I’m always on the hunt for frostings that are flavorful, yet a little less sweet 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!
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 Healthy Vanilla Cupcakes, Easy Chocolate Cupcakes, or Vegan Vanilla 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.
(You may also like Strawberry Sheet Cake, Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes, and Yogurt Frosting.)
Table of Contents
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Ingredients You Need
To make this easy strawberry cream cheese frosting recipe you’ll need to have the following ingredients on hand.
- 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: This adds a nice flavor base that pairs well with the berry flavor.
- Maple syrup: You can also use honey if you prefer. (Though avoid honey for kids under 12 months old.)
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s an overview of the process involved in this strawberry cream cheese frosting recipe so you know what to expect. See the full recipe at the end of the post for the specifics.
Step 1. Grind the freeze-dried strawberries into a powder with a blender or food processor.
Step 2. Add to a bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
Step 3. Mix with a electric hand mixer until fluffy and evenly mixed.
Step 4. Place into a zip-top bag and seal. Cut off one bottom corner to use as a piping bag. Frost onto cupcakes or add to cake layers.
Frequently Asked Questions
If this frosting gets a bit runny, it could be that your butter is too warm. Put it in the fridge for about 10 minutes to help firm up the butter before continuing with the recipe.
Use freeze-dried blueberries in place of the strawberries if you’d like a different flavor.
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.)
Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting
We love to pair this strawberry cream cheese frosting with my lower sugar Vanilla Cupcakes and my easy Vanilla Cake. It would also be great with Chocolate Cupcakes or my Easy Chocolate Cake.
And for a baby’s first birthday, try it with my One-Year-Old Birthday Cake (or any of my first birthday cakes.)
How to Store
You can make the strawberry cream cheese 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.) They have less moisture and more concentrated flavor than fresh strawberries or strawberry puree, so they are my preference here.
- 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.
- Make this dairy-free with vegan cream cheese and butter.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear your feedback on this recipe if you try it, so please comment below to share!
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.
Nutrition
This post was first published March 2020.
Have you tried freeze dried raspberries instead of Strawberries or is that flavor too bold
It works, it’s just more tart so you may need more sweetener to balance it out!
Tasted delicious. But I don’t know what I did wrong because I followed it exactly (but tripled it) and it was so sticky that it was hard to get out of the bag. So I pivoted and used an icing knife but it was pulling up my cupcake tops. I refrigerated icing overnight and the cupcakes cooled overnight. Should I have added more powdered sugar? Piped it immediately?
It’s possible that the icing was simply too cold to easily pipe or frost after sitting in the fridge overnight. I would let it sit at room temp a bit next time so it softens a little. Hope that helps!
If I buy freeze dried strawberry powder do you know how much I should use?
About 1/4-1/3 cup
Can these be made without cream cheese?
Cream cheese is the base so that is the best way to make this recipe. If you have another idea in mind, let me know and I’ll see if I can help you figure out how to make it work.
Hi,
Does this frosting turn out firm enough to do some elaborate piping? My daughter has asked for a pink dog cake, and so I’m going to attempt some dog fur. I don’t want to stiffen it up with extra powdered sugar. So I guess a little corn starch could help if it’s not firm enough? I will make it the day before to leave it 24 hours in the fridge to chill too.
The recipe looks great!
It does not harden the way a traditional buttercream does due to the much lower amount of powdered sugar. I hope it works for you though!
One cup freeze-dried strawberries- measured before or after blending them?
Measured before.
I couldn’t get the freeze dried strawberries to not stick to the bottom of my blender. I tried twice and they were just like glued to the bottom no matter how much I blended them or didn’t blend them. And I would definitely add the powdered sugar next time because it just wasn’t sweet. Tasted like strawberry cream cheese on a muffin.
can I use more honey or maple syrup instead of adding powdered sugar?? or does that ruin the texture?
Of those two options, honey will be better since it’s less liquidy. Enjoy!
What can I do in place of freeze dried strawberries? 2 ounces is almost 8 dollars, and if I need a whole cup… That’s way too expensive.
You can use a little strawberry jam. Or look at a big box store like Target or Walmart where an 8 ounce bag is closer to 2 or 3 dollars.
Thank you for responding so quickly! I checked Walmart, Target and Publix are all around $3-5 for 1oz… cheapest I could find is 2/$12 for 2.1 ounce bags. If you know of a store that sells it that cheap, please let me know 🙂 I’m making the cake tomorrow for my mom’s birthday. 💕
Can I use freeze dried peach instead? I can’t find any freeze dried strawberry.
Sure!
Could I substitute frozen strawberries if I don’t have freeze-dried strawberries on hand?
Fresh or frozen strawberries would add a lot of liquid to the mixture, which can make it runny. To use frozen berries, you will want to cook them down into a thick sauce first–similar to my Strawberry Sauce. Then stir a little in at a time for color and flavor. https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com/fresh-strawberry-sauce/
Can I substitute strawberry flavored cream cheese for the freeze-dried strawberries? Thanks.
Sure, the flavor is a little different but it should work similarly.
I am totally in love with dehydrated raspberries right now-have you ever used those in this recipe (or maybe something else)?
Thanks for being great!
Hi- You can use it here, though they tend to be more tart than strawberries so you may need to balance them with sweetener a little more. You can also use them in my bliss balls recipe: https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com/favorite-bliss-balls/
Does this frosting freeze well?
I haven’t tried freezing it but it might!