I’ve been making this Cream Cheese Frosting for years and it has never let me down. It’s sturdy enough to pipe on cupcakes, it spreads beautifully over layer cakes and it’s the perfect dreamy topping for warm, fresh-baked cinnamon rolls.
I took a cake decorating class when I was like, a freshman in college. I absolutely loved it and convinced myself I was going to be the next Duff Goldman. My friends started calling me Martha Stewart and Betty Crocker. It was a whole thing – I loved it.
So, as one can imagine in learning cake decorating, I baked LOTS of cakes. I mean A LOT of cakes. And what do you decorate cakes with?
Frosting.
Developing this cream cheese frosting was a labor of trial-and-error love, but now it’s my ride-or-die recipe.
It’s smooth and silky, without being overly sugary or too sweet. You don’t lose the cream cheese flavor. It’s sturdy enough to pipe for cupcakes, but not stiff or chewy. And the vanilla notes with a pinch of salt balance the flavor perfectly.
It also takes food coloring well! (In the picture below, I used Colour Mill Sage and Colour Mill Olive.)
Key Ingredients
- Butter – The quality of the butter matters here. I use Land O Lakes unsalted butter when making frosting.
- Cream Cheese – I’ve use both Philadelphia Cream Cheese and store brand cream cheese. I’ve noticed that most store brands I’ve tried, tend to be a little looser in texture, so you may need to add a little extra powdered sugar. But they tasted just fine.
- Vanilla – I’m about to sound like Ina Garten (and I’m ok with that): opt for a good quality, real vanilla extract in this recipe. I use Penzey’s Vanilla.
- Pinch of Salt – Yup. For years I’d throw a pinch of salt into my chocolate buttercream recipe, but I never added it to the vanilla or cream cheese frostings I’d make. Big mistake. It’s such a small addition that really boosts the flavor.
- Powdered Sugar – I think this one is pretty straight forward…
The Process
Frist up: you want the cream cheese and butter at room temp.
Pro Tip: If you’re baking something the same day you’re making the frosting, remove the butter and cream cheese from their packaging and set them on a plate on/near your stove where it’s warm. They’ll come up to temp while you’re baking and they’ll likely be ready to make frosting once the baking is done.
(If they’re still a little cool, or you’re in a hurry, just place in a microwave safe bowl and pop them in the microwave until warm…)
Blend the butter and cream cheese together until smooth, THEN add the remaining ingredients.
An electric mixer will be your best friend.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Measuring Cups and Measuring Spoons
- Electric Mixer
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, softened (1 stick)
- 8 oz brick cream cheese, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4-4 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Combine softened butter and cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth (about 2 minutes).
- Add the vanilla extract and salt. Mix to combine.
- Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and beat on low until well incorporated.
- Add remaining sugar and beat on low until well incorporated.
- Use to frost completely cooled baked goods.
Notes
Looking for Other Ideas?
These recipes would be delicious paired with this Cream Cheese Frosting:
Banana Nut Bread Cinnamon Rolls
