Cream Cheese Frosting
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Old-fashioned cream cheese frosting is rich, tangy, and just sweet enough—perfect for cupcakes, layer cakes, cinnamon rolls, and more.
While classic vanilla buttercream can veer towards overly sweet, cream cheese frosting hits that sweet spot with just the right amount of tang. The cream cheese not only balances the sweetness but also gives the frosting a rich, creamy texture that’s hard to beat. It comes together in minutes with just a handful of ingredients and has a soft, luscious consistency that’s perfect for spreading on cakes and cupcakes. (It’s too soft for piping, though—for that, I’d go with a Swiss meringue buttercream.)
The recipe makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes, an 8 or 9-inch layer cake, or a 9×13 sheet cake. It’s a perfect match for bold-flavored cakes and cupcakes, like carrot cake, red velvet cupcakes, coconut cake, or pumpkin cake. It’s also a classic choice for homemade cinnamon rolls.
“Frosting that reminds me of my childhood. I made this today to top your vanilla sheet cake – both delicious!”
What You’ll Need To Make Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream Cheese: The base of the frosting, giving it that creamy texture and tang. Stick with brick-style, full-fat cream cheese (not the stuff in the tub). You can play with the cream cheese-to-butter ratio depending on how tangy you like it.
- Unsalted butter: Works in tandem with the cream cheese; it adds richness and helps smooth out the frosting to make it easy to spread. For less tang, feel free to increase the butter relative to the cream cheese.
- Vanilla extract: Rounds out the flavor and pairs nicely with the tang from the cream cheese.
- Pinch of salt: Just a little bit helps balance the sweetness and brings out all the flavors.
- Confectioners’ sugar: Powdered sugar sweetens and thickens the frosting. Use more for a firmer, sweeter frosting—or cut back a bit if you prefer it lighter and less sweet. Just remember, less sugar results in a thinner frosting.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Mix the base ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl if you’re using a hand mixer), add the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt. Start on low speed just to bring everything together, then increase to medium-high and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Getting it nice and airy at this stage helps create a smooth, not-too-dense frosting.
Pro Tip: The cream cheese and butter should be soft enough to press with a finger and leave an indent. If they’re too cold, microwave them separately in 5-second bursts—but don’t let them melt.
Step 2: Gradually add the sugar. With the mixer on low, gradually add 4 cups of confectioners’ sugar until incorporated. Adding the sugar slowly helps it blend evenly and prevents a cloud of sugar from kicking up as you mix.
Step 3: Adjust consistency. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until fluffy, about 1 minute more. If the frosting seems too soft, or you want it a bit sweeter, mix in up to 1 more cup of sugar. Alternatively, chilling the frosting in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour can also help it firm up without the need for extra sugar.
Step 4: Frost as desired. Use a butter knife or offset spatula to spread the frosting over cake or cupcakes. If you have an offset spatula, it provides better control and a smoother finish, especially on layer cakes. The frosting can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or frozen for up to 3 months.
More Frosting Recipes You May Like
Cream Cheese Frosting
If you’re looking for the ultimate cream cheese frosting recipe, this is the one! It comes together quickly and works like a charm on just about any cake.
Ingredients
- 8 oz full-fat, brick-style cream cheese, preferably Philadelphia brand, softened but still cool
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 4 to 5 cups confectioners' sugar
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large bowl if using a hand mixer), combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt. Mix on low speed until combined, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until aerated and light, about 2 minutes. Gradually add 4 cups of the confectioners' sugar, mixing on low to combine. Once all of the sugar is mixed in, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until fluffy, about 1 minute. If the frosting is too thin, or you prefer a sweeter frosting, add the remaining cup of sugar and beat again.
- Make-Ahead Instructions: Store the frosting in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week, or freeze for up to 3 months. If frozen, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Before using, let the frosting sit at room temperature for a bit to soften, then beat briefly with an electric mixer to restore its creamy texture.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (24 servings)
- Calories: 144
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Sugar: 20 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Sodium: 41 mg
- Cholesterol: 21 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I really want to make this frosting but you can’t get brick cream cheese in a lot of Europe. You say not to use the tub but can a tub cream cheese be used by amending the other ingredients?
Hi Natalie, you could give it a try, but the frosting may have a thinner consistency so you’ll need to add more confectioners’ sugar to thicken it up. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
Hello Jenn,
I am making cupcakes with your cream cheese frosting. Do I need to refrigerate the cupcakes once they are frosted?
Thank you,
Kim
Hi Kim, technically they should be refrigerated because of the frosting, but I’ve stored them on the counter and they’ve been perfectly fine. 😊
Thanks so much! The frosting was delicious!
Hi Jenn,
I’m looking a good versatile, vanilla frosting for a cookie sandwich.. Would you recommend this recipe for that purpose? Many thanks, Nicole
Sure, Nicole, I think it would work for that.
Hi there, My daughter would like “pink” cream cheese frosting on top of her white cupcakes! Would this recipe still work if I added a drop or toothpick tip of red food colouring during the mixing of the ingredients?
Thank you!
Sure!
Dear Jenn,
Our family really likes frosting with cream cheese in – however, most recipes turn out runny for us. I would really like to try this one but think it may turn out the same…We live in the UK where Philadelphia comes in tubs. Do you think this might be a different product than the American brick-type, or if there is something else we might be doing wrong? We weigh the sugar so don’t think it would be that…
Thank you very much for any advice 🙂
Hi Savanna, I think it’s definitely the tub cream cheese that’s causing the problem. Although you may not have access to Philadelphia brand, do stores carry other brands of brick cream cheese? If so, I’d use that. Please LMK if I can help in any other way. 🙂
If I wanted to give the frosting a slightly lemon flavour would you recommend lemon zest be fine or should I add the juice? And how much of each? Thank you!
Hi Catherine, You could really do either. I’d probably start by adding a teaspoon of lemon juice. If you still want more lemon flavor, then add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon zest.
I ended up doing 2tsp lemon juice along with the zest of a whole lemon because I wanted a stronger lemon taste. It was delicious! Thanks again.
Frosting that reminds me of my childhood. I just made this today to top the OUAC vanilla sheet cake, both delicious!