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    Home » Recipes by Course » Desserts

    Published: Feb 18, 2021 · Modified: Feb 18, 2021 by Cathy · This post may contain affiliate links

    Home » Recipes by Course » Desserts

    Cream Cheese Frosting without Butter

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    This is a Cream Cheese Frosting without butter and without powdered sugar. It's light and fluffy, but also rich and satisfying at the same time! Perfect for carrot cake and cinnamon rolls, whip it up in ten minutes or less with only 4 ingredients!

    close up of white frosting on round cake
    Jump to:
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions
    • Recipe FAQ's and Tips
    • What Uses Cream Cheese Frosting?
    • Recipe

    What can I use instead of butter in frosting, you ask. How can homemade cream cheese icing for carrot cake be good without powdered icing sugar? The secret is in the two somewhat-healthier ingredients: raw honey and whipped cream. You don't need much honey to give whipped cream cheese frosting the sweetness it needs when the flavour and richness of whipping cream and cream cheese make it so satisfying. The cream is whipped separately before being incorporated into the frosting, so it provides a certain lightness to the topping.

    Ingredients

    small bowls of vanilla, cream cheese, whipping cream, and honey with labels
    • Cream Cheese - Use the kind that comes in a brick rather than the more spreadable one sold in a tub. Allow it to come to room temperature so you can beat it.
    • Heavy Whipping Cream - Labels are different in different countries. In Canada, I use 35% whipping cream. It might also be called heavy cream or heavy whipping cream. Use something that has 30% fat content or greater.
    • Honey - There are health benefits to consuming raw honey, and they will be retained as this frosting is uncooked. Any liquid honey should work in this recipe, though.
    • Vanilla - I use pure vanilla extract.

    Instructions

    Beat softened cream cheese, liquid honey, and vanilla extract together until they are smoothly combined. Use either a stand mixer or a hand-held one.

    beaten cream cheese mixture in bottom of mixing bowl with whisk

    Beat the whipping cream until it is stiff enough to form peaks when the beater is pulled out.

    closeup of stiffly beaten whipped cream on whisk held over bowl

    Carefully fold the whipped cream, about one-quarter of it at a time, into the beaten cream cheese mixture. To fold, gently draw a spatula through both ingredients in the bowl from one side to the other. Keep turning the bowl, a little at a time, until everything has been mixed together.

    fluffy white mixture in bowl with wooden spatula

    Spread homemade cream cheese frosting over cake, cupcakes, muffins, or cinnamon rolls.

    fluffy white frosting being spread over round layer cake

    Recipe FAQ's and Tips

    Why should I use a brick of cream cheese and then let it soften when I can just buy spreadable cream cheese?

    The benefit of using a softened brick of cream cheese is that when your frosting is refrigerated, the cream cheese will firm up again and help it to thicken.

    Why is cream cheese frosting runny?

    Your cream cheese frosting might be runny if you used softened, spreadable cream cheese or if your cream was not whipped until stiff peaks formed. It may also become runny if it's left out in a warm room for too long after it has been made.

    Can cream cheese frosting sit out overnight?

    Don't let this cream cheese frosting sit out overnight. It should be covered and refrigerated until you serve it.

    fluffy white cream cheese frosting without butter being scooped from a bowl

    What Uses Cream Cheese Frosting?

    • Carrot Cake
    • Lemon Cake

    Recipe

    cream cheese frosting without butter is scooped from a grey bowl
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    Cream Cheese Frosting

    This cream cheese frosting made without powdered sugar and without butter is rich, flavourful, and satisfying! It's perfect with carrot cake or cinnamon rolls.
    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Total Time 10 minutes
    Servings 12 2-layer cake servings
    Calories 143kcal
    Author Cathy

    Equipment

    • Stand Mixer

    Ingredients

    • ¾ cup heavy whipping cream chilled
    • 1 cup (8 oz) cream cheese at room temperature
    • ¼ cup raw honey in liquid form
    • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
    US Customary - Metric

    Instructions

    • Beat together the cream cheese, honey, and vanilla.
    • In a clean bowl, whip the cream until stiff.
    • Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Use it immediately to frost a cooled cake, cupcakes, or muffins. Store the frosted items in the refrigerator.

    Notes

    • A stand mixer makes quick work of this frosting. If you don't have one, you can certainly use a hand mixer.
    • Store frosting, covered, in the refrigerator for a few days.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 12-layer cake serving | Calories: 143kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 42mg | Sodium: 69mg | Potassium: 44mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 483IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1mg
    Save this recipe to make again.@CathysGlutenFree
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