The Chocolate Ganache Frosting is a simple three-ingredient recipe that results in a smooth, rich topping perfect for piping onto cookies. This easy and versatile frosting is an excellent way to enhance any cookie, turning it into an impressive fancy bakery style treat.
Do you ever bite into a cookie and think, “This cookie is just missing something?” Sometimes, it’s a dusting of powdered sugar, or perhaps a layer of sprinkles. But for me, there’s one addition that makes any cookie truly complete: a rich layer of Chocolate Ganache Frosting.
This Chocolate Ganache Frosting was inspired by the recipe for CRUMBL’s Chocolate Cupcake cookies, one of my top picks whenever they’re available. Once I recreated the frosting at home, I found myself reaching for it again and again – not just for the CRUMBL cookies, but for other favorites too, like my classic cut-out sugar cookies and the irresistible double chocolate pudding cookies. It’s the perfect rich, chocolatey, creamy addition to any cookie in need of an upgrade.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Beginner-Friendly: This is a recipe that doesn’t require a culinary degree. Even if you’re new to baking, you can whip up this frosting with no problem. There are no complicated techniques or special equipment necessary.
- Unique Topping: Sugar or icing is standard, sure, but Chocolate Ganache Frosting? Now, that’s sure to make your cookies stand out on any occasion.
- Incredible Consistency: It’s thick enough to stay where you put it, but still smooth enough to pipe beautifully on any cookie. Plus, it sets wonderfully, giving your cookies a sleek, professional appearance.
Key Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to create this scrumptious frosting:
- Semi-Sweet Baking Bars: This is what gives your frosting its awesome chocolate flavor. You’ll need to chop it up finely. Feel free to substitute it with chocolate chips, milk chocolate, white chocolate, or even butterscotch chips.
- Heavy Cream: This makes your frosting creamy and smooth. If you don’t have heavy cream or heavy whipping cream, you can use half and half.
- Light Corn Syrup: This makes your frosting shiny and helps it set up just right.
Complete list of ingredients with quantities and instructions is located in the recipe card below
How To Make Chocolate Ganache Frosting
- Put the finely chopped chocolate in a big bowl that can handle heat.
- In a small pot, mix the heavy cream and corn syrup. Heat it up slowly, stirring now and then until it starts to simmer.
- As soon as it simmers, pour it over the chocolate. Wait for about 5 minutes.
- Then, stir it all together until it’s smooth. This might take a little while, but keep going until it’s totally mixed.
- Let it cool down until it’s solid but still squeezable, kind of like toothpaste. This will take a while. Stir it every so often to help it cool down faster.
- Once it’s ready, put it in a pastry bag with an open star tip. Pipe it onto your cookies, but not all the way to the edge—you want to still see some of the cookie.
Recipe Tips
- Chop the Chocolate Small: The smaller the pieces, the easier they’ll melt.
- Watch the Cream: Don’t let the cream and corn syrup mix boil—once it simmers, it’s ready.
- Stir, Stir, Stir: Keep stirring the mixture until it’s totally smooth. Patience is key here!
Storing
Now, what if you make a lot and have leftovers, or want to make it ahead? No problem. Keep the frosting in an airtight container in the fridge. When you’re ready to use it, if it’s too hard to squeeze, warm it up a little in the microwave—about 15-30 seconds should do it.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can do milk chocolate, butterscotch chips, or white chocolate to make fun variations of this ganache frosting.
Ganache can split if the cream is too hot when poured onto the chocolate or if it’s mixed too vigorously. If your ganache splits, try whisking in a few tablespoons of warm milk until the mixture comes back together.
Grainy ganache usually happens when the chocolate burns or seizes. This can happen if the cream is too hot when it’s added to the chocolate. To fix grainy ganache, try pushing it through a fine-mesh sieve, or blending it with an immersion blender.
Yes, you can use white chocolate to make ganache frosting. However, it’s important to note that white chocolate is much sweeter and has a different flavor profile compared to semi-sweet chocolate.
Make sure to check out some of my other frostings and icings, like Chocolate Buttercream Frosting for Cookies, Cream Cheese Frosting for Cookies, Buttercream Frosting for Cookies, Maple Glaze, and Royal Icing. If you want to explore more, here is a link to all my frostings and icings.
It’s time to take your cookies to the next level with this Chocolate Ganache Frosting! I hope that you love this recipe as much as I do. After you’ve tried it, don’t forget to rate and leave a review in the comments box below, and pin the recipe on Pinterest for others to enjoy too!
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
Ingredients
- 16 ounces semi-sweet baking bars finely chopped
- 14 ounces heavy cream (double cream in the UK)
- ¼ cup light corn syrup
Instructions
- Place the chopped chocolate into a large heat-proof bowl.
- Add the heavy cream and corn syrup to a small saucepot and bring it to a simmer, stirring occasionally. As soon as it starts to simmer, pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for 5 minutes then whisk it all together until smooth, it will take a while to fully come together.
- Let this come to room temperature until solid but pipeable, this will take a while so I suggest whisking it every few minutes to help cool it down faster. To speed up even more you can place it in the fridge and whisk it again every few minutes. Just be sure it does not become too cold and hard that is no longer pipeable.
- Place the pipeable ganache into a pastry bag with an open star tip. Pipe rosettes on top of each cookie, but do not go all the way to the edge, we want to still see some of the cookie along the outside.
Notes
- I add corn syrup to the ganache to keep it glossy, if you don’t have or don’t want to use corn syrup just sub another ¼ cup of heavy cream.
- Be patient while whisking the mixture until it is fully blended together.
- Make sure the ganache doesn’t get too cold and hard in the fridge, it should remain pipeable.
- Store any leftover ganache in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Warm it slightly to make it pipeable again.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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