This cream cheese frosting is so smooth, tangy, and sweet. It’s perfect for cakes, cookies, cinnamon rolls, or even to eat by the spoonful.
This really is the best cream cheese frosting. It’s only 4 ingredients, so easy, and only takes a few minutes to make. It’s so good for a variety of different cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and more. I’ve used it on pumpkin cake, carrot cake, red velvet cake, cake balls, cinnamon rolls, homemade oreos, and fruit pizza. In fact I just used it on top of the zucchini cake I shared on Monday.
It can pretty much go on top of any dessert you’d put frosting on. And it just might be my very favorite frosting.
It’s the perfect balance of sweet and tangy. It’s so smooth, and creamy. It spreads perfectly on top of cakes, and pipes perfectly on cupcakes.
I got this recipe originally from my friend Amber at Dessert Now, Dinner Later and I’ve literally used it dozens of times. I added an extra 1/2 cup of powdered sugar because I like my frosting sweet and I thought it helped thicken it up just a bit to hold the texture better for me.
This cream cheese frosting recipe only uses 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar compared to many recipes you’ll find that use 3 or even 4 cups of powdered sugar. Sometimes too much powdered sugar actually makes the frosting more stringy, so I love this recipe.
How to make cream cheese frosting:
You’ll want your cream cheese and your butter to be softened to room temperature, so bring them out to the counter about 30 minutes to 1 hour before you want to make your frosting.
In a medium sized bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) beat your cream cheese over medium speed until it’s nice and smooth. Add in the butter 2 Tablespoons at a time, while you continue beating the mixture. Continue beating until your mixture is once again smooth.
Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla, and starting at a low speed, until the powdered sugar is combined in and you have a creamy frosting. You can keep mixing a bit over medium high speed to get the frosting a little lighter.
Tips for making cream cheese frosting:
- Make sure not to use a tub of cream cheese, but to use a brick of cream cheese instead.
- The frosting holds its shape best if it’s kept in the fridge. Make sure to store any extra cake or cupcakes you have, or if you frost them before serving, in the fridge. — You can also place your frosting in the fridge for about 30 minutes before piping if you think it’s too thin to hold its shape.
- If you’re gonna be serving your dessert with this cream cheese frosting outside on a hot day, only bring the dessert out about 20-30 minutes before you’ll be eating it.
This recipe makes just the right amount of frosting for one 9×13 cake, or about 12 to 18 cupcakes, depending how high you frost them.
This cream cheese frosting is sturdy, spreadable, pipeable, and perfect for so many uses – without being too sweet. It’s the perfect blend of sweet and tangy, and just so delicious. Enjoy this delicious cream cheese frosting in any recipe that calls for cream cheese frosting (just try not to eat it all by the spoonful!)
Looking for more frosting recipes?
- Buttercream Frosting
- Chocolate cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Strawberry Frosting on Life, Love, and Sugar
- Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting on Dessert Now Dinner Later
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Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese (1 block, room temperature)
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick, room temperature)
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Put your cream cheese in a large mixing bowl (or a stand mixer) and beat over medium speed until smooth.
- Add in your butter 2 tablespoons at a time, while beating. Continue mixing till well blended.
- Add in your powdered sugar and vanilla and beat the mixture over low speed. Continue to blend the frosting till completely mixed, and nice and creamy.
- Use the frosting on your favorite cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and more.
Nutrition
This cream cheese frosting was first posted on January 16, 2015. The photos were updated on July 22, 2020.
Eileen McIlhatton says
Hi Aimee, I live in Ireland but we only have cream cheese in tubs not in block form have you any tips please that could help me please. I’ve always had problems with it, not this recipe as I haven’t tried it but will do on Wednesday night . My sister in law is 65 and I asked her which cake she would like & she picked my favourite carrot cake. I’m only a very basic home baker that can’t really pipe because I can never get my frosting right. I would really appreciate all the help I can get. Because I enjoy baking when I’m well enough I have rheumatoid arthritis and last year I ended up in hospital for 10 weeks I had to have emergency heart surgery & I ended up having complications. My husband is a nurse in a very busy ER so when I’m able like to bake so my husband can bring into work for his work colleagues. Many thanks in advance for taking the time to read this & hopefully help me in the process, thanks Eileen
Aimee says
Hi Eileen, I haven’t worked with that kind of cream cheese, so I can’t say for sure but from what I can read online it says to get rid of as much of the extra water from the cream cheese as you can, I’m not sure how it will work exactly, it might work better spread onto the cake instead of piped. Or it looks like this recipe is made with tubbed cream cheese if you want to give it a go instead of ours https://www.janespatisserie.com/2020/05/02/how-to-make-cream-cheese-frosting/
Jo Moore says
Do you recommend salted or unsalted butter?
I tried this on top of your pumpkin cake w/ yellow cake mix recipe and it was so delicious. However, my niece says it was too salty. I was wondering if you had a preference in mind for the recipe.
Aimee says
I always use unsalted so I can put in exactly how much salt I want in each recipe, since different brands have slightly different amounts of salt per butter stick
Happy camper! says
My absolute favorite cream cheese recipe! Perfect ratio of cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar!
Aimee says
I’m so glad you like it as much as we do!
Susan Ciannilli says
Girls…your recipes are so delicious and easy. Do have a simple and easy recipe for lemon roll? This is my husbands favorite but every recipe I have tried comes out very dry and crumbly. Thank you, look forward to hearing from you !!
Aimee says
Do you mean like a lemon sweet roll?