This Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe is the perfect topping for any of your favorite desserts. Nutty brown butter meets tangy cream cheese in this irresistibly creamy and perfectly sweet frosting.
Quick
five ingredients
You’ll Learn: How to make brown butter, which will take this frosting to the next level
Worth It: It can be used on just about any dessert since it is great with all flavors
Bonus: It only requires five simple ingredients
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Easy dessert twist – This brown butter cream cheese frosting is the perfect way to mix up your go to dessert! It adds a fun flavor to your favorite desserts.
- Versatile topping – You can use this frosting recipe on everything. It’s great with all flavors, like carrot cake, chocolate, vanilla, or red velvet.
- Make ahead – If you are making this for a party dessert, you can make it as far as a week ahead to save some prep time!
Serving Suggestions
Use this brown butter cream cheese frosting recipe on any of your favorite desserts. I served it on top of this rich and moist brown butter banana bread.
You can pair it with these carrot cake cookies, or replace the frosting on this easy pumpkin cake. It would also be delicious with these red velvet cake mix cookies.
Turn your favorite muffin recipe into a quick cupcake by adding a dollop of this icing on top. I added some these healthy carrot cake muffins for an easy Easter recipe!
Ingredients and Ingredient Substitutions
- Unsalted butter – it’s important to use unsalted butter so your frosting does not end up extra salty
- Cream cheese – make sure to use a brick of cream cheese at room temperature for this recipe
- Vanilla extract – The vanilla adds a ton of flavor to your frosting. You can also use vanilla bean paste
- Kosher salt – a bit of salt enhances the flavor of your frosting. If you are using table salt, cut the amount in half
- Powdered sugar – the powdered sugar provides the perfect texture for your frosting. Add more as needed to get your frosting to the perfect consistency
How to make
Step 1: Make the Brown Butter
Place a stick of butter in a small sauce pan over medium low heat. Allow the butter to melt completely. Whisk occasionally until the top of the melted butter looks foamy. Once it looks foamy, whisk constantly until you start to see small brown flecks at the bottom of the pan and remove from heat.
Allow the brown butter to cool. Place cooled browned butter into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer along with the cream cheese.
Step 2: Make Frosting
Mix the 2 together with the whisk attachment of a stand mixer or a hand mixer until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and salt to the bowl and mix again.
Slowly add the powdered sugar little by little. Continue adding the sugar until the frosting has your desired consistency. If you want a slightly stiffer frosting that is good for piping you can either chill in the fridge before using or add more powdered sugar.
Storage
Store any leftover frosting in an airtight container the fridge for up to 1 week.
If you are making this frosting ahead of time, allow it to soften a bit when it comes out of the fridge before spreading.
Check out These Other Frosted dessert recipes
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
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Recipe
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature – brick not tub
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 4 cups powdered sugar + more as needed
Instructions
- Prepare the brown butter – place a stick of unsalted butter in a small sauce pan over medium low heat. Allow the butter to melt completely. Whisk occasionally until the top of the melted butter looks foamy. Once it looks foamy, whisk constantly until you start to see small brown flecks at the bottom of the pan and immediately remove from heat.
- Allow the brown butter to cool until it reaches room temperature. You can place in the fridge for about 10 minutes to cool more rapidly
- Place cooled browned butter into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer along with the cream cheese.
- Mix the 2 together with the whisk attachment of a stand mixer or a hand mixer until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and salt to the bowl and mix again.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar little by little. Continue adding the sugar until the frosting has your desired consistency. I like about 4 cups for it to be smooth and spreadable. If you want a slightly stiffer frosting that is good for piping you can either chill in the fridge before using or add up to 1 cup more powdered sugar.
- Store in the fridge for up to 1 week. If making ahead of time, allow to soften a bit when it comes out of the fridge before spreading.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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