Recipe updated: April 2nd, 2024
If you have never made homemade cream cheese buttercream frosting, you should give it a try! It’s a super easy-to-make classic cream cheese frosting recipe with simple ingredients and a pure and amazing frosting taste. For all of your special occasions, this quick-to-prepare frosting is the perfect choice.
This cream cheese frosting with its creamy texture is ideal for frosting cakes (such as applesauce spice cake), sugar cookies, and desserts. For example, this frosting spreads easily on a sheet cake or a layered cake. It’s normally the choice of frosting for a carrot cake, a birthday cake, or cupcakes. It also tastes terrific on gingerbread cake, cinnamon rolls, brownies, and donuts.
🍴 Key Ingredients
- 1 stick of unsalted butter
- 4 ounces of cream cheese
- 6 tablespoons of whole milk
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 5 cups of confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
🎂 How to Make Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
These step-by-step instructions are accompanied by detailed photos for enhanced clarity and guidance.
Step 1. Soften the Butter and Cream Cheese
Put 1 stick of butter and 4 ounces of cream cheese in a small bowl that is safe for the microwave. Microwave it for 45 seconds or just until it is soft. You can also set the butter and cream cheese on the countertop to soften at room temperature if you prefer. That should take about 15 to 20 minutes.
Tip: One stick of butter equals 1/2 of a cup.
Step 2. Combine the Butter, Cream Cheese, Milk, and Vanilla
In a medium mixing bowl, add 6 tablespoons of whole milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract together with the butter and cream cheese mixture. Whip a whisk around in the bowl until well blended.
Tip: You can also use an electric mixer with a whisk attachment or a bowl of a stand mixer to blend the ingredients together. Start slowly at low speed. Then gradually increase the speed of the mixer to medium speed until you have reached medium high speed. Mix until smooth.
Step 3. Add the Butter Cream Cheese Mixture to the Powdered Sugar
Add 5 cups of powdered sugar to a large bowl. Slowly add the butter and cream cheese mixture, a little at a time together with the powdered sugar.
Step 4. Mix the Frosting Thoroughly
Continue to mix the frosting until completely smooth. If you are using a whisk, this process will take a little longer to accomplish but it is doable. An electric hand mixer is definitely faster. Keep mixing until the frosting is smooth, thick, and creamy. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to include all the ingredients in the mixing process.
This recipe makes enough frosting to cover an entire cake. It is also thick enough to be used with a piping bag.
If you aren’t going to use the frosting right away, place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the bowl and put it in the refrigerator for now until you are ready to use it.
🌟 Recipe Variations
- Add about 1/4 of a cup of unsweetened cocoa powder (or to taste) to make chocolate cream cheese frosting.
- Add a little bit of lemon juice for zesty lemon-flavored frosting. Add the lemon juice just a little at a time, then taste-test the frosting for your desired preference.
- If you want a thicker frosting, slowly add a little more powdered sugar until you like how thick it is. If you made a mistake and added too much powdered sugar, then just go ahead and add a little bit more milk.
- If you want a thinner frosting, slowly add just a little bit of milk at a time until you get the perfect consistency you like. If you added too much milk, add more powdered sugar.
🙋 FAQs
Yes, you can freeze leftover cream cheese buttercream frosting. Make sure to put any leftover frosting in an airtight container that is safe for the freezer. The frosting should be good in the freezer for about 3 or 4 months. When you are ready to use the frosting, you can thaw it in the refrigerator overnight.
💡 Final Thoughts
This is the best cream cheese frosting recipe I have tasted. It’s a fluffy frosting with a smooth consistency. It has a perfect balance of sweetness to complement all of your baking recipes.
This sweet frosting tastes better than the traditional buttercream frostings you can buy in the baking section of the grocery store. You also know everything in this recipe with no complicated words to pronounce. And you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen at any given time.
So the next time you need some frosting, you can feel good about spreading this homemade cream cheese frosting on your cookies and cake decorating ideas. After making this easy homemade frosting, you will never go back to buying it at the store again!
🗂️ Recipe Card
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
🫕 Equipment
- Electric hand mixer (optional)
🧂 Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter (softened)
- 4 oz cream cheese (softened)
- 6 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 cups powdered sugar
👩🍳 Instructions
- Microwave the butter and cream cheese for 45 seconds.
- Whisk or beat the butter and cream cheese until well blended.
- Add the milk and vanilla extract to the butter and cream cheese mixture and mix thoroughly.
- Slowly add the butter and cream cheese mixture to the powdered sugar.
- Whisk or mix with an electric mixer until the frosting is smooth and creamy.
*️⃣ Recipe Notes
- You can add unsweetened cocoa powder to this recipe to make chocolate cream cheese buttercream frosting. Add about 1/4 of a cup of unsweetened cocoa powder to the recipe. Keep tasting the frosting to get the perfect chocolatey flavor you prefer.
- If you need a lemon-flavored frosting, add a squirt or 2 of lemon juice to this recipe for a zesty lemon-flavored taste. Add the lemon juice a little at a time, then taste the frosting for your desired preference.
- For thicker frosting, add a little more powdered sugar until you like how thick it is. If you accidentally added too much powdered sugar, then add more milk.
- For thinner frosting, slowly add a little more milk until you get the perfect consistency you like. If you added too much milk, then just add more powdered sugar.
🥰 More Topping Recipes You Will Love
- An alternative to cream cheese frosting is powdered sugar icing. Sometimes we don’t have cream cheese in the refrigerator. All you need for powdered sugar icing is powdered sugar, vanilla extract, milk, and softened butter, but the butter can be optional.
- What premade whipped cream topping is better than homemade whipped cream? None! Homemade whipped cream beats any whipped cream topping that is sold in grocery stores by a long shot. This whipped cream topping recipe is super easy to make. All you need is heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar (or confectioners’ sugar as some folks call it), and vanilla extract. That’s it, and it is so good you will never buy premade whipped cream in the grocery store again.
A wife, a mother to a son and a daughter, and a grandmother to three granddaughters. Flo loves sharing recipes passed down from her own mother, her mother-in-law, and her grandmother as well as new recipes created with her daughter, Tamara Ray.
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