Cream Cheese Icing

Velvety smooth cream cheese icing is the ideal blend of sweet and tangy, perfect for all of your frosting needs!

Whether you are frosting Sugar Cookies or Cinnamon Rolls, this cream cheese icing is a must. With only a handful of ingredients, it’s ready in minutes!

Icing vs Frosting

Cream cheese icing goes hand in hand with some of our favorite desserts like Carrot Cake and Cinnamon Rolls!

It’s creamy, delicious, simple and is LITERALLY, the icing on the cake. 😉

But, what’s the difference between icing and frosting?

The ingredients in cream cheese icing and cream cheese frosting are the same, but just in different quantities. Icing is thinner and great for spreading thin layers on items like sweet rolls, frosting is thicker and great for piping on a cake or cupcake. 

Be sure to save this recipe – it’s one you’ll need often if you love baking up sweets as I do!

How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting

This tasty cream cheese icing recipe comes together in minutes!

COMBINE. Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl and beat until smooth.

Now all that’s left is to enjoy this icing on your favorite cupcakes or cakes!

Ingredient Tips

Cream cheese. This is the star flavor of this icing. Use a block of full-fat cream cheese for the best texture, but low-fat cream cheese can be used as well. The cream cheese needs to be at room temperature so that it can combine smoothly with the other ingredients.

Powdered sugar is also known as confectioners’ sugar and adds sweetness and structure. Sifting the powdered sugar before using it will help eliminate small clumps.

Butter. Use unsalted butter at room temperature for the icing. If you use salted butter, then be sure to omit the ⅓ tsp salt listed in the recipe.

Recipe Tips

With just a few simple tips and tricks you will have the most velvety smooth cream cheese frosting recipe!

Tools. Use a stand mixer or a hand-held electric mixer to whip up smooth and creamy icing. Stir the mixture on medium speed until smooth.

Room temperature ingredients. Be sure that the cream cheese and butter are at room temperature and not melted otherwise you could end up with runny cream cheese frosting.

Flavor variations. The vanilla and salt are added for taste. Increase or decrease them as desired. You can also replace the vanilla with another extract like almond or lemon.

Piping. If you don’t have a piping bag, use a gallon Ziploc and then trim the corner off according to the desired piping size.

To thicken. Simply add more powdered sugar or cornstarch. Start by adding 1-2 tablespoons to the icing, then add more if needed. 

To thin it out add a bit of milk until you reach the desired consistency.

Storing Frosting

STORE. Whether you want to make the cream cheese icing ahead of time or have leftover frosting, it can be stored at room temperature for a few hours.

To store longer, place the icing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks or in the freezer for 3-4 months. 

Store frosted items. Generally, baked items that have homemade cream cheese frosting on them can be kept at room temperature for up to 8 hours before they should be moved to the refrigerator or freezer to be stored.

Recipe FAQ

For More Frosting Recipes, Try:

• Strawberry Frosting
• Caramel Frosting
• Vanilla Buttercream
• Berry Buttercream Frosting
• Marshmallow Frosting