I’m always on the hunt for frostings that are flavorful, yet lower in sugar for cupcakes and cakes, and this Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting is the BEST. It’s easy, intensely strawberry flavored, and a lot less sweet than traditional buttercream. And it’s such a pretty color!
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
It can be hard to make a frosting for home-baked goods that tastes as good as the kind you’d get at the bakery. This one though, it totally passes muster.
It’s naturally sweet from the strawberries, creamy from cream cheese and butter, and it’s a perfect match for vanilla cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, or cake.
It goes above and beyond plain Cream Cheese Frosting!
The strawberry flavor, which comes from freeze-dried berries, is intense and bright. And it makes the mixture the most amazing pink color.
It requires just a few steps to make, too, so you don’t have to worry about setting aside too much time.
Ingredients You Need
To make this easy frosting recipe you’ll need:
- Freeze-dried strawberries: These are typically sold near the dried fruit or in the produce department. They are crunchy and have had all of the moisture content removed.
- Cream cheese: I use a traditional block of full-fat cream cheese here. You’ll want to let this rest at room temperature so it’s soft to the touch.
- Unsalted butter: You’ll want to let this rest at room temperature so it’s soft to the touch.
- Pure vanilla extract
- Maple syrup: You can also use honey if you prefer. (Though avoid honey for kids under 12 months old.)
TIP: I use freeze-dried strawberries here since their flavor is intense and they don’t add any extra moisture to the frosting. Look for them at Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Target, and Amazon.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s an overview of the process involved in this recipe so you know what to expect. See the full recipe at the end of the post for the specifics.
- Grind the freeze-dried strawberries into a powder with a blender or food processor.
- Add to a bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
- Mix with a handheld electric mixer until fluffy and evenly mixed.
- Place into a zip-top bag and seal. Cut off one bottom corner to use as a piping bag.
Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting
We love to pair this frosting with my lower sugar Vanilla Cupcakes. It would also be great with Chocolate Cupcakes or my Easy Chocolate Cake.
How to Store
You can make the frosting up to 24 hours ahead. Store in a storage bag in the fridge, with as much air removed as possible and sealed, until ready to use.
Best Tips for Success
- Let the cream cheese and butter soften at room temperature for a few hours so it’s very soft to the touch. This will help it mix up smoothly.
- Grind the freeze-dried strawberries to form a fine powder. (Look for them in your store near the dried fruit or in the produce department.)
- Add ¼-½ cup powdered sugar to make the frosting sweeter if you’d like. (I sometimes do this if serving to older kids and/or adults who may expect a sweeter frosting.)
- Top with sprinkles if desired.
- Use freeze-dried blueberries in place of the strawberries if you’d like a different flavor.
- You may also like Vanilla Oat Smash Cake, Healthy Chocolate Cake, Quick Chocolate Frosting, Carrot Cake Cupcakes, and Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes.
I’d love to hear your feedback on this recipe if you try it, so please comment below to share!
This post was first published March 2020.
Favorite Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup freeze-dried strawberries
- 8 ounces cream cheese (I like full fat, softened at room temperature)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (½ stick, softened at room temperature)
- 2-3 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup powdered sugar optional
- sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Place the strawberries into a blender or clean spice grinder. Grind into a fine powder.
- Add to a medium bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
- Blend well using a handheld electric mixer on high speed to make a fluffy frosting.
- Transfer to a zip-top quart-size bag. Seal. Cut off one bottom corner and pipe onto cupcakes. (You can also just use a spatula to frost onto a cake.)
Equipment
Video
Notes
- Let the cream cheese and butter soften at room temperature for a few hours so it’s very soft to the touch. This will help it mix up smoothly.
- Grind the strawberries to form a fine powder.
- Add ¼ cup powdered sugar to make the frosting sweeter if you’d like. (I sometimes do this if serving to older kids and/or adults who may expect a sweeter frosting.)
- Top with sprinkles if desired.
- Use freeze-dried blueberries in place of the strawberries if you’d like a different flavor.
Hiya, do you have a muffin receipe to accompany the yummy strawberry frosting? Thank you:)
Sure, just use the search to find what you’re looking for. This is a good one: https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com/strawberry-muffins/
hi, how many grams of powdered strawberry was used? i could only find powdered freeze dried strawberries.
This worked out well for us. I made cupcakes with a low sugar banana cake recipe. Then I frosted them with this frosting, making little stars in the middle and topping with a sliced strawberry.
This stuff is amazing. We like to use powdered swerve or monkfruit instead of sugar. One of my kids favorite ways to eat it is in between graham crackers with a little dot sprinkles. I’ve also topped cooled pancakes and banana bread with it.
I plan to make this to go on the Vanilla Oat Cake (your recipe!) for my daughter’s smash cake. Hoping I don’t regret the color from the strawberries when she’s got it all over her. Lol. Would you recommend waiting to frost the cake until ready to serve? Or can it be frosted in advance?
It would likely be best if you wait until closer to serving if you’re able too. And I hope she loves it!
Hello, I bought the dry Freeze strawberries already grinded up. How much should I use since it’s already in powdered form?
Thanks!
About 1/4 cup
I can’t find frozen dried fruit in mu country, can I substitute with something else?
Thank you
You could use a small amount of strawberry jam or strawberry puree, though add just a little bit at a time so the frosting doesn’t become too runny
Hi! Does this freeze well? How long can this frosting last in the freezer?
I honestly haven’t ever frozen it so I am not sure. If you try it, freeze it in a plastic freezer bag with as much air removed as possible.
Oh dear. I bought frozen strawberries as opposed to freeze-dried… is there a way I can still use these for the recipe? Or do you think it will be a flop?
It won’t work the same. I would make the cream cheese frosting plain and then top with some of the thawed (and drained) strawberries.
This sounds delicious and looks great! Would this be good on a chocolate cake? My son’s bday request.. thanks!.
I bet it would be delicious with chocolate cake!
Thank you! Do you think I should double the recipe if frosting a two layer 9” cake, including between the layers?
If you plan to frost between the layers and outside the cake I would at least 1.5 it—doubling it would ensure you have plenty but you might have a little extra. (Wouldn’t be the worst problem to have though!)
Can’t wait to try this recipe! How long can the frosting stay at room temperature once made and applied? Or must it be refrigerated because of the cream cheese? Thanks!
2 hours is generally considered to be the safe time limit that cream cheese can be out of the fridge!
Hi
I can’t wait to try this recipe but can you provide alternative measurements for the unsalted butter, freeze dried strawberries and powdered sugar please as I am unsure what the cup size is?
Thanks
2 ounces butter, about 1 ounce freeze dried strawberries, about 25 g powdered sugar
I took 5 oz of freeze dried strawberries to make 1 cup of ground down powder.
That worked! Thanks so much! I decided to go with strawberries after all 🙂 Do you think I could whip some heavy whipping cream and add to it to make this a little lighter?
Sure, I think that would work with the whipping cream!
Thanks! This is for my son’s first birthday cake and he absolutely LOVED! this frosting!!! It’s fruity, creamy and not too sweet!
Yay! I hope he has a wonderful first birthday!
This frosting is SO good! I used blueberries instead of strawberries. It came out a little gritty though. Is that because of the dried fruit powder? Do you have any suggestions for making this smoother/creamier?
If you can grind the fruit a little more to get it as pulverized and into a powder form, that could help. (That may depend a little on the blender you have.) I agree that the flavor is great though!
Thanks!
Tastes like straight Philadelphia strawberry cream cheese, not like frosting. I love the dehydrated strawberry idea, though, and I might try making a more traditional frosting with that for flavor. Spread nicely and came together easily.