Make our delicious cream cheese icing to glaze doughnuts, cakes, cinnamon rolls, or even our cinnamon roll pancakes. The recipe is simple, fast, and delicious. Extra cream cheese glaze can be kept in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
If I had to pick a favorite icing, this cream cheese icing would be my winner by far. When cream cheese is added to a humble icing, it transforms into a creamy luscious sauce with a bit of a tang that balances out the sweetness.
This is not your classic cream cheese frosting, it is more of a glaze or sauce perfect for pouring. If you really want to make the most of this icing, I can’t recommend enough trying it on these two easy recipes:
Make Homemade Cream Cheese Icing
To make this icing you will literally just place all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk them up. You can use an electric mixer on medium speed if you like, but it isn’t strictly necessary. It comes together in five minutes or less and adds pizazz to your pastries.
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Icing
- Cream Cheese
I’ve made this icing using full fat, low fat and fat-free cream cheese, and I can’t say full fat is the best as you probably expected. Full fat adds a sense of heaviness that works best on lighter baked goods, fat-free works great with added flavouring, and in my opinion low-fat works best overall. - Confectioner’s Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
Use a high quality vanilla because this is the main flavoring for your icing. - Milk
You can use any milk you like, including non-dairy milk.
Variations on Cream Cheese Icing Recipe
When it comes to flavor, the possibilities are endless!
- The recipe below is the classic vanilla flavour. Vanilla is the most common and most likely the taste everyone is familiar with. But, this icing is amazing with any kind of citrus zest and juice—it becomes a fresh yet creamy icing that is just the perfect sweetness on an already sweet baked good.
- Another way I love to flavour this icing is by keeping the vanilla and adding to it spice—nutmeg or cinnamon or cardamom or chai spice for a more exotic taste. Feel free to play with it and make it suit everything you bake!
- If you need a more runny glaze, add a bit more milk. If you feel the icing is too thin, add a tablespoon of cream cheese with a tablespoon of confectioner sugar and whisk it in. It’s a personal preference or in some cases, it depends on the type of baked good you’re pouring it on. I like mine on the thicker edge most of the time unless it’s a citrus flavoured icing. The recipe below is thick. Adjust it as needed.
- I tend to like citrus flavoured icings on the runny side, it gives it an extra sense of freshness. For the citrus flavours, add the zest of 1 lemon or citrus of your choice and substitute the milk with the juice of that citrus. You can add a pinch of salt to help amplify those flavours.
Cream Cheese Icing Tips
- If you need to thin out a recipe of cream cheese icing, add more liquid very sparingly.
- This kind of glaze will thin out significantly with only a tiny amount of added liquid. A little at a time will allow you to get the perfect consistency you are going for.
- If your powdered sugar is clumpy, heating the milk up just a bit in the microwave will help prevent lumps.
- You don’t want to heat it too much, as it will scald or melt the cream cheese and make a mess. Just enough to help the sugar along. It depends on the microwave but I recommend 15-25 seconds or so.
- You can use low fat cream cheese, but we don’t recommend it.
- Use it on cookies, cupcakes, pancakes, cakes and more!
- Try it with my Cinnamon Roll Pancakes for an unforgettable breakfast! (pictured bove)
FAQ
How to Store Leftover Cream Cheese Glaze
Store your leftover cream cheese icing in an airtight container. Refrigerate it for up to two weeks. Use it on any pastry or dessert to add extra deliciousness
Does cream cheese icing need to be refrigerated?
Yes. Keep it in the fridge in an airtight container. While it can last for up to six hours at room temperature if you are serving it at a party or event for guests to pour over their desserts, in general, it should be kept refrigerated when not in use.
Is cream cheese icing the same as frosting?
No. Icing, often called a glaze, is more like a sauce and runs over the edge of a pastry instead of needing spread.
What makes cream cheese icing get runny?
Too much liquid will thin your icing too much. It happens very fast. Add liquid sparingly to reach your desired thinness.
How to keep cream cheese icing from getting lumpy?
Heating your milk slightly or using an electric mixer can help. Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature. Also, make sure you use fresh powdered sugar that isn’t clumping.
Easy Desserts:
Instant Chia Chocolate Pudding
Cream Cheese Icing
This cream cheese icing recipe is the simplest and best you’ll ever have!
Ingredients
- 4 ounces of room temperature softened cream cheese ( full fat, low fat or fat free-your preference)
- 1/2 cup of confectioner’s sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons of milk ( any type)
Instructions
-
Place all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk them up. If the icing feels to thick, add milk a little bit at a time and whisk to make sure it doesn’t thin out. If you feel the icing is too thin, add a tablespoon of cream cheese with a tablespoon of confectioner sugar and whisk it in.For the citrus flavours, add the zest of 1 citrus of your choice and substitute the milk with the juice of that citrus.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Cream Cheese Icing Tips
If you need to thin out a recipe of cream cheese icing, add more liquid very sparingly. This kind of glaze will thin out significantly with only a tiny amount of added liquid. A little at a time will allow you to get the perfect consistency you are going for.
If your powdered sugar is clumpy, heating the milk up just a bit in the microwave will help prevent lumps. You don't want to heat it too much, as it will scald or melt the cream cheese and make a mess. Just enough to help the sugar along. It depends on the microwave but I recommend 15-25 seconds or so.
Try it with my Cinnamon Roll Pancakes for an unforgettable breakfast!
FAQ
How to Store Leftover Cream Cheese Glaze
Store your leftover cream cheese icing in an airtight container. Refrigerate it for up to two weeks. Use it on any pastry or dessert to add extra deliciousness
Does cream cheese icing need to be refrigerated?
Yes. Keep it in the fridge in an airtight container. While it can last for up to six hours at room temperature if you are serving it at a party or event for guests to pour over their desserts, in general, it should be kept refrigerated when not in use.
Is cream cheese icing the same as frosting?
No. Icing, often called a glaze, is more like a sauce and runs over the edge of a pastry instead of needing spread.
What makes cream cheese icing get runny?
Too much liquid will thin your icing too much. It happens very fast. Add liquid sparingly to reach your desired thinness.
How to keep cream cheese icing from getting lumpy?
Heating your milk slightly or using an electric mixer can help. Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature. Also, make sure you use fresh powdered sugar that isn't clumping.
This cream cheese icing is a game-changer! I used it on a carrot cake and it was silky smooth with just the right amount of tang!
This cream cheese icing was absolutely incredible! Just the right amounts of sweet and tangines, it went perfectly on my chocolate cake!
Oh, nice! I have some carrot cake muffins, which will be perfect with.
I know this blog is a few years old, but I wanted to ask… Will this icing harden up? I want to do a thinner icing to pour over top of carrot cake cookies, and I was just wondering if it would harden enough that the cookies could be stacked. Thank you in advance!!!
Hi Wendy, The icing will absolutely harden and dry a bit, but not so much that you can stack cookies over each other. I think you’re looking for Royal icing.
Heat regular cream cheese frosting in the microwave till it’s pourable, then frost cookies that way