Best Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
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Make the best cream cheese frosting with just 4 ingredients! This easy, creamy recipe is perfect for cakes, cupcakes, and cinnamon rolls. Ready in 10 minutes, it’s pipeable, spreadable, and loved by all!
Cream Cheese Frosting is one of my family’s favorite frostings and I’ve been making it for many years. This homemade cream cheese frosting is perfect for piping on cupcakes or spreading on a classic carrot cake and cinnamon rolls, delivering a creamy texture every time. Fluffy, creamy, and delicious – you’ll want to make this frosting again and again!
This Cream Cheese Frosting is just perfect for so many cakes and desserts and is so quick and easy to make with just four simple ingredients. It is a great recipe to add to your recipe collection along with my buttercream frosting. While buttercreams are usually a bit sweeter, both are equally useful and versatile. Like buttercream, this cream cheese frosting is sturdy enough to be piped for decorating cakes and cupcakes and can be easily colored. Did I mention it is delicious?!
Let me share how easy it is to make this scrumptious frosting!
Tips for the BEST Cream Cheese Frosting
- Make sure cream cheese and butter are fully softened so that the frosting is lump-free and creamy.
- Use full fat cream cheese. No low fat or reduced fat or it won’t turn out as delicious!
- Desserts topped with this frosting require refrigeration.
- Sift powdered sugar so that it is clump-free. This will make for the creamiest and prettiest frosting as well as reduce the incidence of any problems if you choose to pipe your frosting.
- If you need to make it thinner, use a tablespoon (at a time) of heavy cream. You can make it thicker with an extra tablespoon (at a time)of powdered sugar. Mix after each addition until the frosting reaches the desired consistency.
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting
Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full listing of ingredients, instructions, notes, and estimated nutritional information.
It’s so quick and easy to make with four simple ingredients: cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
How to Make the Best Cream Cheese Frosting
This frosting comes together quickly, but there are a few steps to make sure that you make the best cream cheese frosting possible.
Step by Step Instructions
- Cream together softened butter and cream cheese until smooth.
- Add confectioner’s sugar, in batches, until smooth and creamy.
- Mix in the vanilla extract.
- Beat on high until light and fluffy.
Recipe Variations
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting: Add 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder to the recipe for a rich, chocolatey twist.
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting: Substitute dairy cream cheese with a plant-based alternative and use vegan butter.
Best Desserts for Cream Cheese Frosting
Carrot Cake: The tangy frosting complements the spiced cake perfectly.
Hummingbird Cake: The sweetness of the fruit cake pairs beautifully with the frosting.
Red Velvet Cake: A classic pairing for a vibrant, festive look.
Pumpkin Cake: Ideal for fall baking with a creamy finish.
Cinnamon Rolls: A classic frosting for these cinnamon and sugar filled rolls.
Cookies: Cream cheese frosting for Christmas cookies (or sugar cookies in general) is a good thing!
Storage Tips
To store: Place frosting in an airtight container in the refrigerator for three to four days, but do not freeze as it will ruin the consistency of the frosting. Desserts topped with cream cheese icing require refrigeration. Store those desserts in airtight container in the refrigerator.
To use after it’s been refrigerated: Remove frosting from the refrigerator and add a tablespoon of heavy cream to the frosting. Then mix with an electric mixer until the frosting returns to a fluffy, spreadable consistency.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you need a thinner frosting, you can add heavy cream a tablespoon at a time to thin it to your desired consistency.
If you need a thicker frosting, you can add confectioner’s sugar a tablespoon at a time to thicken it to your desired consistency.
Yes, absolutely! This frosting spreads and pipes beautifully. It is sturdy and holds it shape well if you wish to pipe it onto cakes or cupcakes.
No, freezing ruins the consistency, but it can be refrigerated for 3–4 days.
I’d love to hear how your cream cheese frosting turns out! Leave a comment, rate the recipe, or tag me on Instagram @addapinch with #addapinchrecipes.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 (8-ounce) packages (452 g) cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup (113 g) butter, softened
- 3 cups (340 g) confectioner’s sugar, sifted
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (7.5 g) vanilla extract
Instructions
- Soften Ingredients: Ensure ingredients are softened to room temperature to prevent lumps.
- Cream together: In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together with a stand or hand mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes until smooth.
- Add sugar: Sift 3 cups of confectioner’s sugar and add 1/2 cup at a time, mixing on low speed to combine. After each cup, increase to high speed for 10 seconds to lighten.
- Incorporate vanilla: Add vanilla extract and beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Adjust Consistency: For thinner frosting, add 1 tablespoon heavy cream; for thicker, add 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, mixing after each addition.
Notes
- Use only full fat block cream cheese. Do not use cream cheese in tub.
- If your frosting is too soft, chill it for 15 minutes before piping
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
Originally published in 2011, updated in 2025 to include new tips and photos.
I wanted all the stars, but it wouldn’t let me
So simple, so fabulous and creamy. Going on my carrot muffins!
Thanks so much, Allie! I hope you love it!
This met rave reviews when paired with your white cake. I really wanted a pink icing for my daughter’s cake and it occurred to me to use fresh strawberry cream cheese from the bagel shop down the street in place of regular cream cheese. The result was a gorgeous pale pink frosting that didn’t require me to fool around with food coloring. Thanks for this recipe!!
That sounds delicious, Lindsey! Great idea!
Hi, I made this icing a few days ahead of time…….one of the first times I’ve ever made homemade icing. 🙂 It tasted really good! But the day I needed it, I got it out of the fridge and beat it a little in the mixer. It was still pretty firm. I then added some food coloring because I was decorating a cake with it. It ended up turning too thin to decorate with! I even tried to add powdered sugar. 🙁 I ended up having to throw it away. Any suggestions on what went wrong?
from my experience, adding too much powdered sugar to the cream cheese actually has the opposite effect, it causes the frosting to become thinner. Also , perhaps the frosting wasn’t room temperature before you tried to blend it up? would so sad to have put all that cream cheese and butter down the drain 🙁
Thank you once again Robyn, I made this just now for my Thanksgiving Dinner for later tonight. I’ve searched the net for the best cream cheese icing and after making your chocolate cake and frosting and it turned out magnificence, I searched your site to find this delightful recipe!!! So, light, fluffy and full of flavor. Thank you and Happy Holidays.
Can the cream cheese frosting be piped onto a cake? The recipe sounds delicious and I’d like to try it on my Orange blossom cake!
And if the frosting CAN be piped, does it have to be refrigerated right up until serving time, or could I display the pretty cake on a cake stand for all to be tempted by?!
Do you think this wold be enough to put a dollop of frosting on about 30 cupcakes??
Is this cream cheese frosting good for piping cupcakes?
Does this cream chesse frosting work well for icing or is if better to use traditional buttercream when frosting
I love this cream cheese frosting for frosting cakes. It works great on so many – from pumpkin cake, red velvet, carrot. It does require being refrigerated so that might help make your decision on which frosting to use at a particular time.
I LOVE cream cheese frosting and there is nothing better than licking frosting off of a spoon. They should call it *frosting therapy*. It cures many aliments. 🙂
So waiting (impatiently) for the pumpkin cake recipe; I’ll have to make it quick as our fall is disappearing; one swift wind and all the leaves will have fallen ;(