Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

This cream cheese buttercream frosting is the perfect accompaniment to any dessert. The frosting is easy to make, and you can use it as a filling or topping for cakes, cupcakes, and other sweet treats.

It is thicker than most cream cheese frostings and pipes well. Make sure you add the cream cheese last to ensure it is thick and pipable.

This recipe will cover 24 standard cupcakes with a simple swirl, or you can pipe a tall mound of frosting on 10 to 12 cupcakes. You can also cover a 13x9-inch sheet cake or frost a double-layer 8-inch or 9-inch cake (double the recipe if you want to add frosting between the layers).

5 from 20 votes

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Prep Time: 5

Total Time: 5

Servings: cups to 2-1/4 cups

Calories: 77kcal

Author: Dahn Boquist

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter softened
2 cups powdered sugar sifted
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
8 ounces cream cheese block style

Instructions

Add the butter and powdered sugar to a mixing bowl. Start the mixer on slow speed then increase the speed to medium high. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla extract and salt. Mix well.
Add the cream cheese frosting and beat on medium high speed until well blended.

Notes

Use block style, full-fat cream cheese. Reduced fat cream cheese, Neufchâtel, and the type of cream cheese that comes in a tub all have a higher water content and will make your cream cheese buttercream loose and sloppy.
Cream cheese has a higher water content than butter and can make the frosting too soft. Adding the ingredients in the order listed will give you a thick cream cheese frosting.
Blending the butter with the sugar first will coat the sugar in butterfat and prevent the sugar from drawing water out of the cream cheese.
This technique also allows you to make the frosting less sweet since you do not need to add extra powdered sugar to make the frosting thick.
If you want a sweeter frosting, you can add additional powdered sugar.

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