 tablespoons corn syrup (her recipe only uses 2 tbsp and my buttercream had trouble staying together)
- 1 tsp white gel color (I always keep a large bottle of chefmaster white on hand because I also use it in my royal icing base)
- 1-2 tsp vanilla extra or other flavor of your choice
Method
- Put everything into a mixing bowl and mix until it forms a dough and pulls away from the edge of the bowl
- Roll to your desired thickness between parchment or plastic (I like 2mm) and adhere to cookies with a but of corn syrup
- You can also adhere to cake or other desserts, use as cupcake toppers, in molds
Notes:
- I find this dries a bit more brittle than fondant, reminds of after dinner mints, and tastes like buttercream.
- This warms up in your hands as you work with it- it’s got high fat content unlike fondant, more like modeling chocolate
- Has a soft bite, and it crusts enough to stack/package and also decorate top with something else like royal, buttercream, chocolate, etc.
- Keep in an airtight container for 2-3 weeks in the fridge or frozen for 3 months
I really hope you try this – it’s another great option to add to your baking arsenal and it could be fun to switch things up! Let me know below if you’ve ever tried rolled buttercream and what you think!
I’m really excited to try this! I’m still working on perfecting my flooding skills and this looks like a fool-proof alternative. Thank you!
I am very eager to try this recipe. I hope the putter edges are no dr
This is awesome thank you for sharing. At what point do you add your food coloring for colored buttercream?
At the very end – I like ot make a bit batch, split it up to color when ready 🙂
How do you color it? Back into the mixer?
I take a bit and color it like fondant by kneading the color into the buttercream.
How many cookies will this cover? I need enough for 40 ,3 inch cookies.
This recipe is so easy to make, and easy to work with. I like this better than royal icing for my sugar cookies.
Is there a chocolate version of the rolled buttercream?
Unsure, I haven’t google but my guess is yes.
I have been wanting a homemade fondant icing recipe for ages. Found this one today and gave it a try. Loved how it rolled out and cut with cookie cutters. Gotta say my cookies look damn professional! Wish I could post a picture.
Can you color this like you do regularly for buttercream
Sure can – I color bits of it like fondant, take a chunk and knead the color in
Thank you so much for sharing all your great information!
Thank you so much for sharing all that information.
If I make more than I need at the time, can this be stored for later use? Will is stay soft enough to roll/mold/color etc for a future use? If so, how should it be stored?
Yes- with plastic wrap tightly covering the rolled buttercream and in an airtight container for about a week in the fridge, let come to room temp before handling again.
I freeze Buttercream frosting, so I wonder if this is also freezable.
I haven’t tried- but you should try to test it out 🙂
Hi you mention using corn starch to attach to cookies, did you mean corn syrup to attach? Also, maybe it was dry because you only used half the liquid of vanilla.
Yes corn syrup, sorry if I misspoke. I did scale the batch down to just try it out but if i ever do this again, I’ll watch for vanilla and see how much of a difference it makes.
Hi there! How far in advance can you put the rolled buttercream on to your cake? Thank you
I don’t do cakes, so I’m not sure – but my guess it depends on humidity and moisture in cake (more moisture, less time)
Hi! Thanks for your recipe. When you say 1 stick of butter, do you mean 8 oz (it says 4)? Also, should it be 8 oz of shortening as well, or 4 oz? Thanks!
Did you ever get an answer on the 2 stick of butter and the 4oz measurement? Is this a half recipie?
I think she meant 8 oz (or 1 stick) of butter. That’s what it looks like in the bowl. and when you go to Pam Kennedy’s recipe that she’s referencing, that recipe says 2 sticks of butter or shortening, or combining them, which is what it looks like she’s doing here as well.
To clarify, a stick of butter if 4 ounces.
It is if you are in the US for the most part but please double heck the packaging.
hi! We don’t have shortening in my country, what can we use as a substitute? Thanks!!!!!
You can usually try lard or coconut oil. You can also try googling some other substitutes for shortening based on what country you’re in to see what other people might be using.
Can you write on the buttercream with edible markers after it is placed on a cookie?
Sure can!
Can you model this like modeling chocolate or fondant? (So make like little 3d mushrooms, etc for the top of a cake?)
Sure can!
Great!! Thank you so much, excited to try this!
Thank you for sharing. Love it..
Can I use the rolled butter cream a month ahead to make flowers for cookies? How would you store them for a month?
You can, let it fully dry and store in an airtight container away from heat and direct sunlight.
Looking to try this out. Does this freeze well? If it does, do you think it would be affected by replacing the shortening with coconut oil? Thanks
I personally haven’t frozen tested it yet. I’m not sure what difference coconut oil would make- but one way to find out 😉
Hello,
I just made this and it tastes delicious but it is really soft. Any recommendations on firming it up? I think I might have whipped it too long. Also, when you say 2 lbs of powdered sugar do you mean before or after sifted? Thank you for all your help.
It should firm up as it dries. 2 lbs bag total – you shouldn’t really have much of a difference after sifting 😉
Hello,
Can this be rolled out using a pasta attachment to a kitchen aid mixer? If so, do you have any tips on how to do so?
Do you have any idea here many 5×5 inch cookies one batch would cover? I am a complete novice with this! Thanks!
Never used the kitchenaid attachment, so I won’t be the right person to answer 🙂
i want to know if you could use sugar free powdered sugar and agave instead of corn syrup? I am diabetic and I try to keep sugar down to little or NONE for me as well as my family. I have tried it in other recipes and it does not always work. Please let me know.
I haven’t personally made these substitutions, so I can’t say, sorry! Chemistry might get thrown off.
Hello, thank you for sharing this.. Is it possible to make this with all butter instead of butter and shortening? And is it possible to use maple syrup instead of corn syrup, I like maple syrup and I dok’t mind its dark colour.
all butter yes, but maple syrup, not sure because it’s water content and chemistry is totally different – try a small batch and see 🙂
Hi Lisa, many thanks for this great recipe!! I was wondering how long I would need to wait to use it on embossers or debossers? Not sure if it would stick?
Great tip about the mini ice pack!! 🙂
Cheers,
Amanda
Hi Amanda, it really depends on the complexity of the embosser design – it could be right away for most if the crevices are properly corn-starched 🙂
Tried this recipe tonight and it was horrible. It breaks and cracks so easily. It taste good, but I cannot use it on my cookies, I was so disappointed.
Wondering if you have ever made a rolled cream cheese frosting – could you replace shortening with cream cheese for a less sweet option? I have a bridal shower where the guests will be decorating cookies for the groom to attemp to select his bride’s creation and looking for alternatives to royal icing that likely wouldn’t set in time to add many details or layers.
I haven’t! I’m mostly a royal icing artist and still prefer that medium over rolled frosting due to ease and familiarity. You can use a fan or dehydrator to speed up the layering in royal icing (search our blog ffor a post on it!)
made this tonight and at first, it seemed really crumbly. I thought perhaps I didn’t put enough butter or crisco in, or both, but I just keep mixing then rolled out between parchment paper. the heat from my hands made it pliable and it turned out great. I imagine you could dry it a little and use RI on top or use gel colors with vodka and paint little pictures on top. Would that work? Thanks for the recipe!
Yes, this should work, but only one way to find out 😉
I can do intricate molds by placing the filled molds in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes. Then they just pop out. Oh, and dust the molds with a wee bit of cornstarch first.
But I do like the idea of using an ice pack at the work station.