This recipe for cream cheese frosting checks all the boxes with tangy flavor, creamy smooth texture, and a consistency stable enough to pipe with. Keep reading to learn more about the small technique change and the special ingredient that finally resulted in a cream cheese frosting which holds it’s shape for decorating, but isn’t too sweet from excess powdered sugar for stability.

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Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

Salted Butter: Room temperature. Soft when pressed, but not greasy or melted. (You can swap in unsalted butter instead if you want exact control over the salt amount).
Powdered Sugar: A lower amount than you might think!
Buttermilk Powder: The secret sauce. Adds stability and delicious tangy flavor that compliments the cream cheese, WITHOUT adding extra sweetness.
Vanilla Extract: Use a good quality extract for delicious flavor! I love the Kirkland brand.
Cream Cheese: SLIGHTLY colder than room temp (More on this later). Only use full fat brick style cream cheese. Tub versions will not be as stable.
Salt to taste: Just a pinch or so can make all the difference in balance

Recipe Genetics

Time to introduce you to the family tree of recipes this one was inspired by!

Adding Cream Cheese At the End

First up, Handle the Heat‘s recipe introduced me to the idea of adding in the cream cheese at the END for added stability. Combining the butter and the powdered sugar first coats the sugar. This prevents the powdered sugar from pulling moisture from the cream cheese (which can cause a loose, soupy frosting). Adding at the end ALSO helps you avoid over-mixing the cream cheese (which can also cause the structure to break down).

This technique was especially intriguing because it added stability WITHOUT changing the ratio of ingredients. I lean towards less sweet fillings and frostings so this sounded like a must try to create a decorating friendly, but not uber sweet cream cheese frosting.

Buttermilk Powder and Milk Powder Add Ins

Next up, The Scran Line’s cream cheese frosting recipe! This baker created a fluffy and not too sweet cream cheese frosting using dry milk powder to stabilize without sweetening. Milk powder adds a rich nostalgic flavor as well which makes this recipe unique.

Sugar and Sparrow’s cream cheese frosting is another recipe with a similar concept! She adds buttermilk powder to hers but also mentions cornstarch and dry milk powder as swaps.

Cream Cheese Frosting Testing

I tried probably a dozen or more variations of cream cheese frosting to figure out which technique and ingredient ratio I liked best. Here’s a few thoughts about the different versions I tried along the way.

Dry Ingredient Ratios and Add Ins

Dry Milk Powder, buttermilk powder, and cornstarch were ALL successful in adding stability without sweetness. To add in any of these options, sift them with the powdered sugar to evenly distrubute them. The dry milk powder was a delicious option and I loved the stability. BUT…

Buttermilk powder stole the show for me with the scrumptious tang that reinforced the cream cheese flavor! Cornstarch added stability with no additional flavor, but the texture felt a little more starchy in testing.

Adding the cream cheese in at the normal step with the butter BEFORE the powdered sugar created that classic silky, less fluffy cream cheese. However, achieving the level of sturdiness I wanted required more powdered sugar than I was willing to add for stiffness. Cutting the sweetness to let the cream cheese be the star of the show was a major priority for me. Even using the exact same ratios, the test rounds with the cream cheese added in at the end were indeed sturdier!

Another variable I experimented with was the butter to cream cheese ratio. The normal range is anywhere from 1 part butter to 2 parts cream cheese (tangier flavor, but looser), to 2 parts butter to 1 part cream cheese (less tangy but sturdier). I landed on a 1 part butter to 1.5 part cream cheese to give it a pinch more stability with the butter, but still have plenty of cream cheese.

What Makes Cream Cheese Frosting Runny or Soupy?

This is the most common thing bakers run in to when making cream cheese frosting. Here’s a few tips to prevent runny soupy frosting!

Use Ingredients at the Correct Temperature

This one caused the most issues for me during testing in the middle of summer with no AC. Hard to believe right?

Over softened butter and cream cheese can be difficult, if not impossible to come back from and re-stabilize without having to adjust your dry ingredient ratio substantially.

On the other hand, butter or cream cheese that’s too COLD can stay lumpy and not mix in smoothly. At this point it’s tempting to just whip the heck out of it to mix in the lumps, but then it turns into soup. So, let’s move on to how to find the happy medium.

Soften Butter and Cream Cheese Without Overheating

In my experience the most foolproof way to soften both butter and cream cheese, is to cube it into smaller chunks and let it sit at room temperature for 30-40 minutes before using in the recipe. Cutting it in to smaller pieces speeds up the process vs leaving it in a whole block.

For butter, you can also use the microwave to soften butter (with caution) on a lower power in VERY short 5-10 second intervals.

Cream cheese on the other hand is much riskier in the microwave. It’s higher water content makes it more likely to break down if overheated. I recommend playing it safe by letting cream cheese soften at room temperature.

Serious Eats created a whole post on cream cheese softening methods that’s super helpful if you’d like to learn more! Check out the different pros and cons of each method.

Avoid Over-mixing

No matter what method you use with cream cheese frosting, over mixing can cause problems and create a runny consistency.

With this recipe, it’s crucial to follow the speed recommendations. Stop mixing when the cream cheese is fully combined and the frosting is holding it’s shape well.

Store at the Correct Temperature

Any butter based frosting is going to start to soften if the environment is too warm. ESPECIALLY cream cheese frosting. If your frosting starts feeling a bit soft, try chilling it in the fridge for at least 20 minutes to firm up. Then stir on a low speed when ready to use.

Store frosting (and desserts decorated or filled with frosting) in the fridge in general as a rule of thumb, and bring out 20 minutes or so before you plan to eat or use. (Or eat them cold like me and the other dessert rebels).

Use the Correct Type of Ingredients

See the ingredients section earlier in the post to make sure you’re using the correct options. I can’t guarantee your cream cheese frosting will turn out if you decide to make swaps with different ingredients.

Add Additional Powdered Sugar for Stiffness

If you’re ok with a sweeter frosting, you can add in powdered sugar a spoonful or so at a time, and mix on low or by hand until you’ve reached the desired consistency!

Ways to Use Cream Cheese Frosting

One of the best things about this recipe (besides the fact that it’s delicious), is that it’s stable enough to decorate and pipe with! While not as sturdy as a traditional buttercream, it’s quite a bit more stable for piping than traditional cream cheese frosting. I let a generously piped 1M swirl sit out on a spatula at 72 degrees F for an HOUR and it still held it’s shape when tipped around!

Try this cream cheese frosting out with…

• Cupcakes
• Cakes
• Macarons
• Cookies
• Brownies
• Layered Desserts

Looking for other classic filling and frosting recipes? Check these out!

Peanut Butter Buttercream

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Easy Buttercream Frosting for Sugar Cookie Decorating