You know that sweet, tangy frosting that makes carrot cake and red velvet cake taste so amazing? Yeah — that's cream cheese frosting. We love its sweet tang that brings a little something extra to cakes, cookies, and even cinnamon rolls (definitely try it on cinnamon rolls). Whether you use the basic recipe or combine cream cheese and chocolate, we know you're going to find lots of uses for our cream cheese frosting recipes.
Basic Cream Cheese Frosting
This is the perfect basic icing for cupcakes, carrot cake, or red velvet cinnamon rolls.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
- In a mixing bowl, add the butter and cream cheese. Mix together with an electric beater until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.
- Add the vanilla to the mixture, mixing thoroughly with your beater.
- Add the powdered sugar to the cream cheese mixture slowly, approximately ½ cup at a time, until you've achieved the desired consistency.
Troubleshooting
Our recipe is pretty failsafe, but just in case, we have some troubleshooting tips.
- If the cream cheese and butter have clumps after mixing, take the bowl and put it in a large pan of hot water, stirring until the clumps melt.
- If the mixture seems too dry, add milk one tablespoon at a time, until you get to the desired consistency.
- If the mixture is too moist and is more drizzly than spreadable, add more softened cream cheese or butter. You can also add additional powdered sugar, but taste test as you go since it can make the frosting too sweet.
Related: Moist Red Velvet Cake Recipe
Decadent Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Take your frosting from plain to decadent and extraordinary with a little chocolate. The key to getting the best-tasting chocolate cream cheese frosting is to use the best chocolate you can afford.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup (1 stick)
- 4 squares (1 ounce each) dark or unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
- 3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Pinch of salt
Directions
- In a mixer, beat the softened cream cheese until the texture is creamy.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat. When butter is melted, take the pan off the heat and stir in the chocolate until it's melted.
- Add the melted chocolate mixture and the vanilla to the cream cheese and mix thoroughly with an electric mixer on low.
- Add the powdered sugar in, ½ cup at a time, and mix thoroughly.
Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Now we've gone and done it. This is, hands-down, the ultimate decadent cream cheese frosting. It's perfect for chocolate cupcakes or... wait for it... brownies!!!
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups (approximately) powdered sugar
Directions
- Use an electric mixer to cream together peanut butter, cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar and mix thoroughly.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Look, you can spread this on cupcakes, for sure. And it's going to taste amazing. But consider this... DIP! After you're done spreading it to your delight, thin the excess with a little milk and use it as a yummy fruit dip. Now that's a life hack we can stand behind.
Ingredients
- 1 package (10 ounces) frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed OR 2 cups fresh, mashed strawberries mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ½ teaspoon strawberry extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Directions
- Purée the strawberries in a blender.
- In a mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and cream cheese until it is smooth in consistency.
- Add the strawberry extract and ½ cup of puréed fruit to the cream cheese. You'll have leftover puréed fruit, which you can use for a smoothie or another batch of frosting.
- Add the powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, to the strawberry cream cheese mixture and mix until you reach the desired consistency.
10 Variations for Sublime Cream Cheese Frosting
Can't get enough? Us either! We have even more flavor variations for you.
- Instead of vanilla, add rum, Kahlua, or any other sweet liqueur.
- Add a bit of strong coffee to the cream cheese and butter mixture. Crush chocolate sandwich cookies and mix them into your frosting.
- Fold in whipped cream for a lighter, fluffier frosting.
- Chopped walnuts or chopped pecans can add texture.
- For a citrusy burst, add lemon or orange extract instead of vanilla, and then add in the zest of a lemon or orange while mixing.
- Add a dash of pumpkin pie spice and candied ginger for a fall treat.
- Mix in caramel sauce.
- Add ½ to 1 cup of chocolate-hazelnut spread instead of peanut butter.
- Mix in melted white chocolate.
- Add a dash of coconut extract and shredded coconut before adding the powdered sugar.
Using and Storing Your Frosting
Once you've made your frosting, use it immediately. Store leftovers in an air-tight container and use it within a week or so (as if it's going to last that long!). When you store the frosting in the fridge, it may get too hard to spread easily. Take the container and set it in a bowl of hot tap water for about 10 minutes. Give the frosting a stir, and it should be ready to spread again.
Simple and Sweet
Once you've made cream cheese frosting and tried it on all sorts of things (pumpkin spice cookies maybe?), we bet you'll never want to go back to plain frosting again. The cream cheese adds a tangy flavor that makes frosting extra special.
