Store-Bought Frosting Isn't Just For Cake. Here Are 11 More Ways To Use It

So, you have extra store-bought frosting. Whether you prefer chocolate frosting, vanilla, or something in between, it's an easy way to decorate a cake without having to put in a ton of effort to make the frosting yourself. But if you have leftovers after making a cake, you may wonder what to do with the container. As much as we endorse simply eating some off a spoon, most of us can't handle so much intense and grainy sweetness for more than a few spoonfuls.

Don't worry — you don't have to throw those extras in the trash. There are a ton of different ways to use store-bought frosting beyond layering it onto a cake. In fact, once you try out a few of these ideas for yourself, you might start buying frosting just to make these special sweet treats. We hope you have a serious sweet tooth, because you're going to need it to give all of these ideas a try.

Sure, you should try to aim for a nutritionally complete breakfast most mornings if you want to feel your best. That being said, there's absolutely a time and a place to indulge for your first meal of the day, whether that's on your birthday, a holiday, or the first morning of a vacation. When you're looking for a breakfast treat that's a little sweeter than normal, try layering store-bought frosting onto your pancakes. It brings moisture that pancakes need to prevent them from being too dry, and it adds another layer of sweetness to the dish, making them even more decadent than your standard pancake recipe.

You can use basically any kind of frosting for this treat. Opt for buttercream if you're primarily looking for rich creaminess without a super strong flavor profile, or try strawberry frosting if you want to give your pancakes a fruity twist. To make things even more fun and colorful, add sprinkles to your pancakes, too.

All too often, people let store-bought frosting go bad simply because they can't find a way to use it before it gets too hard and loses its spreadability. They think they actually have to bake something from scratch in order to use the frosting, and that can be a bit too much work when you're leading a busy lifestyle. Luckily, though, you don't have to bake at all to find a use for store-bought frosting. If you're looking for the easiest possible way to use up that jar, consider spreading it onto some graham crackers for a sweet and crunchy snack.

Graham crackers are somewhat sweet on their own, but they're usually not overwhelmingly sugary, which means that the addition of super-sweet frosting enhances them instead of making them cloying. And if you're too lazy to even snag yourself a knife to spread the frosting, you can always dip the graham crackers directly into the jar for one of the quickest sweet snack hacks you've ever tried.

Let's be honest: Sometimes, store-bought frosting doesn't taste as good as the freshly made stuff. It's convenient, which is why it's often a popular option, but it's always a bummer when you open up the container and realize that it doesn't taste quite like you thought it would. Before you throw it out, though, you should know that there are ways to enhance the flavor of store-bought frosting fast. One of the easiest is stirring some bourbon into a tub of frosting to cut down on its sweetness while also giving it more of a whipped, easily spreadable texture. You can then spread this frosting onto a variety of baked treats, like cookies, brownies, or even croissants.

Bourbon works well because it features nice baking spice notes that work well with sweet flavors. However, you can use other types of booze as well. Spiced rum can be a nice addition to store-bought frosting, especially if you use a fruity, flavored version. Alternatively, sweet types of booze like Kahlúa and Baileys can also be fun, flavorful additions to your frosting.

When you think about uses for store-bought frosting, sweet dessert recipes probably come to mind first. After all, frosting is usually very sweet, so you might not think to pair it with savory ingredients. But what if we told you that store-bought frosting could make an interesting glaze for pork belly? Pork belly is often prepared with sweet glazes, sometimes made with honey or fruit, so it only makes sense that it could also work with other sweet ingredients, like frosting.

It's actually not that difficult to do. You'll want to cook your pork belly like you normally would, seasoning it simply with salt, pepper, and other savory seasonings of your choosing. Then, before you finish cooking it, glaze it with that frosting you have on hand. Ideally, you'll want to work with simpler flavor profiles, like vanilla (chocolate, for instance, may not work well here). It's not the most conventional way to prepare pork belly, but once you get a taste of that sticky-sweet glaze, you may make this your go-to pork belly recipe.

When you're craving a creamy, chocolatey dessert, there's nothing like fudge. It's super rich, and it has an intense sweetness that's hard not to love. While there's a lot of amazing fudge out there that you can buy at sweets and specialty stores, it's actually surprisingly easy to make at home. Most recipes call for a simple list of ingredients that generally include chocolate and sweetened condensed milk. But you may not have realized that you can actually make your own homemade fudge using store-bought frosting.

The best part about making fudge this way is the fact that you really only need two ingredients. Start with chocolate frosting for that intense sweetness that would normally come from the sweetened condensed milk. Then, combine that with melted chocolate — chocolate chips usually melt easily, making them a solid contender for this homemade treat. Once you see how easy it is to make fudge at home, you might never want to buy it pre-made again.

There are times when you may want to try to make some sort of coherent dish out of your store-bought frosting, and there are other times when you might want to go all-out with an unhinged snack. This idea definitely falls into the second category, but it's still one of our favorites. If you're a fan of sweet and salty flavors mixing and mingling in one dish, then you'll love the idea of pairing salty snacks with your favorite type of frosting.

The possibilities here are basically endless — there are so many different salty snacks that can make a delicious accompaniment to sweet frosting. Chips are a top choice, but make sure you're using thick,  substantial chips that can hold up to the consistency of standard frosting. Spicy snacks can be fun too. Try Takis, Flamin' Hot Cheetos, or another type of carb-heavy, crunchy, and spicy snack. Even Corn Nuts can be a fun indulgence. Just don't let convention hold you back when you're pairing salty snacks with sweet store-bought frosting.

Pretzels are delicious on their own, but sometimes, they need a little something extra to make them more interesting. That's where store-bought frosting can come into play. This is another idea for all of the sweet and salty lovers out there: Try dipping your pretzels in frosting. It's definitely one of the easier ways to use store-bought frosting, and it makes for a super fun snack. You'll get to enjoy the sweetness of frosting with the saltiness of the pretzels, all with a fun, bold crunch.

You can use basically any type of frosting for this snack, but we think that pretzel rods are your best bet. That's because they're a lot thicker than other types of pretzels and can therefore stand up to the thickness of the frosting itself. You don't have to stop with just frosting, either. If you want to make a more visually appealing snack, try adding other toppings as well. Small candies, toasted coconut, crushed nuts, and sprinkles can all make for fun additions, and they'll add an extra layer of flavor to the snack. Serve them at your kid's birthday party, or eat them straight out of the pantry — either way, you're in for a serious treat.

If you have a Ninja CREAMi, then you're in luck. This tool can seemingly turn just about anything into ice cream, including store-bought frosting. Not only does this ice cream turn out super rich and sweet, but it also has an excellent, creamy texture to boot. And the best part is that you only need three ingredients to pull it off. These include the frosting itself, of course, along with milk and heavy cream. However, remember that you need to get the ratios right if you want it to turn out. This is because the high sugar content in frosting can make it difficult for the mixture to freeze if you use too much.

You can use any flavor frosting you want when you're making frosting ice cream in your Ninja CREAMi. Chocolate is an obvious first choice, but if you don't like chocolate (or you're looking for a dessert that's not quite as rich), you can always use vanilla, strawberry, or another flavor of your choosing instead.

Sure, traditional frosting can be a solid topping for your favorite desserts if you're looking to add sweetness and creaminess to the dish, but let's be honest: It's not quite as elegant as a good glaze. When you see cupcakes, cookies, or brownies decorated with frosting, you might think the effect looks cute, but you probably don't think it looks particularly sophisticated. A glaze, on the other hand, has the power to make a dessert look much more dressed up, which is why so many home bakers like to add glazes to their desserts.

If you want to switch out the classic frosting for a glaze, though, you don't have to start from scratch. That's because you can actually make your own glaze from store-bought frosting in a few easy steps. All you really need to do is microwave the frosting, which will thin it out and make it easier to pour. Then, pour it over whatever dessert you're decorating (we think this glaze can be especially fun on brownies, for instance), and you'll see that its drippy consistency makes for the perfect subtle topping.

When you're looking for a lighter dessert, fruit almost always does the trick. It has just the right amount of sweetness, and its juiciness also gives it a thirst-quenching quality that's especially delicious when it's warm outside. But if you're looking for something that tastes slightly more decadent than a plain piece of fruit, make a sweet fruit dip. Sure, you can make one using yogurt or Cool Whip, but when you want one that's infused with even more sweetness, try making it with store-bought frosting and softened cream cheese.

When these two ingredients come together, the resulting mixture becomes surprisingly dippable. The cream cheese cuts the intense sweetness of the frosting (which is ideal if you're using it as a dip for other sweet ingredients, like fruit) while also reducing the frosting's graininess and giving it a smoother texture in the process. Once you try this simple dip combo, you'll never want to buy a store-bought fruit dip ever again.

Of course, you don't have to indulge in a full-blown dessert just to enjoy the sweet flavor of frosting every now and then. In fact, one of the best ways to use store-bought frosting is to use it to create a sweet rim for your sparkling wine. This is great for those who don't have a super intense sweet tooth but still love a sweet drink, or for home bartenders who want to add a fun addition to their drink. You basically have to dip the rim of your champagne glass in the frosting, then pour in your drink. To make it look even more festive, consider dipping the rim in sprinkles after the frosting. The frosting makes it easy for those sprinkles to stick.

If you are going to enjoy your sparkling wine this way, we suggest using a relatively inexpensive bottle of bubbly. As much as we love Champagne, it tends to be quite pricey, and with the addition of that sugary rim, you won't be able to taste those nuanced flavors much anyway. Therefore, it's a good idea to save yourself some money and opt for a more affordable option, like Prosecco or Cava, instead.