Use this vegan icing recipe whenever you want a thin glossy glaze and not a thick fluffy frosting like you get from buttercream.  This icing is perfect for drizzling over bundt cakes, cinnamon rolls, and muffins.  You can also use it to glaze donuts, frost brownies, or ice cookies.

A light pink cinnamon vegan icing drizzled over top of a bundt cake.

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🥄 Icing vs Frosting

Icing refers to a sweet glaze that is thin and flat.  It can have a liquid (like lemon juice or milk) or oil (like melted coconut oil, or melted vegan butter) as a base and be flavored any way that you would like.  Icing is thin enough to be drizzled over desserts. 

Frosting refers to a thick and fluffy mixture usually made with softened butter or shortening as a base.  Vegan buttercream frosting is used for piping and decorating layer cakes and cupcakes with a thick coating.

🧾 Ingredients and substitutions

For oil-based icing

  • Refined Coconut Oil – It is important to use refined coconut oil so it doesn’t taste like coconut unless you want that flavor.  If you don’t have coconut oil, you can also use melted vegan butter.  If you want an oil-free glaze, use the recipe for the liquid-based glaze.

Liquid-Based Glaze

  • Vegan Milk or Juice – You can use a small amount of any non-dairy milk like oat milk, soy milk, or almond milk. You can also use orange juice or any fruit juice for the base to achieve a thin sweet vegan icing.

Other ingredients

  • Powdered Sugar – powdered sugar is an essential ingredient for getting a sweet smooth glaze.  For vegan powdered sugar look for organic powdered sugar or make your own by mixing organic cane sugar in your blender until it turns to powder.
  • Flavoring – you can make your vegan icing any flavor that you wish – see variations below.
A top view of vegan lemon poppy seed muffins with lemon icing drizzled on top.

🥄 How to make vegan icing

I have found that different flavors of icing work better with different base ingredients.  For a thicker, richer icing as you may want in chocolate icing, I use coconut oil as a base.  The end result is rich and delicious, fudgy chocolate that is soft, but solid at room temperature.

For fruity-flavored icing like orange or lemon, I like to use the juice of those fruits as a base.  The result is a little lighter and glossier.

🥣 Oil-Based Icing

  1. Melt 1/3 coconut oil in a small bowl or glass measuring cup.  Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and your flavoring of choice and stir well until smooth.
A collage of 4 pictures showing the process of melting coconut oil, and adding powdered sugar and cinnamon to make a vegan icing and pour it over a bundt cake.

🥣 Liquid-Based Icing 

  1. Drizzle 3 teaspoons of juice or vegan milk over 1/2 cup powdered sugar and stir well until a smooth paste is formed.
Vegan icing being poured over a bundt cake.

🌟 Flavor Variations

Cinnamon (Eggnog) Icing

Mix 1/3 cup of melted refined coconut oil with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.  Then add 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and a sprinkle of nutmeg.  This cinnamon icing is perfect for frosting vegan sugar cookies, vegan shortbread cookies, or drizzling over vegan oatmeal cookies.  I also love this icing on my eggnog-flavored vegan bundt cake pictured above.

Chocolate Icing

Mix 1/3 cup of melted refined coconut oil with 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar, and a dash of salt.  This chocolate icing is perfect for pouring over chocolate bundt cakes, vegan brownies, or veggie brownies.

A veggie brownie with vegan chocolate icing on top.

Strawberry Icing

Pulse 3 tablespoons of freeze-dried strawberries in a blender until they become powder and then add them to 1/3 cup of melted refined coconut oil and 1/2 powdered sugar.

Vanilla Icing

Stir together 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with 2 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla-flavored plant-based milk of choice and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.  This is a delicious glaze served over vegan cinnamon rolls.

Lemon Icing

Stir together 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.  You can also add lemon zest to taste.  I love to use this icing on my vegan lemon poppy seed muffins.

Orange Icing

This is made by mixing  1/2 cup of powdered sugar with 2 1/2  teaspoons of orange juice, and 1/2 tsp of orange extract.  This is the orange glaze that I drizzle over my vegan cranberry orange muffins.

A vegan cranberry orange muffin with orange glaze with the muffin wrapper partially taken off.

Vegan Royal Icing

This is a plain flavored sweet colorful icing used to decorate vegan sugar cookies or gingerbread houses.  It is a little thicker than the other types of icing to help it stick to the cookies better.  See the post for full instructions for vegan royal icing.

Vegan sugar cookies cut into hearts and butterflies and decorated with royal icing.

👩🏻‍🍳 Pro Tips

  • You may have to adjust the thickness of the icing.  You want it to be thin enough to pour, yet thick enough to stick to your sweet treats.
  • Don’t add flavor extracts to the oil-based icing.  The liquid will combine with the sugar and cause your icing to be grainy.

🤔 Troubleshooting your icing

If your oil-based icing is too runny, put it in the fridge for a few minutes to thicken, if it’s too firm, pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds.

If your liquid-based icing is too runny, add a small amount of powdered sugar until the desired firmness is achieved, or if it’s too thick, add a tiny bit more liquid.  Very small changes in the liquid will change the texture of the icing.

To make shinier, glossier icing, add a tablespoon of corn syrup or agave nectar to the icing.

If the powdered sugar is clumpy, sift it through a wire mesh strainer to get a smoother icing.

➕ More vegan frosting recipes

🧁 More vegan desserts

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📋 Vegan icing recipe

Pouring vegan icing over a vegan bundt cake.
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5 from 5 rating

Vegan Icing

Yield: 12
Prep: 5 minutes
Total: 5 minutes
Author: Monica Davis
A thin, sweet vegan icing used for decorating and drizzling over top bundt cakes, muffins, and cookies.
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Ingredients

Oil-Based Icing

Liquid-Based Icing

  • 3 teaspoons liquid of choice, vegan milk, lemon juice, or orange juice
  • 1/2 cup vegan powdered sugar
  • flavoring of choice, see the guide below

Instructions
 

For Oil-Based Icing

  • Melt 1/3 coconut oil in a small bowl or glass measuring cup.  Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and your flavoring of choice and stir well until smooth.

For Liquid-Based Icing

  • Drizzle 3 teaspoons of juice or vegan milk over 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and stir well until a smooth paste is formed.

Flavor Choices

  • Eggnog Icing – mix 1/3 cup of melted refined coconut oil with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.  Then add 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and a sprinkle of nutmeg.  This cinnamon icing is perfect for frosting sugar cookies or drizzling over vegan oatmeal cookies.  I also love this icing on my eggnog flavored bundt cake pictured above.
  • Chocolate Icing– mix 1/3 cup of melted refined coconut oil with 3 tbsp of cocoa powder, 3 tbsp powdered sugar, and a dash of salt.  This chocolate icing is perfect for pouring over chocolate bundt cakes or veggie brownies.
  • Strawberry Icing  – pulse 3 tbsp of freeze-dried strawberries in a blender until they become powderized and then add them to 1/3 cup of melted refined coconut oil and 1/2 powdered sugar.
  • Vanilla Icing – stir together 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with 2 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla-flavored plant-based milk of choice and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.  This is a delicious glaze served over vegan cinnamon rolls.
  • Lemon Icing – stir together 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.  You can also add lemon zest to taste.  I love to use this icing on my vegan lemon poppy seed muffins.
  • Orange Icing– this is made by mixing  1/2 cup of powdered sugar with 2 1/2  tsp of orange juice, and 1/2 tsp of orange extract.  This is the orange glaze that I drizzle over my vegan cranberry orange muffins.

Notes

  • You may have to adjust the thickness of the icing.  You want it to be thin enough to pour, yet thick enough to stick to your sweet treats.
  • Don’t add flavor extracts to the oil-based icing.  The liquid will combine with the sugar and cause your icing to be grainy.
  • If your oil-based icing is too runny, put it in the fridge for a few minutes to thicken, if it’s too firm, pop in the microwave for 15 seconds.
  • If your liquid-based icing is too runny, add a small amount of powdered sugar until the desired firmness is achieved, or if it’s too thick, add a tiny bit more liquid.  Very small changes in the liquid will change the texture of the icing.
  • To make a shinier, glossier icing, add a tablespoon of corn syrup or agave nectar to the icing.
  • If the powdered sugar is clumpy, sift it through a wire mesh strainer to get a smoother icing.
Serving: 1tbsp, Calories: 72kcal, Carbohydrates: 5g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Sodium: 1mg, Sugar: 5g
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