How to make chocolate cream cheese frosting! This recipe is made with cocoa powder and is simple, fool-proof, and richly chocolaty.
It’s creamy and smooth but is still sturdy enough for piping and would be the perfect complement to your favorite cake or cupcake recipe!
Due to popular demand (and a persistent sweet tooth), I’ve been trying to amp up my frosting section on the blog recently.
So far I’ve covered some of my favorite frostings, including a decadent, silky smooth (but not too-sweet) chocolate frosting and a classic (and perfect, it’s literally my favorite) cream cheese frosting, and today I’m marrying these two favorites together into this chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe.
Despite my afore-mentioned sweet tooth, buttercream frostings were always too sweet for me growing up, so as soon as I discovered cream cheese frosting my mom switched over to icing and decorating my birthday cakes exclusively with classic and chocolate cream cheese frosting. While many cream cheese frostings don’t stand up well to piping or decorating (too many are too soft and runny), this recipe is stiff enough for decorating and, as you can see in the above picture, works perfectly for piping on top a cupcake.
Chocolate cream cheese frosting only requires 6 ingredients and for my recipe I always use cocoa powder (rather than melted chocolate) to give my frosting a rich chocolaty flavor.
Take a good look at your cocoa powder before adding it in to your mixer, and if it looks particularly clumpy I recommend running it through a sifter with your powdered sugar so that you don’t have any lumps when you go to pipe the frosting — there’s nothing more annoying than ruining that perfect chocolate swirl because your piping tip has a lump of cocoa powder or powdered sugar jamming up the flow.
Another tip for silky smooth frosting: Make sure that your cream cheese and butter are softened before beating them together. Cream cheese that’s still cold can also cause lumps in your frosting. I always recommend beating the cream cheese and butter together with an electric mixer first until both are well-combined and lump-free, and then adding your other ingredients.
Alright, I think that’s all I have to say about today’s super simple frosting recipe. I’m also just back from vacation and recovering from a crazy/wonderful week of sunny days and late 2AM nights with 29 of my favorite family members, so hopefully everything I just typed came out as coherently as possible 😉
Enjoy!
And if you’re wondering about the cupcakes in this picture, I just made my favorite vanilla cake recipe, added a handful of sprinkles, and baked into cupcakes. My funfetti cake or chocolate cupcakes would also work nicely!
How to Make Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
![Chocolate cream cheese frosting on cupcake](https://sugarspunrun.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Easy-Chocolate-Cream-Cheese-Recipe-1-of-1-10-300x300.jpg)
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened
- 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese softened brick-style, not spreadable
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 ½ cups (440 g) powdered sugar*
- ½ cup (65 g) natural cocoa powder
Instructions
- Combine the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl and, using an electric mixer or a stand mixer to beat until creamy, well-combined, and lump-free.½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened, 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese softened
- Add vanilla extract and salt and stir well to combine.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon salt
- With mixer on low, gradually add powdered sugar until completely combined.3 ½ cups (440 g) powdered sugar*
- Add cocoa powder and beat until well-incorporated into the frosting -- be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl so that all ingredients are well-combined.½ cup (65 g) natural cocoa powder
- Frost completely cooled cake or cupcakes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Victoria
Yummy! I cut down the powdered sugar to 3 cups as that was sweet enough for me.
ANDREA L THOMPSON-LEWIS
by far the best chocolate frosting
Tiya
Hello! This looks amazing. Do you have any suggestions for using Nutella instead of cocoa in this recipe?
Sam
Hi Tiya! I think you could probably add nutella to my cream cheese frosting. You will want to add it to taste and start slow as it could potentially break the frosting. 🙂
Beth
This will be my go to chocolate frosting! I used less powdered sugar, about 2 cups, and 3 tablespoons milk, added one at a time. It is so creamy and chocolaty. The cream cheese just adds so much. Thank you so much for this recipe.
KerriW
When I get a craving for something sweet, I google it lol….9 times out of 10, you have a recipe for it…..I ALWAYS click on you!!! And Like ALWAYS …the BEST thing I’ve ever tasted🤷♀️❤️ Thank you so much for all your yummy recipes
Sam
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed everything so much, Kerri! Thank you so much for your support! I truly appreciate it. 🙂
Beverly
Can I freeze this? & use it the next day?
Sam
Hi Beverly! It can be frozen, but if you are just using it the next day I would put it in the refrigerator with a piece of plastic wrap pressed against the surface to keep it from drying out. You will want it to come back to room temperature and briefly stir it before using. 🙂