Chocolate Brownie Icing

Name: Chocolate Brownie Icing
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1 cup powdered sugar; 3 tablespoons dark cocoa powder; 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder, optional; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 3-5 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk, milk, or water

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This 5-ingredient brownie icing recipe is rich and chocolatey, and so easy to make. It stirs together in just minutes for a thick and glossy glaze. The perfect finishing touch for your favorite homemade brownie recipes or to dress up a boxed brownie mix.

You’re going to love this

Rich and chocolatey. Dark cocoa powder and espresso powder team up to create deep, intense flavors in this delicious frosting.

Easy brownie frosting recipe. This is an easy scratch recipe for one-bowl frosting you can stir together in minutes.

Very versatile. This chocolate icing isn’t just for brownies. It's also the perfect frosting for coffee cakes, pound cakes, red velvet desserts, cookies, and doughnuts.

Drizzle or spread. Make your brownie icing as thick or thin as you want by using more or less liquid so you can drizzle it over your homemade brownies, or spread it on thick.

The BEST frosting for Triple Chocolate Brownies. Fudgy brownies loaded with cocoa, dark chocolate, and white chocolate chips -- a classic chocolate brownie made even better with this decadent brownie icing recipe. Turn it into the perfect dessert by serving it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients

This brownie icing recipe comes together with very simple ingredients.

Dark cocoa powder. Dark cocoa powder makes this chocolate frosting intensely dark and chocolatey.

Espresso powder. Espresso powder gives chocolate a chocolatier flavor. It's kind of a secret ingredient ;).

Substitutions

Dark cocoa powder. You can substitute regular unsweetened cocoa powder for dark cocoa powder. It just won't have that dark chocolate color or rich, deep chocolate flavor.

Espresso powder. Espresso powder is optional, so no worries if you don't have it. But if you’d like to add coffee flavor, you can substitute the milk with strong coffee. You can also use instant coffee crystals, but the flavor will be a bit muted.

Unsweetened almond milk. You can use water, coffee, whole milk, skim milk -- whatever you have.

Instructions

Step 1

Combine powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and espresso powder in a medium bowl. Stir to remove any lumps. You can also sift them together.

Step 2

Add the vanilla extract, then the almond milk. Start with 2 tablespoons of milk and add more, a little bit at a time, until it reaches your desired consistency.

Step 3

Frost your cooled pan of brownies with this delicious chocolate icing recipe. It will harden as it sets.

This recipe makes enough creamy chocolate glaze to frost an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 pan of brownies. Double the recipe for a 9 x 13 pan of brownies.

cut chocolate frosted brownies with a bite taken out of a brownie in the foreground

Storage

Chocolate icing can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To make it spreadable again, bring it to room temperature or place it in the microwave for a couple of seconds and stir.

mason jar with chocolate icing on a brown cutting board

Expert Tips

Sift or stir the dry ingredients together before adding the wet ingredients to get rid of lumps.

Add the milk a little bit at a time. It doesn’t take much to go from not enough to too much.

Is your brownie Icing too thin? If you add too much milk and your chocolate glaze is too thin, just add more powdered sugar until you reach the right consistency.

Recipe FAQs

How do I make icing with powdered sugar?

Powdered sugar icing is really easy to make with powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. Add cocoa powder and a little espresso powder to make chocolate brownie icing.

Does powdered sugar glaze harden?

Powdered sugar glaze will firm up as it sets, typically in about 30 minutes. The top of the frosting will have a smooth, matte finish.

How long should I wait to frost brownies?

It can be a challenge to spread chocolate icing over warm brownies. Let the brownies cool completely before frosting them. This usually takes about two hours.

How do you store brownies with frosting?

Chocolate brownies with powdered sugar glaze can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.

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