This cinnamon cream cheese frosting is tangy and creamy yet just the right consistency for piping onto cupcakes and decorating cakes. The recipe combines butter and cream cheese with ground cinnamon. With just 5 ingredients, it’s the perfect topping for your favorite fall dessert like carrot cake, spice cake or pumpkin cupcakes.
Be sure to check out more of my easy frosting recipes, including my sweet potato frosting (no cane sugar) and classic vanilla buttercream frosting.
Ingredients
Cream cheese gives this frosting a slightly tangy flavor that is amazing with zingy cinnamon. Use full fat cream cheese for the best results. Be sure that your cream cheese has had enough time to soften. If it is slightly cold it will not mix in well and you’ll end up with lumpy frosting.
Unsalted butter – Just like the cream cheese, the butter needs to be at room temp and ideally the same temp as the cream cheese. This assures that they will combine without turning lumpy.
Powdered sugar – To sift or not to sift? I rarely sift my powdered sugar when making frosting. I use store brand and name brand powdered sugars with equally good results. This is partly because I live in a very dry climate and keep it in a sealed plastic container. And to be honest, sifting powdered sugar is my least favorite kitchen task. If you think your powdered sugar may be lumpy or you live in a damp climate, sift. Be sure to measure before sifting.
Cinnamon – For the best flavor, I highly recommend using a good quality cinnamon. I am a big fan of Spicely Organics (certified gluten-free).
How to Use this Frosting
This frosting is the ultimate topping for my gluten-free pumpkin cupcakes, gluten-free butternut squash cake and gluten-free spice cake.
Believe it or not this frosting would be divine on my gluten-free chocolate cupcakes or as the filling for my gluten-free whoopie pies. Cinnamon is a great flavor pairing with chocolate.
Pipeable Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 6 Tbsp (3 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 c powdered sugar*
- 1Β½ tsp cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp milk (omit if piping the frosting)
Instructions
- This recipe makes enough frosting to generously frost 2 dozen cupcakes or lightly frost a 2 layer, 8 inch round cake.
- Important Note: The cream cheese and butter both need to be very soft in order to combine properly. If one or both are too cool, the frosting will be lumpy.On cooler days, I recommend cutting the cream cheese into 6 pieces and heating on a plate in the microwave for 15-20 seconds or until it is lukewarm to the touch. Do the same with the butter, except, heat it in 6-7 second increments.
- See the note below regarding sifting the powdered sugar.
- Place the softened cream cheese and butter into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on high for 15 seconds.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to be sure that the butter and cream cheese are evenly combined.
- Beat another 20 seconds on medium-high or until the mixture is uniform.
- Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar. Beat on low until most of the sugar is incorporated.
- Add 2 more cups of the powdered sugar. Beat on low until most of the sugar is incorporated.
- Add the rest of the powdered sugar and the cinnamon. Beat on low until most of the sugar is moistened.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and add the milk, if using. Beat on high for 10-15 seconds or until the frosting is smooth and creamy. Beating much past this point will create air pockets in the frosting. This will make it difficult to pipe.
- This frosting should go no more than 8 hours at room temperature.
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