This classic Cream Cheese Frosting is creamy, tangy and super addicting. It has just the right amount of sweetness to compliment but not overpower the flavor of cakes and cupcakes without being cloyingly sweet. I guarantee you’ll want to eat it by the spoonful!
Do your eyes bulge out when you see a cream cheese frosting recipe that calls for 4 – 6 cups of powdered sugar? If this is you, I got your back with this not too sweet cream cheese frosting.
My go to recipe only uses 1 ¼ cup of powdered sugar. It is super easy to make, and is enough for a dozen cupcakes even if you’re a generous froster. Give it a try and never go back to scraping off frosting from your cupcakes ever again!
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- As I mentioned before, this homemade cream cheese frosting recipe only uses 1 ¼ cup of powdered sugar, significantly less than many other typical recipes you might find out there.
- It requires only 4 ingredients and just 10 minutes of your time to whip together.
- It is super versatile and can be used on so many desserts like carrot cake, red velvet cupcakes, cookies and even cinnamon rolls.
- I’ve been making this cream cheese frosting recipe for years, so it is tried, true and tested! It is the best cream cheese frosting you will ever make.
Ingredients and substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
- Cream cheese – for the best cream cheese frosting, use full fat brick cream cheese. I don’t recommend substituting light cream cheese or whipped cream cheese here.
- Butter – use unsalted butter, don’t substitute salted butter because it will make your frosting very salty, especially because this recipe has a low amount of sugar. I have done this before by mistake and it was not delicious.
- Powdered sugar – icing sugar or confectioners’ sugar is used here. Don’t try to substitute granulated sugar since the measurement will be completely different and you most likely will end up with grainy frosting. Even if you try to make your own powdered sugar by grinding granulated sugar with cornstarch, I don’t think you will be able to achieve the super fine texture of store bought powdered sugar.
- Vanilla – use pure vanilla extract, vanilla bean or vanilla bean paste here for the best flavor. Don’t use artificial vanilla flavoring.
How to make cream cheese frosting
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
First, allow your cream cheese and butter to soften at room temperature, but not melted. Add the softened butter, cream cheese and vanilla to a stand mixer bowl. Beat with the whisk attachment until thoroughly incorporated and smooth.
Second, add powdered sugar to the bowl. Stir to mix at first, then slowly increase speed to beat until all the sugar is incorporated and the frosting is creamy and fluffy. That’s it!
Troubleshooting common problems
Runny frosting
Frosting with lower sugar content can turn out very soft, especially in warmer weather. I found that when I made this recipe with an equal amount of cream cheese and butter, the frosting turned out softer and runnier. But it can harden up with a little refrigeration and can still be pipeable.
This recipe calls for 2 parts cream cheese and 1 part butter, which I found to be the perfect ratio to get a pipeable frosting right away without having to refrigerate before piping.
Make sure your butter is at room temperature, it should give a little when pressed but it should not be too soft or melted. If it is a warm day and your butter seems almost melted, it could contribute to a runnier frosting. Again, you can fix it with a little bit of refrigeration once the frosting is made.
Use liquid flavoring like extracts or juices sparingly. If you want to flavor the frosting, it’s better to use citrus zest, ground spices or ground freeze-dried fruits to avoid adding too much liquid to the frosting.
Except for cinnamon rolls, you want to make sure all your cakes and cupcakes are completely cool before adding frosting on top, or your frosting will cry and melt off the surface of the cakes.
Over beaten frosting
If your frosting is runny because it has been over beaten, and refrigeration doesn’t do the trick. You may need to fold in more powdered sugar to stiffen it up but you risk making the frosting too sweet. A couple other ideas are:
- Adding a starch like corn starch or tapioca flour to thicken the frosting. However, too much can alter the flavor of your frosting.
- Change the flavor of your frosting by adding cocoa powder or ground freeze-dried fruits which should also thicken your frosting.
If nothing works, you will need to start over.
More baker’s tips
- Soften your ingredients but don’t let them melt – cream cheese and butter need to be at room temperature so they can be beaten and incorporated easily. But make sure they are not overly warm or melted, or your frosting will end up too soft.
- Don’t overbeat – this frosting doesn’t need to be beaten for a long time, the powdered sugar should incorporate fairly quickly and the frosting will be creamy in just a few minutes.
- Refrigerate to avoid a meltdown – due to the nature of this not too sweet cream cheese frosting, it softens quickly at room temperature. So keep your cake refrigerated until just before you are ready to serve, especially in the middle of summer.
- How much cake can this recipe cover – this recipe is enough to frost a dozen cupcakes if you want your frosting piled high or up to 18 cupcakes. You can also frost a 2-layer 6” cake generously or a 2-layer 8” cake naked style.
Variations
- Add citrus zest for a refreshing flavor, like in these Lemon Cupcakes – a little lemon zest and lemon extract add some zing to the classic version.
- Use ground freeze-dried fruits to add fruity flavor and color like raspberry, blueberry and strawberry like in this Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting which goes perfectly with these Strawberry Cupcakes.
- For chocolate creamy cheese frosting, add cocoa powder or fold in melted chocolate.
- Add instant espresso powder for the coffee lover.
- Add spices like cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, apple pie spice for warm Fall flavor. Spiced cream cheese frosting can pair well with pumpkin cupcakes, sweet potato cake, apple pie cake.
Storage
If serving right away, you don’t need to keep cream cheese frosting refrigerated. It can sit out at room temperature for a few hours.
If you’re making ahead or have leftovers, keep it refrigerated in an airtight container. It will last up to a week in the refrigerator. Let it come to room temperature and re-whip before using.
You can also freeze cream cheese frosting for 3-6 months. Thaw and let it come to room temperature and re-whip before using.
FAQs
Yes, this frosting will harden in the fridge. So if your frosting is too soft to pipe once beaten, you can pop it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to harden up.
But if you refrigerate the frosting overnight or freeze it, it will be too hard to pipe, simply let it soften at room temperature, re-whip until fluffy and use as desired.
Since this frosting has less sugar, it is softer and is not suitable for piping intricate designs. However, you can pipe it using a piping tip on top of cupcakes or make simple swirls to decorate cakes. If you fill the pastry bag with a piping tip and refrigerate the frosting for 15 – 30 minutes, it will be sturdier for simple piping.
Sure you can. For natural color, you can use ground freeze-dried fruit. Or use gel color to limit the amount of liquid you’re adding to this recipe.
Store all baked goods with cream cheese frosting in the refrigerator, especially since this frosting has low sugar (which acts as a preservative) and can melt or go bad at room temperature.
To serve, simply thaw on the counter for 10 – 15 minutes, both the cake and the frosting will soften.
You can also freeze leftover cakes and cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for 3-6 months. Freeze them on a baking sheet until the frosting hardens before wrapping and storing in a freezer bag. Thaw completely before serving.
Leftover frosting can be stored in the fridge or freezer for later use. If you don’t have enough cake or cupcakes, you can always use it on something else:
– Use it instead of icing on cinnamon rolls. For these, add frosting right out of the oven so it can melt into all the layers, nooks and crannies.
– Spread it on top of cookies, make cookie sandwiches, or fill cookie cups like these red velvet cookie cups.
– Use it as a dip for strawberries, other fruits, pretzel sticks, graham crackers, etc.
More frostings to try
- Chocolate buttercream frosting
- Vanilla buttercream frosting
- Peanut butter frosting
- Swiss meringue buttercream
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📖 Recipe card
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 12 oz cream cheese (room temperature, 340 g)
- 6 oz unsalted butter (room temperature, 170 g)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (5 g)
- 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar (125 g)
Instructions
- Add softened butter, cream cheese, and vanilla extract to a stand mixer bowl and beat on medium speed with the whisk attachment just until incorporated and creamy.
- Add powdered sugar and stir to mix, then slowly increase mixer speed to medium and beat just until all the sugar is incorporated and the frosting is creamy and fluffy.
- Use a pastry bag fitted with your favorite piping tip to pipe frosting onto cakes and cupcakes or simply use an offset spatula or butter knife.
Notes
- Allow the cream cheese and butter to soften at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour, but don’t let the butter melt. If the butter is too soft, the frosting can be too soft as well.
- Overbeating cream cheese frosting can make it too runny. When all the sugar is incorporated into the frosting, don’t beat it for much longer to avoid overbeating.
- If the frosting is too soft, pop it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to harden before piping.
- If your refrigerated cream cheese frosting is too hard, you can let it soften at room temperature and re-whip it to make it fluffy again.
- Always store cream cheese frosting in the refrigerator, do not leave it at room temperature overnight.
- This recipe is enough to frost a dozen cupcakes if you want your frosting piled high or up to 18 cupcakes. You can also frost a 2-layer 6” cake generously or a 2-layer 8” cake naked style.
Nutrition
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Like others, I too have problem with cream cheese frosting, but worse mine has curdled. I have have added more butter 1 whole pound no resultso I added another whole packet of cream cheese still split, still runny. So I added about half a cup of whipping cream and some more icing sugar. All I have now is a huge mixing bowl of split/curdled runny mess. The only thing I may have done wrong is added vanilla paste instead of extract but I didn’t have any extract. Maybe you can over beat it. Or maybe Gyou just should not make it on a hot day. Even 24 hours refrigeration has been no help. So what can I do with about 3litres of cream cheese, runny like curdled milk frosting?
Can it be used with flour to make spritz cookies or cake. I loath the idea of wasting it that’s about $30NZ.half my grocery money for the week.
😭
Hi Diana, I’m so sorry you run into problem with your frosting. I really can’t tell you why this happens since I have not experienced it myself. Perhaps it has been over beaten. I understand that cream cheese frosting can split if too hot or even too cold. If it is split due to it being too hot, usually refrigeration should fix it, but if 24 hr refrigeration hasn’t fixed it then I truly don’t know what else to say. I wonder if you could try to warm it up gently on the stove and stir until it is smooth, then let cool and refrigerate.
I have a bunch of rugelach recipes that use cream cheese and butter for the wet ingredients. Maybe you could try making rugelach dough, they’re great for the holidays. But try to use a small amount first to see if you can successfully make a dough before wasting other ingredients. The recipe I link uses 8 oz (226 g) total of cream cheese and butter, I would measure your frosting mixture to 226 g and then add the dry ingredients as stated. I think it would be lovely to try making spritz cookies with this as well, but again, try a small batch first, this almond spritz calls for 4 oz (113 g) of butter and 1 egg yolk as the wet ingredients, I would measure out 113 g of your frosting then add the rest of the ingredients as the recipe states. I hope you can find a way to use up all that butter and cream cheese.
Ms Trang,
I need to frost 2 layer red velvet cake, would the recipe as is, be enough?
Hi Jennifer, looks like you’ve found my carrot cake recipe with the cream cheese frosting. You can use this recipe too, it is the same frosting, just scale it up 1.5x to 2x to make enough for a 9” cake. You can always freeze the leftovers and spread it over cinnamon rolls or make cookie sandwiches with it.
Dear Trang, my frosting is very diluted. I try to refrigerated 24 hours also the same. I am
Not able to produce any pattern due to the cream is not hard enough. Please advise. Thank you.
Hi Adeline, what does the frosting looking like after refrigeration? It should solidify because it’s just cream cheese and butter, it should not be runny after refrigeration. If it still runny after refrigeration, I truly have no idea why it would be. It’s like when you melt butter, then put it back in the refrigerator, it should resolidify…
Dear Trang,
My cream not hard (soft) even though I refrigerated it over night. 😫. Please help how to improve. I tried a few time. 😖. Thank you.
Hi Florence, this is very strange, I got another comment from another reader saying the same thing. I can’t understand why it would not harden in the fridge if you just make it with cream cheese and butter. When those ingredients are refrigerated, they should solidify. Are you using something else in the recipe?? You could also try adding more powdered sugar to stiffen it, but I hate to make it too sweet.
I am wondering if those having trouble with the recipe being runny are using actual cream, like whipping cream and not cream CHEESE. There would be a huge difference then?
Hello Trang, My cream is not hard (Very soft) even though I refrigerated it over night 😭. I am not able to do any pattern 😢.
My buttercream is too gritty 🙁
I grind my sugar in a grinder but its gritty
Hi Rida, I recommend using powdered sugar. Even if you grind your sugar, it will never get to the fine consistency you can get with store bought powdered sugar.
Would it be possible to make this frosting by hand, without an electric mixer? Thanks!
Hi Natalie, you certainly can but it will take a lot of effort to cream the butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Honestly, I recommend buying a small electric hand mixer, it will really help.