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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
Jlizz
0Made this today and added 2 tbs of unsweetened coconut and coconut flavoring instead of vanilla. Put it on a keto vanilla whie cake. Oh my! So good! Reminded me of my Aunts coconut cake. Thanks for the memories with no sugar regret.
Amber Tech
0Awesome! Thank you for this easy Keto Frosting recipe!! It came out perfectly with the Chocolate Keto cake mix! ? I am so happy i can actually eat cake and not feel guilty about it!!
Diane
0Easy and delicious. I added some orange zest and few squeezes of the orange juice for flavor to use on gingerbread for a luncheon.
Michaela
0My go-to frosting recipe for every holiday cake.
Najjan
0Recipe worked very well for a spreadable cream cheese frosting. It would be terrific on carrot cake. I used Splena/Allulose and used 1/4 cup instead of the 1/2 cup. Perfect amount for an 8 x 8 pan cake.
Jade
0Hey, wanted to know what additional steps to take when granulated munk fruit erythritol is all one has at the time?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Jade, Sorry, I don’t recommend using granulated sweetener in this recipe, or really anything with erythritol. It will turn out gritty.
Michelle Huston
0Would confectioners swerve work instead of the allulose powder? That’s all I have on hand
Deanna
0Yes, it does. I use it all the time to make frosting. Measure like standard confectionery sugar.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Michelle, Confectioners Swerve is over 99% erythritol, so keep that in mind. You could try to use it, but know that it will crystallize over time.
Kim
0How many tbsp to make enough icing for the red velvet cake? Thank you! ~Kim
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Kim, It will depend on the size of your cake. If you’re making my keto red velvet cake, I use 3 1/2 cups for that recipe.
Shanea Wilson
0Just made this, it’s delicious, just what my pumpkin muffins needed! I didn’t add the heavy cream cuz I wanted it to stay thick. My husband and I both loved it, thank you!!!
Charlotte Claypoole
0I am going to the store in a few minutes. I will be getting all I need, Hubby loves carrot cake, and since I got him doing keto with me, he will be so happy, been doing some of your recipes and love them. I can’t imagine anyone leaving a rude remark. Thank you, Charlotte.
Greg Wright
0I used this frosting recipe as the basis for the lime frosting on my lime flavoured pound cake! Just added the juice of half a lime to the cake, and also the frosting instead of vanilla essence in each!
Letty
0Awesome and easy recipe a real life saver especially when making diabetic friendly cakes, thanks ?
Angela
0I tried adjusting the ratio of cream cheese and butter (3 parts cream cheese to 2 parts butter) and this was both lumpy and too runny, though I’m not sure if it was the ratio change or not. I added more Wholesome Yum Powdered Allulose to thicken it up, which only helped a little. I’m worried that adding more cream cheese at this point will just make it more lumpy. Any suggestions? I was hoping this would be stiff enough to decorate a cake, but it’s really not.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Angela, Were your cream cheese and butter both soft at room temperature? The frosting can be lumpy and (even runny as some parts melt while others are stiff) if they are not.
JudyRae Darling
0This turned out great! I used Swerve sweetener and it worked very well!!
Faith
0Yuuuum!!
Barbie
0I made this it was amazing but I added sugar free cocoa powder to it!!!! Yummmmm
Michael Kushner
0I will make the red velvet cake again with this icing, but my icing was runny. I tried adding more erythritol and some corn starch, but no go. I refrigerated for a while, then read that it should be brought back to room temperature before icing, so that didn’t seem like a good idea. I followed the instructions, except that I used the mixer instead of hand beater. I’m thinking that may be the issue because it was never really stiff and adding the cream… Any additional tips? Thank you for all you do.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Michael, This can happen if you beat the frosting too long, or if your kitchen is warm. At this point, I would recommend adding a little more cream cheese to thicken the icing up.
Michael Kushner
0I’ll try that. Thank you.
Sharon
0I want to try this recipe but I don’t have any cream, would milk work in a pinch?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Sharon, Milk would not be keto friendly, but a little bit can work in a pinch. I would start with less, since it’s thinner than heavy cream.
Alisha Gabrielle
0Yum!!!
Paulette
0This recipe is quick & easy. Basic ingredients you normally would have for a keto recipe. It also taste great. I will use the recipe again. I made a pumpkin loaf of bread. It was more than enough to cover my bread. ??