This cream cheese frosting made without powdered sugar. It uses all-natural real food ingredients including cream cheese, whipping cream (heavy cream), coconut sugar and vanilla extract. You can use this frosting on top of your cakes, cupcakes and cookies.

Cream Cheese Frosting Without Powdered Sugar

This is my favorite icing recipe for our homemade cupcakes and cakes. I use this every year for my daughter's birthday. It's easy to make, uses no powdered sugar, and includes wholesome real food ingredients.

I always use coconut sugar in my frosting because I LOVE the taste! It has a light caramel flavor that tastes nothing like coconuts. It's my favorite sweetener to use in any baking for this reason. The only downside is that coconut sugar is brown in color which will tint the icing to be a light brown/beige color. This never bothered me - it just looks natural. However, if you want white icing, try using light-colored honey, or lakanto monkfruit sweetener (it's sugar-free) instead.

close up of smooth creamy cream cheese frosting in

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

You'll need four ingredients to make this frosting:

Whipping Cream (Heavy Cream) - Depending on where you live, it might be called whipping cream or heavy cream.
Cream Cheese - I prefer to use the philedalphia cream cheese brand because it tends to come out the smoothest. However, play around with brands to see if you can find one locally that's even smoother!
Coconut Sugar - You can find coconut sugar in the "health foods" section of most grocery stores. I buy mine at Costco.
Vanilla Extract - You'll also need vanilla extract for a bit of extra flavor. This will also tint the color of the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting Tips

Make sure the cream cheese is soft and at room temperature. I like to set mine on the counter for a few hours before making the frosting. If you use cold cream cheese, the frosting will turn out clumpy.
If you're struggling with the cream cheese clumps, let the frosting sit on the counter for 1 hour, then try blending again. This should help to break them down.
Try out a few different brands of cream cheese. I've found that different brands will be smooth and creamier than others.
Coconut sugar and vanilla extract will tint the color of the frosting. It will have a light-brownish color. If you want the icing to be closer to white, skip the vanilla extract and use lakanto monkfruit sweetener or cane sugar instead. I'm not a big fan of cane sugar because it's a refined sugar, which I've chosen to avoid in our homemade food. However, I also think that if you want to use it in a birthday celebration once in a while, go for it! Personally, I'm totally fine with a light-brown frosting color and I just love the taste of coconut sugar!
You can tint the color of this icing with natural powders including blue butterfly pea powder (turns blue), dragonfruit powder (turns pink), carrot powder (orange), and sweet potato powder (purple). All of these powders are organic and gluten-free.
If you're icing cupcakes, cake or cookies, make sure that it is completely cool before icing. If you ice a warm cake, the icing will melt. I always chill my baking in the fridge first before I start icing.
You can use a sandwich bag for an inexpensive piping bag. Add the frosting to the sandwich bag and seal tightly. Snip off a tiny piece of one corner with scissors. Then use it to easily frost your cupcakes and cookies.
Storage: You can make this icing in advance. Just store the icing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week before you use it.