Learn how to make sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting with this easy recipe. This favorite frosting is creamy and thick, holds its shape when piped, and tastes incredible on carrot cake, spice cake, and so much more. You only need 5 ingredients, but make sure you use a brick of cream cheese, not cream cheese spread.

Cream cheese frosting on carrot cake cupcake

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Do you need that little something *extra* for your desserts?

And are you tired of vanilla buttercream all the time?

Cream cheese frosting is my #1 favorite frosting for cakes, cupcakes, quick breads, and more. In fact, it’s the most common frosting used in my kitchen. I use it on everything from spice cake and carrot cake cupcakes to banana cake, red velvet cake, pumpkin cake, and more.

It’s smooth, creamy, and spreads onto baked goods with ease. Its flavor is the perfect balance of sweet and tangy and you only need 5 ingredients total!

slice of red velvet cake on a white plate

This Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting:

Isn’t as cloyingly sweet as buttercream
Is smooth as silk
Isn’t runny (thank goodness!)
Has a tangy, yet sweet flavor
Is my creamiest frosting ever
Can be piped with piping tips!

How to Prevent Runny Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream cheese frosting will be thin and runny if you’re not careful about the type of cream cheese you use. Make sure you use an 8 ounce (226g) brick of full-fat cream cheese, not low-fat cream cheese and not cream cheese spread sold in a tub. Save cream cheese spread for bagels and low fat cream cheese for cooking.

The #1 reason bakers end up with runny frosting is because they’re accidentally using cream cheese spread instead of a brick. There’s a HUGE difference! For the best, thickest, and most successful frosting, use the bricks of real cream cheese.

Only 5 Ingredients

brick cream cheese
butter
confectioners’ sugar
vanilla extract
salt

You will want room temperature butter and room temperature cream cheese before beginning.

Can This Cream Cheese Frosting Be Piped?

Cream cheese frosting is difficult to pipe because it’s so creamy. However, I learned a little trick a few years ago and feel free to borrow it. Cream cheese frosting will hold its decorative piped shape if you refrigerate it prior to piping. Fit your piping bag with a piping tip, fill your bag with the frosting, then refrigerate it for 20-30 minutes before piping.

However, don’t expect it to be as sturdy as buttercream. Cream cheese isn’t super stable, so save intricate piped designs for vanilla buttercream. Instead, stick with a basic round tip.

cream cheese frosting on blueberries n cream cupcake

Cream Cheese Frosting Flavors

Flavor spruces everything up, so feel free to have fun with this recipe. A dash of cinnamon (like the frosting on these banana cupcakes) or brown butter (like the brown butter cream cheese frosting on this banana layer cake and zucchini cake) are excellent, but chocolate cream cheese frosting might be my very favorite. You can even add some “strawberry dust” as shown in my strawberry cake.

Other flavor ideas:

Pumpkin Spice: 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (depends how much spice flavor you want!)
Lemon: 1 teaspoon lemon extract
Chai Spice: 3/4 teaspoon chai spice mix (just like chai latte cupcakes)
Coconut: 1 teaspoon coconut extract

Simply add these ingredients to the recipe below.

For something lighter and less sweet that still pipes amazingly well, I recommend my whipped frosting. It’s the same frosting we used on this cookies and cream cake with the addition of Oreos!

Cinnamon cream cheese frosting in mixing bowl

slice of pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting on a silver plate

Uses for Cream Cheese Frosting

It tastes phenomenal with spiced cakes and cupcakes, but don’t limit yourself. This stuff is so versatile! Here’s plenty of recipe inspiration for your next batch:

For taller layer cakes, I usually add a little milk, extra cream cheese, and extra confectioners’ sugar to produce more volume. My carrot cake and red velvet cake recipes show this higher ratio of frosting. And sometimes I add extra butter for a stronger, more buttercream-like frosting. My lemon cake and coconut cake show the buttercream variation.

Favorite Cream Cheese Frosting

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.7 from 161 reviews

Author: Sally McKenney
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Yield: about 3 cups
Category: Frosting
Method: Mixing
Cuisine: American

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Description

Homemade cream cheese frosting is super creamy, soft, smooth, and tangy. It’s so easy to make and the uses are endless!

Ingredients

8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3 cups (360g) confectioners’ sugar, plus an extra 1/4 cup (30g) if needed
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

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Instructions

In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, the vanilla, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. If you want the frosting a little thicker, add the extra 1/4 cup of confectioners sugar (I add it).
Cover and store leftover frosting for up to 5 days in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer. After freezing, thaw in the refrigerator then beat the frosting for a few seconds so it’s creamy again.

Notes

Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand)
Quantity: This recipe is enough to frost 12-18 cupcakes or one 9×13 quarter sheet cake. 1.5x the recipe for a double layer cake or add extra cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and a splash of milk or cream as shown in my carrot cake and red velvet cake recipes. (Doubling the recipe would be far too much.)
Chocolate: Here is my chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe.

Sally McKenney

Sally McKenney is a baker, food photographer, and New York Times best-selling author. Her kitchen-tested recipes and step-by-step tutorials have given millions of readers the knowledge and confidence to bake from scratch. Sally’s work has been featured on TODAY, Good Morning America, Taste of Home, People, and more.