Healthy cream cheese frosting that’s made with Greek yogurt and naturally sweetened with maple syrup. No butter or powdered sugar needed! It’s creamy, fluffy and delicious served on carrot cake, cinnamon rolls or your favorite flavor of cupcakes or cake.
The third and final frosting recipe for you this week! I honestly don’t make cream cheese frosting that much but that’s probably because I didn’t realize how easy it was! I love the flavor and find it to be so versatile.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Everyone needs a classic cream cheese frosting recipe in their back pocket!
It’s a healthier version of the traditional recipe – no powdered sugar or butter needed!
This recipe is made with just four simple ingredients.
It’s light and creamy and perfect for topping a variety of cupcakes, cakes and even cookies.
Upgraded Cream Cheese Frosting
Traditional cream cheese frosting is typically made with a full stick of butter and 2-4 cups of powdered sugar, but in true EBF fashion I decided to make an upgraded version. I swapped the powdered sugar with maple syrup and added Greek yogurt for a little boost of protein! Trust me, this version is just as delicious, if not better than the traditional recipe and it’s made with better-for-you-ingredients.
Here’s What You Need
cream cheese – make sure you’re using a block and not spread of full fat cream cheese that has been softened to room temperature.
Greek yogurt – again, I recommend using full fat yogurt. I used plain yogurt but you could try different flavors if you’d like! Greek yogurt is thick and creamy and the perfect yogurt option for this recipe. I don’t recommend using a different type of yogurt, as it might thin the frosting out too much.
maple syrup – classic cream cheese frosting typically calls for powdered sugar, but I’m using maple syrup to sweeten this frosting. I love the flavor it adds but if you’d like to swap for a different liquid natural sweetener, I’m sure that would work as well.
vanilla extract – a flavor enhancer that brings all of the flavors together in this frosting.
How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting
Before you start making your frosting, make sure your cream cheese has been softened to room temperature. It will take about an hour for your cream cheese to soften fully to room temp on the counter. Alternatively, you can soften your cream cheese in the microwave on a plate for about 20-30 seconds. Just make sure to unwrap the cream cheese from the foil before placing in the microwave and don’t heat too long otherwise your cream cheese could turn out runny!
Add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and use a hand mixer to whip the ingredients together on medium speed until smooth and fluffy. Scrape down the sides as needed to make sure everything is fully combined. You can also use a stand mixer for this if you have one!
tip!
Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature otherwise the frosting will turn out lumpy and not as smooth after beating it.
Tips For Frosting
You can frost this in a variety of different ways! I usually just use a knife or spatula to spread the frosting on cake or cupcakes but you could also pipe it! Scoop the frosting into a piping bag or a plastic baggie. Cut the corner of the baggie and pipe out the frosting on your treats.
How to Use Cream Cheese Frosting
This recipe makes enough to frost 18 cupcakes or an 8-9 inch cake. Here are some recipes that would be delicious with this cream cheese frosting:
If you don’t use all of this frosting right away, you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. When you’re ready to use, bring it to room temperature and then re-whip with a handheld mixer or stand mixer before using.
Be sure to check out all of the dessert recipes here on EBF!
Cream Cheese Frosting
4 from 81 votes
A healthy cream cheese frosting that's made with Greek yogurt and maple syrup. No butter or powdered sugar needed! It's creamy, fluffy and delicious served on carrot cake, cinnamon rolls or your favorite flavor of cupcakes or cake.
Using a hand mixer on medium speed whip all the ingredients together until smooth and fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed. Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer.
Use frosting on desired recipe and enjoy. This recipe will yield enough to frost 18 cupcakes or a 8-9 inch cake.
Notes
Maple syrup: Feel free to use your favorite liquid sweetener.
Make sure the cream cheese is at room temp, otherwise it’ll turn lumpy and not as smooth after beating it.
We tried this frosting for the healthy birthday cake. It was amazing! We made some changes though. I used vanilla paste, about another big tablespoon of maple syrup. And I halved the cream cheese quantity between full fat philadelphia and marscapone. Divine!! Thanks!
Ah, I am so happy that you enjoyed this recipe, Stacy. Your substitutions sounds amazing! Thank you for coming back and leaving your review + star rating, I really appreciate it.
Yup the name says it all. It’s for the birds. No wonder they are so skinny. Had to add Agave and some organic raspberry jam to make it palatable. Fingers crossed my family will like it!
This recipe was really disappointing. I used a block of full fat cream cheese and full fat greek yogurt. I followed the receipt instructions exactly and the icing came out very runny; I could not use it to ice the cake in any way. I would recommend others look seek out a different recipe or at least test it out first so you’re not stuck like I was. Really frustrating!
Hi Tara! I’m so sorry the recipe didn’t turn out for you. Can you share what brands of cream cheese and yogurt you’ve used? We have tested this recipe multiple times with good results so I’m unsure why it would have turned out so thin.
Hey Val! I haven’t tried it before so I’m not sure how mascarpone would work. That said, it does seem like mascarpone is a good substitute for cream cheese so I bet it would work, but the flavor will be different. Let me know if you try it and how the frosting turns out!
Oh no! I wonder why it’s so thin. Did you use full fat Greek yogurt or a different type of yogurt? Also, what type of cream cheese did you use? I’d recommend using a block of cream cheese instead of a cream cheese spread.
Note to those with runny icing:
Different yogurts have different moisture levels. As a preventative measure, you can put muslin in a colander and let your yogurt drain for 2-4 hours in the fridge before making your icing
Also, if your cream has a wet look, you can dry that off by dabbing with muslin or a paper towel
Also note that adding dried fruit additions might help alleviate some excess moisture as well
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We tried this frosting for the healthy birthday cake. It was amazing! We made some changes though. I used vanilla paste, about another big tablespoon of maple syrup. And I halved the cream cheese quantity between full fat philadelphia and marscapone. Divine!! Thanks!
Ah, I am so happy that you enjoyed this recipe, Stacy. Your substitutions sounds amazing! Thank you for coming back and leaving your review + star rating, I really appreciate it.
Yup the name says it all. It’s for the birds. No wonder they are so skinny. Had to add Agave and some organic raspberry jam to make it palatable. Fingers crossed my family will like it!
Oh no! Did you change anything about the recipe?
This recipe was really disappointing. I used a block of full fat cream cheese and full fat greek yogurt. I followed the receipt instructions exactly and the icing came out very runny; I could not use it to ice the cake in any way. I would recommend others look seek out a different recipe or at least test it out first so you’re not stuck like I was. Really frustrating!
Hi Tara! I’m so sorry the recipe didn’t turn out for you. Can you share what brands of cream cheese and yogurt you’ve used? We have tested this recipe multiple times with good results so I’m unsure why it would have turned out so thin.
Sure, I used President’s Choice full fat greek yogurt and No Name full fat pasteurized cream cheese (block, not spread).
Hi
So excited to try out your cream cheese frosting for my girl’s birthday next month
May I use mascapone cheese instead?
Hey Val! I haven’t tried it before so I’m not sure how mascarpone would work. That said, it does seem like mascarpone is a good substitute for cream cheese so I bet it would work, but the flavor will be different. Let me know if you try it and how the frosting turns out!
Made this and it came it really runny. Followed all the steps as they said so I can’t work out why. Disappointed..
Oh no! I wonder why it’s so thin. Did you use full fat Greek yogurt or a different type of yogurt? Also, what type of cream cheese did you use? I’d recommend using a block of cream cheese instead of a cream cheese spread.
Note to those with runny icing:
Different yogurts have different moisture levels. As a preventative measure, you can put muslin in a colander and let your yogurt drain for 2-4 hours in the fridge before making your icing
Also, if your cream has a wet look, you can dry that off by dabbing with muslin or a paper towel
Also note that adding dried fruit additions might help alleviate some excess moisture as well
Thanks for your note, Hannah! Did you end up making this recipe?