Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
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This chocolate cream cheese frosting is thick, creamy, silky smooth, and not too sweet. It pipes beautifully onto cupcakes or cakes and is surprisingly easy to make. 
If you don’t like frosting that’s overly sweet – then this chocolate cream cheese frosting is the perfect buttercream recipe for you. The cream cheese adds a delicious tanginess and it’s super creamy with a rich chocolate flavor. It’s delicious on vanilla or chocolate cake, and it’s perfect for piping or frosting with a knife.
There’s something about this chocolate cream cheese frosting that almost tastes like chocolate pudding – and I have to say, it’s completely delicious
How to Make Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Let’s talk specifics – shall we? For this recipe you’ll need:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 8 oz full-fat cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder – I prefer Dutch-process cocoa
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons whipping cream, as needed
In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter until it’s fluffy. This will take about 2-4 minutes. You want the butter to be room temperature before getting started, but definitely not melty. Then mix in the cream cheese. I always mix in the cream cheese after the butter because it helps to prevent the frosting from getting too thin. Then mix in the vanilla extract & salt.
From there, whisk together the cocoa powder and powdered sugar to remove any lumps. With the mixer on low speed, slowly start to mix the cocoa & powdered sugar into the butter mixture. I typically add in about 1 cup at a time. Once it’s all combined, turn up the mixer to high speed and whip for about a minute.
Then it’s time to have a little taste. If the frosting is too thin, mix in a little more powdered sugar about 1/4 cup at a time. If you feel the frosting is a little thick or too sweet – add in the whipping cream 1 tablespoon at a time.
When you’re done the frosting should be thick, creamy & perfectly glossy. 
Questions About Making this Frosting:
How much frosting does this recipe make? This recipe makes about 3 cups of cream cheese chocolate frosting. It’s enough to decorate:
- 18 cupcakes with a lot of frosting (as pictured) or about 24 cupcakes if you frost them with a knife.
- a 9×13 inch cake with both the top and sides, or just the top with a thick layer
- a 3 layer 8-inch cake with a thin layer of frosting
- a 2 layer 8-inch or 9-inch cake
- for 12 cupcakes, you can either half the recipe and decorate with a knife or keep the recipe the same and have a some extra (if decorating with a piping bag)
Can I use salted butter? Yup. I’d recommend removing the salt from the recipe, however.
What type of cream cheese should I use for cream cheese frosting? Make sure to use full fat, brick style cream cheese. Spreadable cream cheese is too thin for making frosting, and low-fat cream cheese isn’t thick enough either. If you use low-fat cream cheese the frosting can end up grainy or too thin.
My frosting was too thin to pipe – what went wrong? This can be caused by a few things. Either your cream cheese was low fat or spreadable, the butter was too warm, or you over mixed the frosting. If you beat the frosting for too long it can start losing its thick and creamy texture. Watch carefully – once your frosting looks thick- do not keep beating it with the electric mixer.
Should cream cheese frosting be stored in the fridge? Different people have different views on this. Storing the frosting at room temperature in an airtight container for a few hours is definitely fine. If your kitchen/house is particularly warm or you plan to have it out for more than 2-3 hours – I’d recommend storing it in the fridge to be on the safe side.
Can frosting be frozen? Yes. I recommend placing it in a freezer bag or airtight container to freeze it. Then thaw overnight in the fridge. Before you frost your cake/cupcakes you will need to re-whip it again, potentially adding in a little more powdered sugar or cream to get the consistency back.
This cream cheese chocolate frosting tastes incredible on:
- Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vanilla Cupcakes
- Chocolate Sheet Cake
- White Cake
- Strawberry Cake – skip the whipped cream topping that the recipe calls for and decorate with chocolate frosting instead.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons whipping cream, as needed
Instructions
- In a large bowl beat the butter with an electric mixer until fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).
- Beat in the cream cheese until evenly combined. Then add in the vanilla extract & salt.
- In a separate bowl sift together the cocoa powder & powdered sugar. Whisk them gently.
- With the mixer on low speed, carefully beat the cocoa & powdered sugar into the butter mixture.
- Once it's almost combined turn the mixer up to medium speed & continue beating until combined.
- If the frosting seems too thick or sweet, optionally add in 1-2 tablespoons of whipping cream. If it isn't sweet enough mix in a little more powdered sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag to decorate cupcakes (I used a 1M tip), or frost with a flat knife.
