Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting + Video
This is the BEST Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting! Silky smooth and creamy, yet thick and sturdy enough for piping on cakes or cupcakes. It’s super easy to make and not too sweet.
I’ve gotten many requests for a chocolate version of my BEST cream cheese frosting recipe, so I’m very happy to share this chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe today.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
My recipe for regular cream cheese frosting uses a good amount of butter and way less powdered sugar than most recipes, which keeps it from going soft and stringy.
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To make chocolate cream cheese frosting, I simply added unsweetened cocoa powder and just one more cup of powdered sugar from my original cream cheese frosting recipe. Still less sugar than most other recipes, but perfectly sweet. It’s rich and chocolatey, but still has that tang we all know and love from the cream cheese.
You’ll definitely want to sift your cocoa and powdered sugar for this chocolate cream cheese frosting so there are no obvious clumps. This will also help ensure a smooth, velvety texture.
I recommend these large round sifters that I used in bakeries to make sifting quick and easy. TIP: Sift ingredients onto a piece of parchment paper. Then bring both ends together to create an easy pour spout to empty the contents.
If buttercream is too sweet for you, then give this chocolate cream cheese frosting a try. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. It goes great on my Chocolate Cupcakes. I’m thinking it would also be really good on my Chocolate Zucchini Cake. Yum!
More Cream Cheese Frostings:
- The BEST Cream Cheese Frosting
- Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 8 oz (226 g) block-style cream cheese, cold
- ½ cup (113 g) salted or unsalted butter, (1 stick) room temperature
- ½ cup (40 g) unsweetened cocoa, (not hot chocolate mix)
- 2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Measure, then sift the cocoa and powdered sugar together. Set aside.
- Place the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl.
- Using an electric hand mixer, beat until smooth.
- Gradually add the butter 2 Tablespoons at a time, and continue beating until smooth and well blended.
- Add the powdered sugar/cocoa mixture and vanilla all at once. Blend until combined and smooth. Use for any recipe that calls for chocolate cream cheese frosting.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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This is the only frosting I use these days 🥰
I’m so glad you are enjoying it Carol! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with the recipe.
This was truly fantastic. I made a vanilla cake and topped it with this frosting – huge hit!! I did use salted butter and Hershey’s Dark cocoa powder. This will now be my go to frosting. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe Cass. Thanks for sharing your review!
What would this taste like on a Red Velvet Cake ???
Since red velvet cake has a hint of chocolate, this chocolate cream cheese frosting would make it extra chocolatey tasting.
This looks really good. Sounds easy to make.
I love the taste of your icing, but even if I use room temp butter, I still have tiny bits of butter after mixing. Any suggestions? Thank you.
Hi Toni. The trick is to make sure to cream the butter with the cream cheese a little at a time and mix until it’s smooth before adding any powdered sugar, cocoa, or vanilla. I also feel like a hand mixer that has flatter beaters (like my Hamilton Beach hand mixer linked in my recipe card) compared to rounded blades will work the best. If you have a stand mixer, you can try mixing it with the paddle attachment instead.
Alternately you can use room temperature cream cheese, but you will most likely need to chill the frosting before piping or spreading it.
Made this frosting to put on chocolate cupcakes for the girls at work. They absolutely loved them!
Yay! I’m so glad it was well-liked. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with the recipe.
If you don’t have vanilla extract can you use almond instead without it changing too much…looking forward to trying your recipe…thank you
I would love to try this recipe. But where I live there is only the spreadable cream cheese. Bricks are not sold here. Assuming spreadable will make the frosting less firm, can I use something to make up the difference? Thanks.
It’s hard to say. Definitely don’t add extra powdered sugar because the extra starch will make it stringy. You can try using half the amount of cream cheese (4oz) and decreasing the cocoa to 1/3 cup and powdered sugar to 1 3/4 cups. If you want to add some tang, you can include some lemon zest, maybe 1/2 teaspoon. Hope it works out!
How long can it be left out at room temp after decora?ting my cake
Up to 2 hours at room temperature 68-72˚F.
This looks fantastic! Does it freeze well?
You can freeze it. I would do so in an airtight container with plastic pressed directly on top of the frosting, or in a freezer bag with all of the air squeezed out. You can freeze this frosting up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature up to 2 hours. You may need to beat it for a few minutes to get it back to its creamy texture before using it.