Easy Cream Cheese Frosting

Our homemade cream cheese frosting recipe is naturally gluten-free, made from simple ingredients that taste amazing. It’s perfect for piping & decorating your favorite cakes, cupcakes, and more!

Other than, perhaps, a fudgy brownie, is there anything more luxurious than frosting? We’re working our way through all kinds of classic cake and frosting recipes this year, and our collection wouldn’t be complete without an easy homemade cream cheese frosting recipe!

Part of what makes this creamy frosting so special is:

1. Simple ingredients (nothing fussy required)
2. Quick prep (just a few minutes once you’ve softened the ingredients!) and
3. The signature cream cheese flavor that pairs so well with classic cakes. It’s the perfect balance of sweet & tangy!

Here on the blog, this delicious frosting most recently made an appearance on our Gluten-Free Carrot Cake, but it’s just as amazing on pumpkin bars, red velvet cake, cupcakes, and more. Ready to make a batch? Let’s dive into this easy cream cheese frosting recipe!

Is Cream Cheese Frosting Gluten-Free?

The basic ingredients for homemade cream cheese frosting are naturally gluten-free. That said, it’s important to make sure you use fresh ingredients in an environment free from cross contamination.

If you don’t usually bake gluten-free and you’re making this frosting for someone who has Celiac disease, make sure to use separate bowls & utensils, and fresh packages of sugar and cream cheese that haven’t come in contact with wheat, wheat flour, or other gluten-containing ingredients.

So what are these gluten-free ingredients for cream cheese frosting? Glad you asked…

Simple Ingredients To Get Started

As always, you can find the full recipe, amounts of ingredients, plus step by step instructions in the recipe card below.

• Room Temperature Cream Cheese. I only recommend full-fat, blocks of cream cheese for making cream cheese frosting. Tub-style cream cheese or cream cheese spreads don’t have the same fat content or texture, and can throw off the texture of this frosting.
• Room Temperature Butter. Softened butter works wonders! It adds creaminess and a plush texture to cream cheese frosting. Start with unsalted butter + add a pinch of salt, if you like, or use salted butter and skip any added salt. Your choice!
• Powdered Sugar. For best results, sifting the powdered sugar first with a fine mesh sieve can help eliminate any extra lumps in the frosting. It’ll give your frosting the best texture possible.
• Vanilla or Vanilla Bean Paste. Always! If you want little flecks of vanilla, try using vanilla bean paste instead of regular vanilla extract. Either works!
• Pinch of Salt (Maybe). Only if you need it to help balance the flavors. (Skip if you’re using salted butter!)

How To Make Cream Cheese Frosting, Step By Step

1. Start With Softened Ingredients. Before you start the frosting, it’s important that the butter and cream cheese have both been softened so they’ll blend well. If they’re cold, you’ll end up with chunks in your frosting, which is NOT what we want! 
2. Combine Butter & Cream Cheese in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer (which I prefer). Beat butter and cream cheese 2-3 minutes with a paddle attachment or hand mixer or until fluffy, smooth, and well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
3. Add Powdered Sugar 1/2 Cup At A Time, until all of the powdered sugar has been added. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add vanilla and salt (if using), then mix on medium speed 1-2 minutes to make sure everything is well incorporated and smooth. 
4. Use For Decorating! You can transfer this frosting to a piping bag, or spread over a cake with an offset spatula. Keep in mind the frosting will soften quickly at room temperature, so you can pop it in the fridge, as needed to firm back up.

What Desserts Go Well With Cream Cheese Frosting?

Now that you know how to make cream cheese frosting, we can talk about all the yummy ways to use cream cheese frosting! Isn’t that the best part? This homemade frosting is the perfect complement to all sorts of delicious cakes, bars, and desserts, like:

• Gluten-Free Carrot Cake or Carrot Cake Cupcakes
• Red Velvet Cake
• Banana Cake or Banana Bars
• Fruit Pizza Cookies – Lemon sugar cookies + cream cheese frosting + fresh fruit!
• Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bars
• Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
• Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cupcakes
• Zucchini Cake
• Cinnamon Rolls
• Spice Cake

5 Cream Cheese Frosting Flavors & Variations To Try

Don’t be afraid to go beyond the basic, easy recipe. There are endless options for flavoring cream cheese frosting depending on what you’re making.

1. Cinnamon – We love this for our Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cupcakes!
2. Lemon – Add 1/2-1 teaspoon lemon extract or 1/8 teaspoon lemon oil for bright citrus flavor
3. Brown Butter – Brown butter cream cheese frosting has a rich, decadent flavor that’s unbelievable! You’ll brown the butter first, then cool it in the fridge until it’s softened and solid again.
4. Maple – Use a touch of pure maple syrup instead of vanilla.
5. Chocolate – Try adding about 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder for a chocolate cream cheese frosting!

FAQ + Tips And Tricks For The Best Cream Cheese Frosting

What Store-bought Cream Cheese Frosting Is Gluten-Free? Many popular brands of cream cheese frosting are made without gluten ingredients, but not all are certified gluten-free or labeled gluten-free. A few brands that ARE labeled gluten-free are Pillsbury Cream Cheese Frosting and Betty Crocker Cream Cheese Frosting. Duncan Hines Cream Cheese Frosting is not currently labeled gluten-free.

Want Tangier Frosting? If you really like the tang of cream cheese frosting, you can add a small splash of fresh lemon juice to play up the tanginess of the cream cheese. 1-2 teaspoons should do the trick!

Can I Use Dairy-Free Cream Cheese? I don’t recommend this exact recipe with vegan cream cheese (like Kite Hill) and vegan butter (like Earth Balance). The proportions of fat and water in dairy-free cream cheese are different from those in regular cream cheese, so you’d be better off with a specifically vegan cream cheese frosting recipe that’s already taken this into account.

🌟 Leave a star rating below when you try our Cream Cheese Frosting recipe! We can’t wait to hear what you think!

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