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Get It NowI originally created this keto cream cheese frosting for my keto carrot cake (my favorite spring cake!), but since then, it’s become my go-to for so many treats. It’s so versatile! You can pipe it on low carb cupcakes, spread it on keto cakes, and even use it as a keto icing for cookies… all without any powdered sugar. Grab your hand mixer and make this sugar free cream cheese frosting with me in just 5 minutes!
Why You Need My Keto Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
- Creamy, tangy, and sweet – I know many of you love my keto buttercream frosting, but I think this keto cream cheese frosting is even better. And unlike many frosting recipes, mine uses more cream cheese than butter! It’s extra creamy, with a tangy flavor that brightens up any keto dessert.
- Keto friendly and gluten-free, with no aftertaste – I firmly believe you don’t have to compromise between taste and eating better. Even my friends and family (who aren’t low carb) love this stuff.
- 5 ingredients, 5 minutes – My sugar free cream cheese frosting is quick and easy! Just as easy as the regular kind.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for my sugar free cream cheese frosting recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
- Cream Cheese & Butter – For smooth blending, make sure both are softened at room temperature. I recommend unsalted butter, although you can add a pinch of salt if you like.
- Besti Powdered Monk Fruit Allulose Blend – Making cream cheese frosting without powdered sugar is pretty much the same as the regular kind, but the problem is that many sugar substitutes can leave a gritty texture. I used to make this keto cream cheese frosting with powdered erythritol, and when it did manage to dissolve (which wasn’t always!), it would crystallize later. That’s why I always use Besti now — it dissolves completely and won’t crystallize. You can also use Wholesome Yum confectioners allulose, but increase the amount to 2/3 cup. I don’t recommend any other powdered sweetener, as other brands of monk fruit and stevia typically contain erythritol.
- Heavy Cream – This thins out the frosting for a creamy consistency. Full-fat coconut milk works as a substitute if you’re out of cream. Avoid regular milk, which isn’t keto friendly.
- Vanilla Extract – I like this brand.
How To Make Keto Cream Cheese Frosting
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Beat the butter and cream cheese. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together the cream cheese and butter, until fluffy.
- Add powdered Besti and vanilla. Beat them in until the sweetener dissolves.
- Add the cream. Blend again, until your keto cream cheese frosting reaches a smooth, creamy consistency. Adjust the cream as needed to get just the texture you want.
My Recipe Tips
- Forgot to soften your butter and cream cheese? This usually takes 30 to 45 minutes at room temp, but it depends on your kitchen temperature. For a shortcut place both on a plate, and fill a large stainless steel bowl with boiling water. After 5 minutes, empty and dry the bowl, and place it inverted over the plate. Your butter and cream cheese will soften from the residual heat!
- Feel free to adjust the cream cheese to butter ratio. I like a 4:1 ratio, which makes it very tangy. If you prefer it milder, reduce the cream cheese to 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) and add an extra 4 tablespoons of butter (for 6 tablespoons total). You can play with any ratio you like — you just need 10 tablespoons total between the butter and cream cheese combined.
- Your kitchen temperature and humidity can play a role. If it’s very warm or humid, this can make your frosting runny as well.
- Don’t beat too long. You want the butter and cream cheese to become fluffy, but beating too long can warm them up so much that your frosting becomes runny, or introduce air bubbles.
- Want to add flavors? Try mixing in a dash of cinnamon or pumpkin spice, lemon or orange zest, or a few spoonfuls of cocoa powder (you can experiment with how much — I use the same amount as my keto chocolate frosting).
- Don’t have a piping bag? I have this set, which includes reusable bags, a variety of tips, and a box to hold them all. But you can easily scoop the frosting into a zip lock bag, snip off a corner, and you’re ready to pipe.
- How to pipe this sugar free cream cheese frosting: For cupcakes or round shapes, start in the center and spiral outward, then spiral back in to finish in the center.
Ways To Use It
You can use cream cheese frosting without powdered sugar in the same ways you would the regular kind! Here are some of my favorite ways:
- Cakes – Like I mentioned earlier, I first whipped it up for my keto carrot cake, but I also use it for my keto yellow cake and keto red velvet cake. You can even spread it on keto chocolate cake for something different!
- Cupcakes & Muffins – I originally made a raspberry frosting for my sugar free cupcakes, but I end up using this one just as often (as pictured on this page). You can also make your keto muffins feel more dessert like with a swirl of keto cream cheese frosting on top.
- Cookies & Bars – I think this frosting pairs particularly well with pumpkin, like my healthy pumpkin bars and keto pumpkin cookies. It also works well on keto sugar cookies and sugar free gingerbread cookies. If you really love cream cheese, spread it over my low carb cream cheese cookies!
My Tools For This Recipe
- Hand Mixer – I’m obsessed with mine! It’s powerful, has great storage for all the attachments, and has many speeds.
- Piping Bag & Tip Set – I love the variety of tips, but what I love even more is they come with a storage box and reusable bags.
Keto Cream Cheese Frosting (Sugar Free)
Make my sugar free, keto cream cheese frosting without powdered sugar in 5 minutes! It’s creamy, sweet, & perfect for your low carb desserts!
Instructions
[ See step photos See my tips ]Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together the cream cheese and butter for 2-3 minutes, until fluffy.
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Beat in the sweetener and vanilla, until the sweetener dissolves. (Note: You can use powdered Besti or powdered allulose, but most other sweeteners won't dissolve well.)
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Add the heavy cream and beat again, until creamy. You can adjust the amount of cream to get the consistency you like.
Did You Like It?
Leave a rating to help other readers (this also helps me continue to provide free recipes on my site), or get the recipe sent to your inbox.
Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 2 tablespoons
- Tips: Check out my recipe tips above to help you prevent runny frosting, my hack to soften the butter and cream cheese fast, several ways to adjust the flavor, and piping tricks.
- Store: Keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature before spreading or piping.
- Freeze: You can freeze this sugar free cream cheese frosting for up to 3 months. I recommend using a zip lock bag — just squeeze out all the air. Thaw in the fridge overnight, bring to room temp, then give it a quick beat before using.
- Recipe yield: This recipe makes 3/4 cup of frosting. Feel free to double or triple it if you need more.
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
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Keto Cream Cheese Frosting
317 Comments
Bonne
0Easy to make and delicious, just the right texture for my liking, would definitely make again.
Kristin
0Love this recipe! I used powdered erythritol and the texture and flavour came just right. I doubled the batch for your keto / low carb carrot cake recipe. This article says the frosting will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days, so I assume once I apply the frosting to the cake, I should refrigerate the whole cake, correct? Thanks in advance!
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Kristin, Yes, once you frost the cake it will need to be stored in the fridge. Enjoy!
Arpeggio
0We used HALF of the sugar listed and it was plenty sweet. We used Anthony’s monkfruit &erythritol powdered sugar sub. Great recipe but cloyingly sweet as written. I recommend starting with half and tasting…you have to take the sweetness of the cake into account. Still, delighted that there are so many excellent options with a diabetic in the house. Who knew we could make Smith Island cakes for Valentines?
Leslie
0I made the frosting with the exact ingredients. It was way to sweet for me. I would cut the confectionery sugar in half. I used the Swerve confectionary sugar.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Leslie, Feel free to add a bit more cream cheese to your frosting to tone down the sweetness. Just FYI, you didn’t use my exact ingredients and I find Swerve to have more overpowering sweetness than Besti.
Alice
0Made this for my diabetic husband and he raved about it! Used it to frost a keto chocolate cake. Thank!
Janna Long
0Hi! I made this today to frost the keto sugar cookies, but I added a little too much almond milk to thin it little. What do I use or how can I stiffen it back up?
It tastes amazing either way!
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Janna, Feel free to add a little extra cream cheese or powdered sweetener to thicken it back up. Please note, that if it’s not too runny, you can always refrigerate it and it will thicken slightly as well.
Charissa
0Very nice icing, used it on the Keto carrot cake. My 3yr old licked the whole bowl clean. You can’t tell it’s keto or non sugar. Thanks for this recipe, I will try this again!
Elena Ramirez
0If I only have granulated allulose, can I blitz it into a powder and use that? If so, how much?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Elena, That will work fine. Powdered sweeteners are more fluffy than granulated, so you may need to start with a little less, or you can just use the same amount and measure it out after powdering.
Audrey
0Made this tonight and it’s great. I didn’t have allulose so I just used Swerve confectioner’s, no idea if the ratios were 1:1 but it tastes amazing so I don’t mind. Is it safe to refrigerate or should I use it straight away? Thanks so much!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Audrey, I’m so sorry I missed your comment years ago and you probably won’t see this now, but I’m working hard to address all questions in case it helps anyone. Swerve will crystallize over time, so I’d recommend using it right away if that’s the sweetener you used. With Besti you can refrigerate for up to 5 days.
joan c.mahon
0Can I use whipped cream cheese instead of regular cream cheese? Thank you for answering
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Joan, I think that would work fine. It will probably be less rich, and you might need to use more.
Dianne
0I love how you put the ratio do I can make as much as or as little as I want! Thank you
christa a gomez
0Can not believe how tasty
Heather
0I tried this today . It was God awful! Mind you I used Erythritol so maybe that is why it turned out bitter . Threw it out it was not useable. Very disappointed .!!!! Will not make again
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Heather, Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately you didn’t follow my recipe, as I use Besti for this recipe, not erythritol. Most people don’t find erythritol to be bitter, but some do, and even then, erythritol doesn’t blend in well and can crystallize. I hope you get the chance to make the recipe as written.
Liane
0This tastes great! Can’t tell it is keto. I made extra but can I freeze leftovers and how long will it last?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Liane, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Yes, you can store this frosting in the freezer. Keep in a freezer-safe, airtight container and it will keep with a couple of months. Enjoy!
Carol
0Should I double (or more) this recipe to have enough icing for the red velvet cake recipe?
Mack
0I have been looking for a keto friendly sweet and I found it. Perfect to satisfy my craving without boosting my glucose. Thank you.
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Carol, Change the servings to 30 and it will yield 3.5 cups of frosting.
Jay
0This is by far the most amazing frosting I’ve ever had. Let my friends and family try it on cupcakes and they are amazed how good it tastes A+++ Maya!!
Katya
0Can I use powdered Monkfruit with Erythritol? If so, should I use the same 1/2 cup?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Katya, Sorry, I don’t recommend this recipe with erythritol-based sweeteners because they don’t dissolve well and can crystallize.
Cressie Mabins
0Hi! Was wondering, if you dont eat the whole thing in one sitting, what would the nutrition be for a TBSP of this frosting? Thanks!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Cressie, The nutrition facts in the recipe card are for a 2-tablespoon serving. Feel free to divide those numbers in half if you are only eating 1 tablespoon.
Jess
0Made this for the first time today. Why have I waited?? This is fantastic!! I honestly kept checking nutritional info because I felt guilty eating it….too good to be true type thing….lol. Do yourself a favor and make this frosting!!
Stefany
0Did you use Allulose or Erythritol
Jennifer Semones
0This is an excellent recipe and OMG well received! I have some of the pickiest eaters in my home but they all LOVED this icing, especially my hubby- the birthday boy!
Wholesome Yum A
0New to keto. Have never used Monkfruit. I don’t understand the calculator. How much Monkfruit = 1/2c of Allulose?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Amanda, 1/3 cup of monk fruit sweetener blend equals 1/2 cup of allulose.