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January 20, 2019 (last updated Dec 12, 2021) by Amber Brady54
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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.
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
Prep: 10 minutes mins
Total: 10 minutes mins
Yield: 20 servings
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.
4.40 from 284 ratings
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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
Equipment
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
*YIELD: 2 ½ cups frosting
*Will frost about 12-15 cupcakes. Double the recipe for a layered cake.
*Don’t beat too long or the frosting will be too soft to pipe. If this happens, place the frosting in the refrigerator or freezer until it firms back up.
*You can store this frosting either at room temperature (which is 70 degrees Fahrenheit) or in the refrigerator. Do not go back and forth storing from one to the other, for food safety reasons. Use your own judgement.
Serving: 2 Tbsp, Calories: 105kcal, Carbohydrates: 14g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 14mg, Sodium: 117mg, Potassium: 66mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 148IU, Calcium: 44mg, Iron: 0.3mg
Author: Amber Brady
Disclaimer: Nutritional values were calculated with Spoonacular Food API and are provided as an estimation.
Frosting
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4.40 from 284 votes (284 ratings without comment)
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Cass — Reply
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!
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Amber Brady — Reply
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe Cass. Thanks for sharing your review!
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Maureen Moehr — Reply
What would this taste like on a Red Velvet Cake ???
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Amber Brady — Reply
Since red velvet cake has a hint of chocolate, this chocolate cream cheese frosting would make it extra chocolatey tasting.
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Loretta — Reply
This looks really good. Sounds easy to make.
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Toni Wolfe — Reply
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.
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Amber Brady — Reply
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.
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Bobbie K. — Reply
Made this frosting to put on chocolate cupcakes for the girls at work. They absolutely loved them!
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Amber Brady — Reply
Yay! I’m so glad it was well-liked. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with the recipe.
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Carol Lynn Gendron — Reply
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
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MjSousa — Reply
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.
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Amber Brady — Reply
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!
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Marls — Reply
This looks fantastic! Does it freeze well?
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Amber | Dessert Now Dinner Later — Reply
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.
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54 Comments on “Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting + Video”
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Welcome!
Hi, I’m Amber! I am a culinary graduate and dessert lover! This is where I share my favorite sweet and savory recipes alongside my knowledge and skills as a culinary graduate. I hope you find something you like!
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