This Easy Cream Cheese Frosting needs only 4 simple ingredients and about 5 minutes to make! It’s light, fluffy, lightly sweet, and tangy. Plus, I’ll give you tips on how to make a pipeable frosting!
Are you looking for an easy way to make your baked goods a little extra special?? This frosting is an easy way to add flair to an otherwise boring dessert. Some other desserts we like made with cream cheese are Lime Cheesecake Fluff, No-Bake Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake, and Easy Fruit Pizza.
The perfect cream cheese frosting is:
- Lightly sweet and tangy
- Light and fluffy
- Sturdy enough to be pipeable
- Creamy and smooth
- Not runny!
4 Ingredient list!
- Cream cheese- make sure it is room temperature
- Butter- also make sure this is room temperature
- Powdered sugar- spooned and leveled. Don’t just scoop or you may pack too much powdered sugar in the cup making the frosting too thick and too sweet.
- Vanilla- a vital ingredient in all frostings! Homemade is even better!
Why is my cream cheese frosting runny?
There are a few reasons for this. Using the wrong type of cream cheese is the number 1 reason. Also, heat……too warm of an environment will make almost any frosting runny.
Here are my best tips to prevent runny cream cheese frosting:
- You have to use full fat block style cream cheese. The cream cheese in the tub will not work because they contain more water. Block style cream cheese has the lowest water content.
- Don’t over whip. Most frostings do fine with a longer whipping time but I have found cream cheese frosting can be over whipped and start to break down and become runny. When everything is combined and fluffy, turn off the mixer.
- I also prefer to use the whip attachment over the paddle for this frosting.
- Too much heat. If you have followed all of the above and find your frosting a little too loose to pipe then chill the frosting before piping. Fill a piping bag fitted with your tip and refrigerate 15-20 minutes before piping.
- Don’t be tempted to keep adding in more and more powdered sugar to stiffen the frosting. It will make the frosting too sweet and lose that classic tangy flavor. Some may even think this recipe is too sweet but I needed to use a little more powdered sugar to create a pipeable frosting.
- Just a note- cream cheese frosting will never be as stiff as buttercream and thus will not be suitable for really intricate designs.
What does cream cheese frosting go with?
- Carrot cake and cupcakes
- Hummingbird cake and cupcakes
- Red velvet cake and cupcakes
- Banana cake and cupcakes
- Doughnuts- top or dip them into the frosting
- Chocolate cake and cupcakes
- Lemon cupcakes, breads, cakes
- All sorts of cookies- chocolate, chocolate chip, lemon, sugar, pumpkin
- Brownies
- Gingerbread Scones
- Cinnamon rolls
- Banana bars
- Pumpkin bars
- and the list goes on
How to store this frosting?
I recommend storing leftover frosting in the refrigerator. And any baked good frosted with cream cheese frosting should be refrigerated. Now there is a little leeway with frosted cakes and other goods. If your house is relatively cool (70 or below) you should be fine with leaving it on the counter for the day. Any longer than that I recommend refrigerating it.
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- 8 ounces (224g) full fat block style cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup (113g) butter, room temperature
- 3½ cups (350g) confectioners' sugar
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla
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In the bowl of your stand mixer add the cream cheese and butter. With the whisk attachment beat on high just until smooth. Scrape down the sides often.
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Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat on low for 30 seconds then on high speed just until light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl often.
- Storage: Store leftover frosting in the refrigerator up to 5 days. Allow to come to room temperature and whip a little before using. Can also freeze for up to 3 months.
- Amount: This makes enough to generously frost 12 cupcakes or 1 9×13 cake. To frost a 2 layer cake make 1.5x the amount. So 12 ounces cream cheese, 3/4 cup butter, 5 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla.
- Nutrition Facts: Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the information shown is just an estimate. Nutrition information shown for the entire batch of frosting.
Used this with your carrot cake recipe, it was amazing!
Thank you! So glad you liked it!
Super simple & so rich and creamy! Definitely saving this one for next time I bake.
Thank you!
This is the perfect cream cheese frosting! Thanks for all the tips on making sure it was creamy and delicious. I’ll definitely be using this recipe over and over!
Thank you very much! So glad you liked it!
We made this frosting for your carrot cake. It is sooo creamy and delicious! I’ll be coming back to this recipe any time I need cream cheese frosting. Thank you!
Thank you so much! We love it too!