This easy matcha green tea buttercream is light, creamy and full of delicious matcha flavour. It also has a hint of vanilla like a matcha latte in buttercream form!
Jump to:
✏️ Why you'll love this recipe
This recipe makes a vibrant green buttercream, so it’s great for a St. Paddy’s Day, Halloween or Christmas theme on your festive treats.
Matcha frosting is perfect for filling and icing your cakes and cupcakes (like my best matcha cupcakes), giving them a delicious green tea twist. It's perfect as a macaron filling too!
This easy matcha buttercream is based on my classic American-style buttercream, making it a simple frosting recipe full of rich matcha flavour.
As a self-confessed matcha addict, using this frosting to add matcha flavour to my baked goods is so dreamy!
🥘 Ingredients
This matcha buttercream frosting recipe calls for the following ingredients:
- Unsalted butter: room temperature for softened butter that’s easier to beat.
- Powdered icing sugar: sieve your confectioners’ sugar for a smooth frosting.
- Matcha powder: use high-quality culinary or ceremonial grade for a vibrant green colour and the best taste. Sieve for smooth silky frosting.
- Vanilla extract: use extract or paste instead of essence for a purer vanilla taste.
- Milk: full-fat or semi-skimmed.
- Salt (optional)
See the recipe card for quantities.
Top tip: For accuracy, it’s best to weigh your ingredients rather than using cups.
♻️ Substitutions / Variations
Ingredient alternatives
This matcha frosting recipe calls for semi-skimmed or whole milk. For an even more delicious creamy buttercream, you can instead swap the milk for heavy cream. Add a few extra tablespoon of cream to get a spreadable but thick consistency.
I like my frosting to be low in salt, so usually add an optional ⅛ teaspoon of salt.
Vegan option
To make vegan matcha buttercream frosting, i.e. dairy-free, you can swap the butter for a dairy-free baking block alternative. Use the solid kind rather than a liquid.
You can also swap the milk for a dairy-free alternative, such as almond milk or coconut milk.
If you’re baking for vegans, be sure to then use your vegan frosting on a vegan cupcake or cake too!
📖 Method
- Beat the butter (either by hand, using an electric mixer or stand mixer) until pale, light and fluffy. This could take several minutes.
- Sieve half of the icing sugar into the butter and beat until combined, then repeat with the remaining half of the icing sugar and the matcha powder.
- Add in the milk, vanilla extract and salt (if using), mixing until only just smooth.
- Frost your cupcakes, cakes, brownies, etc. and enjoy!
💭 Top tips
- For creamy and airy matcha buttercream, beat your butter until it’s pale, light and fluffy first. This could take several minutes with an electric mixer.
- If your matcha icing is too thick to pipe, then you can add more milk (½ tablespoon at a time) to thin the frosting until you get the desired consistency.
- If your matcha frosting is too thin, you can try chilling it in the fridge for 15-20mins before use. Alternatively, you can beat in a few more tablespoons of butter to thicken it.
🎂 Frosting uses
You can use this matcha buttercream recipe to frost your cupcakes or cakes. This recipe makes enough to frost 10 cupcakes (regular size).
To frost a 3-layer 6-inch cake, between the layers and covering the top and sides, you'll need to double this recipe (scale up by x2). Or to frost a 3-layer 8-inch cake this way you'll need to triple this recipe (scale up by x3).
I love this green tea buttercream swirled on chocolate cupcakes. Dust over some cocoa powder or green tea powder to decorate and you’ll get a cute and easy chocolate matcha cupcake. It’s also especially tasty to frost lemon, vanilla or white chocolate cakes and cupcakes.
I also love making frosted blondies or matcha brownies using matcha buttercream too!
For something a bit different, you can use this frosting between two cookies to make filled sandwich cookies. This would be a delicious matcha filling for a black sesame shortbread. You can even roll them in toasted black sesame seeds for the ultimate black sesame and matcha combo!
Decorating
You can frost your baked goods with this buttercream by simply spreading the frosting with an offset spatula or knife.
Alternatively, you can pipe your buttercream using a piping bag and piping nozzle of your choice. When I frost cakes and cupcakes, I usually use the nozzles from this large piping tips set.
❔ Recipe FAQs
Your matcha buttercream should last for up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
Yes! You can freeze your matcha buttercream in an airtight container. Defrost and re-beat before use.
Matcha is a fine powder made from the same plant as green tea. It is specially grown and processed from green tea leaves.
Yes! When baking with matcha powder, be sure to use culinary grade (food grade) at a minimum, or ceremonial grade matcha powder for a more vibrant colour.
Matcha powder adds a delicious green tea flavour to your baked goods and will add a beautiful green too.
Matcha has a slightly bitter natural flavour, which makes it amazing when you have it in a matcha latte with some vanilla syrup (my personal Starbucks favourite). It’s even better used in desserts and sweet treats. The earthy green tea flavour is balanced beautifully by sweet flavours.
As it’s a very strong flavour, you don’t need much matcha green tea powder to flavour your baked goods.
Matcha has a slightly bitter natural flavour, earthy and similar to green tea. It has a distinctive flavour and a strong green colour.
If your matcha frosting is too thin, you can try chilling it in the fridge for 10-20mins before use. Alternatively, you can beat in a few more tablespoons of butter to thicken it.
If your matcha frosting is too thick to spread easily, then you can stir some more coconut milk or coconut cream (½ tablespoon at a time) to thin the consistency.
To make your buttercream green, add a few teaspoon of matcha powder for a natural green colour.
Yes, this matcha buttercream recipe is gluten-free.
🧁 Other goodies
Turn these delicious cakes into matcha buttercream cakes:
My favourite matcha dessert ideas:
- Matcha white chocolate cake
- Matcha buttercream cupcakes
- Matcha Oreo cheesecake
- Matcha white chocolate cookies
- Black sesame shortbread with a matcha chocolate dip
- Easy 3-ingredient matcha fudge
- Fudgy matcha brownies
Plus, check out this collection of the best matcha dessert recipes.
For more great buttercream ideas, take a look at this purple ube buttercream or raspberry buttercream recipe.
Other Related Recipes:
Looking forward to some new recipes? Check out my Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest pages for a few sneak peeks and some sweet inspiration!
Or if you’d like to hear about our latest recipes, why not subscribe to our newsletter?
📋 Recipe
Matcha Green Tea Buttercream
Rate this recipe here:
Ingredients
- 125 g (⅔ cups) unsalted butter room temp.
- 300 g (2 ½ cups) powdered icing sugar
- 4 teaspoon matcha green tea powder
- 1-2 tablespoon milk whole or semi-skimmed
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt optional
Instructions
- Beat the butter (either by hand, using an electric mixer or stand mixer) until pale, light and fluffy. This could take several minutes.
- Sieve half of the icing sugar into the butter and beat until combined, then repeat with the remaining half of icing sugar and the matcha powder.
- Add in the milk, vanilla extract and salt (if using), mixing until only just smooth.
- Frost your cupcakes, cakes, brownies, etc. and enjoy!
Notes
- This recipe makes enough frosting for roughly 10-12 cupcakes, or to frost a single-layer 8-inch cake.
- Scale up the recipe by x2 to fill and frost a 2-layer, 8-inch cake generously.
- Use softened room-temperature butter for ease of mixing.
- For creamy frosting, beat your butter until it’s pale, light and fluffy first. This could take several minutes with an electric mixer.
- Sieve your powdered icing sugar and matcha powder for a smooth frosting.
- You can swap the milk for any type of milk or cream for a richer frosting.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate based on an online nutritional calculator, actual values may vary.
leena
Wow! these look incredible and they sound fantastic. I'll definitely be trying these out!
Sweet Mouth Joy
Thanks Leena! Happy baking