Cream Cheese Icing

This cream cheese frosting recipe combines cream cheese, butter, icing sugar, and vanilla for a smooth, rich, and perfectly sweet topping that pairs well with cakes, cupcakes, and cookies.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 12

Total Time 12

Servings recipe (enough for 2 8-inch (or 9-inch) cakes, 1 9" x 13" sheet cake or 24 cupcakes)

Calories 3486kcal

Author Wanda Simone

Equipment

measuring cups and spoons
Stand Mixer and Mixing Bowl
Spatula

Ingredients

8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup (or 1 stick) salted butter softened
4 cups (or 1 pound) sifted icing sugar also known as powdered sugar or confectioner's sugar

Instructions

Beat the cream cheese with the vanilla on medium speed until smooth.
8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Add the butter.
½ cup (or 1 stick) salted butter
Beat the cream cheese and butter mixture until it is fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes
Reduce the speed to low.
Add the icing sugar in ½ cup increments, beating on low speed between each addition until the previous one has been incorporated.
4 cups (or 1 pound) sifted icing sugar
Increase to medium speed and beat for another minute until the frosting is light and fluffy.

Notes

Cutting the butter and cream cheese up into chunks before adding them to the bowl makes it easier to mix them (especially if you are using a hand held mixer).
Using salted butter helps to keep the icing from being too sweet, but unsalted butter will work, too.
You can adjust how sweet the cream cheese icing is by using less sugar. It will still work with 3 cups of sugar instead of 4.
You can store cream cheese frosting in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Let it warm up before spreading. If it seems lumpy, mix it for a few seconds in a mixer to get its fluffiness back.

Nutrition