Brown butter cream cheese frosting is the perfect sweet, tangy, and nutty addition to your next cake or cupcake recipe. It's perfect for fall and surprisingly easy to make from scratch!
Recipe summary
Flavor/texture: Sweet, tangy buttercream frosting is made with brown butter, which adds a nutty, caramelized flavor.
How much frosting do I need? This recipe makes enough for 18 cupcakes, a 9x13 or 13x18 sheet cake, or a two layer 8-9 inch round cake.
Yield: About 3 cups
Similar to: Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting, Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting, Whipped Buttercream Frosting
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Butter - The base of the frosting recipe. I recommend using unsalted butter so that you can control the amount of salt going into the recipe. However, the unsalted butter and salt listed in the recipe can be substituted with salted butter if needed.
- Cream cheese - You'll need one 8 ounce block of regular cream cheese for this recipe. Low-fat cream cheese or whipped, spreadable cream cheese in a tub will not work for this recipe. Using whipped or spreadable cream cheese will result in a runny frosting.
- Flavor - Vanilla extract and salt add flavor to your frosting.
- Confectioner's sugar - Sometimes called powdered sugar or icing sugar. Confectioner's sugar sweetens and stabilizes the frosting, making it thick and pipeable.
How to make brown butter frosting
- Melt butter over medium heat, stirring frequently.
- Continue to stir until the golden flecks that form are medium brown in color.
- Refrigerate butter until just solidified. Beat with cream cheese until creamy and smooth.
- Add confectioner's sugar and mix until combined, then whip until light and fluffy.
Tips and tricks
Never browned butter before? - Browning butter is as simple as melting butter in a saucepan over medium heat and allowing it to brown in the pan. You'll notice brown flakes forming on the bottom of the pan after about 4 to 5 minutes.
Stir frequently - Stir the butter frequently as it begins to brown. This helps scrape up browned bits on the bottom to prevent burning.
Cook until brown, not black - Once the butter looks golden brown with a good amount of brown flecks in the bottom of the pan, remove the butter from the heat. It shouldn't look black.
Cooling your brown butter - After cooking your brown butter, it needs to be refrigerated until just solid. If your butter feels cold, place it on the countertop for a few minutes to come back to room temperature. Otherwise, cold butter chunks can create lumps in your frosting.
Use room temperature ingredients - Your butter and cream cheese need to be room temperature (not melted, not cold) before beginning. Set your cream cheese out on the counter top about 1 hour before beginning and it will be the perfect consistency for mixing.
Frequently asked questions
This recipe makes enough frosting for the following baked goods:
- 6-inch three layer cake
- 18 cupcakes with piped frosting
- 24 cupcakes spread with a knife
- 9x13 sheet cake
- 13x18 sheet cake
- 8-inch or 9-inch two layer cake covering the top, sides, and middle.
Cream cheese frosting can sit out at room temperature for 2 hours. After 2 hours, it should be stored in the refrigerator.
Cream cheese frosted cake can sit at room temperature for two hours, or in the refrigerator for up to a day before serving. If it's stored in the refrigerator, bring to room temperature for one hour before serving.
Brown butter cream cheese frosting will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 week and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Troubleshooting
Cream cheese frosting will melt in hot summer heat or direct sunlight in warm weather, between 90 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit (32 to 35 degrees Celsius). I recommend displaying frosted cakes indoors or in the shade during warmer weather.
Cream cheese frosting can turn out runny if block-style cream cheese is substituted with a whipped cream cheese or cream cheese spread (purchased in a tub). Frosting can also turn out runny if the cream cheese and/or butter has been melted. If your frosting turns out runny, try refrigerating it for 15 minutes or more to firm it back up. More sugar can be added (this will make your frosting sweeter) to help stabilize the frosting if needed.
Confectioner's sugar can sometimes contain lumps. If your confectioner's sugar looks lumpy after measuring, give it a sift before incorporating it with the rest of the ingredients. If your brown butter is still cold from refrigerating, the cold bits of butter can create lumps in the frosting. After bringing back to solid, make sure your butter comes to room temperature (not cold, not melted) before making your frosting.
Buttercream frosting is one of the sweetest types of frostings. You likely chose buttercream because it's made with two main ingredients, butter and sugar, and it requires no cooking (other than browning the butter). The trade-off for being so easy to make is that it is very sweet. Buttercream frosting relies on the confectioner's sugar to stabilize it, making it thick and pipeable. If you reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe, your frosting will get too soft to pipe and taste a lot like sweetened butter. I don't recommend reducing the sugar in this recipe for those reasons. Don't skip the salt in this recipe - it helps balance the sweetness of the frosting. For a less sweet frosting, try my ermine frosting recipe instead.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter
- 8 ounces (227 g) block-style cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 ½ cups (400 g) confectioner's sugar
Instructions
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and stir frequently. Butter will begin to foam and boil. After about 4 to 5 minutes you will see brown flecks appear in the bottom of the pan. Continue to stir until butter is golden and flecks are a medium brown color. Watch closely, butter will brown quickly. The entire process takes about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Remove butter from heat and pour butter into a bowl. Refrigerate for about 15-25 minutes, or until butter is just solidified. You're looking for a room temperature or slightly cooler, just solid butter.
- In a large bowl, add room temperature cream cheese and solidified brown butter. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat until creamy and smooth. Add vanilla, salt, and confectioner's sugar and slowly mix until ingredients are fully combined. Then, whip at high speed for about 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
- Pipe onto cooled cupcakes or spread onto cooled cake and serve immediately.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Cream cheese: Original, full-fat block-style cream cheese cannot be substituted with low-fat cream cheese, whipped cream cheese, or spreadable cream cheese in a tub. Any of these substitutions will cause your frosting to be runny.
- Refrigerating: Cream cheese frosting needs to be refrigerated if it sits out for longer than 2 hours. Store frosted baked goods in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed container. Remove and bring to room temperature 1 hour before serving.
- Leftovers: Leftover frosting will keep for 1 week in a sealed container in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer. Bring to room temperature before spreading onto baked goods.
- Frosting quantity: Recipe makes enough for 18 cupcakes with piped frosting, 24 cupcakes spread with a knife, a 9x13 sheet cake, a 13x18 sheet cake, or an 8-inch or 9-inch two layer cake with thin frosting on the tops, sides, and middle.
I had so much fun creating this recipe! I hope you give it a try and love it as much as I do. If you have a question, check out the post above, which is packed with information about the recipe. Tried the recipe? I'd love to hear your thoughts — leave a comment and a star rating to share your feedback!