Homemade Rainbow Chip Frosting

Not sure if you’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing the tub of miracles otherwise known as rainbow chip frosting. It’s a tangy-sweet, but mostly sweet, vanilla frosting that has soft and colorful chips swirled inside. If unicorns and leprechauns owned a bakery together, rainbow chip frosting is what they would sell.

But in real life, it’s sold in the baking aisle. I understand some of you may completely despise rainbow chip frosting and if you are one of those people, come back on Wednesday when I share a brownie cookie brownie chocolate chip pie concoction I whipped up recently. But, then again, maybe you won’t despise the homemade version which– and I may be biased here– tastes 1,098x better than the canned version.

Then there are the rainbow chip frosting lovers. Those who completely understand the tub of miracles I awkwardly typed up there and are currently nodding their heads in agreement. Rainbow chip frosting is the best frosting in the history of store-bought frosting and my heart broke a little lot the day they discontinued it. They’ve since put it back on shelves and I believe there was even a petition for its restock. I swear I wasn’t the frosting guru who initiated the rainbow chip frosting petition, but the hat would certainly fit.

Let me just say something real quick though: I don’t use canned frosting. I think vanilla canned frosting is cloyingly sweet and it always leaves a film on my teeth. I can actually feel them rotting away. Chocolate’s pretty tasty, but the one exception I have is the rainbow chip. It’s sweet as ever, but those rainbow chips?! MAN! They bring me back to childhood. So much respect, rainbow chip. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

But let’s try making our own at home! We never know when it might go missing from the shelves again. And by making our own rainbow chip frosting at home, we can have a lifetime supply. (I believe we are all in serious, serious trouble.)

The actual rainbow chips is where I began. There I was with the store-bought rainbow chip frosting, taking notes about these mysterious little rainbow chips. They aren’t sprinkles. They aren’t chocolate. They aren’t hard or crunchy. They’re soft. Very very soft. And sweet. Almost creamy. One thing came to mind: real white chocolate. Colorful white chocolate.

So you’ll melt white chocolate, then you’ll color it. It may look like your children’s science project, but ignore all that for a second because soon you’ll be eating rainbow chip frosting. I only used 2 drops of food coloring per bowl. You can use any color you like, but stick with just 4 because you won’t have enough white chocolate for more. If you use a ton of liquid food coloring, your white chocolate will seize up. So stick to just a couple drops or you can use gel food coloring or even a little powder. Colorful candy melts are another direction you could sway, but you want that taste of real white chocolate. It does make a difference!

Spread the colors out onto a silicone baking mat or parchment paper, refrigerate for about 15 minutes until solid, then cut into little tiny pieces. That’s all! Took about 25 minutes to make the little suckers. I got the idea from Not Without Salt.

And now the actual frosting! Rainbow chip is an unbelievably and unmatchably creamy and soft frosting and the only way to get that exact texture is to throw in a little cream cheese. But this most certainly is not a cream cheese frosting. It’s a buttery vanilla variety, with a touch of cream cheese.

It tastes exactly like the real thing, only creamier. Very sweet, but not as eye-watering tooth-aching sweet as the store-bought variety. Reminds you of childhood. Perfect for birthday cakes. Oh! And pictured here is my yellow sheet cake baked in a 9×13 pan. Takes 40 minutes in that size pan if you want to try it yourself.

Would also be perfect on homemade marble cake too!

A recipe of miracles!

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Homemade Rainbow Chip Frosting

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  Author: Sally


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  Prep Time: 35 minutes


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  Cook Time: 0 minutes


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  Total Time: 35 minutes


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  Yield: 2 and 1/2 cups


• 
  Category: Frosting


• 
  Method: No Bake


• 
  Cuisine: American

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Description

Homemade sweet and creamy rainbow chip frosting tastes even better than the real deal!

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Ingredients

• 6 ounces (170g) pure white chocolate, coarsely chopped*


• food coloring: red, green, yellow, blue


• 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks or 172g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature


• 6 ounces (170g) brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature


• 3 and 1/2 cups (420g) confectioners’ sugar


• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract


• salt, to taste

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Instructions

1. Melt the white chocolate. Use a double boiler or microwave. If using the microwave, stop and stir the white chocolate every 20 seconds to help avoid seizing. Pour the white chocolate into 4 small bowls and stir in 2-3 drops of coloring to each. Don’t use too much food coloring, as your white chocolate will seize up. Spread chocolate out onto a silicone baking mat (recommended) or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. You’ll have 4 rectangles. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.


2. Meanwhile, get started on the frosting base. In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, beating on low at first then increasing to high speed. Once incorporated, add the next cup. Once creamy and combined, beat in vanilla extract. Taste. Add a pinch of salt if you’d like. Set aside for a moment.


3. Remove white chocolate from the refrigerator. The rectangles should peel easily off the silicone baking mat. Chop up into tiny squares or pieces. Fold a big handful of chips into the frosting using a rubber spatula. Add more if desired. You’ll have a few chips leftover. (Would be great for decorating the top of the cake/cupcakes/whatever you’re making!)


4. Store any leftover frosting or chips in the refrigerator.

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Notes

1. Make Ahead Instructions: You can make this frosting 1 day before you need it. Keep it covered tightly in the refrigerator until ready to use.


2. White Chocolate: I recommend Baker’s or Ghirardelli brands. They’re sold in bars in the baking aisle, typically right next to the chocolate chips.


3. Adapted from Not Without Salt.

Keywords: rainbow chip frosting

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Here’s the yellow sheet cake I frosted with the homemade rainbow chip frosting. Again, in a 9×13 pan for about 40 minutes. It’s buttery and fluffy underneath that creamy rainbow frosting!

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