Cool Whip cream cheese frosting is light, fluffy, and scrumptious. With hints of vanilla, this creamy frosting has just the right amount of sweetness. Spread it on top of your favorite desserts!
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Sweet, fluffy frosting takes the taste and texture of desserts to a whole new level.
Each bite of this cream cheese frosting is soft, smooth, and subtly sweet, with just a hint of tanginess to balance it all out.
This Cool Whip cream cheese frosting is especially amazing not only because it’s delicious, but also because there’s so many things you can do with it.
You can use it to frost cakes or cupcakes, cookies, pumpkin bread, and more. I’m often tempted to eat it straight out of the container with a spoon!
Cool Whip is the special ingredient that gives this recipe its unique consistency — it’s a bit lighter and fluffier than the typical thick cream cheese frosting.
If you want to try another variation of this sweet and tangy topping, check out my recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting Without Butter or skip the cream cheese completely in my Cool Whip Frosting recipe.
Here’s what I’m going to teach you in this post:
- The importance of using softened ingredients — this has a huge impact on the texture!
- How to make perfectly fluffy, creamy frosting, plus some tips for adjusting the consistency if desired!
- Substitutions and variations that you can use to make different flavored or colored frosting.
Cool Whip cream cheese frosting is so easy to make and customize to your own liking. It’s also quick –– you’ll only need 5 minutes to put it all together!
How To Make Cool Whip Cream Cheese Frosting
A full printable version of this recipe with ingredient measurements is available at the bottom of this post.
STEP ONE: First, allow your cream cheese, butter, and Cool Whip to warm at room temperature before getting started. It’s essential that these ingredients are softened so that they can be combined easily to give you a texture that is creamy rather than lumpy.
STEP TWO: Next, add the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract to the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes until the ingredients are fully combined, and you’re left with a mixture that is light and fluffy.
STEP THREE: Change the mixer’s speed to low, then slowly add the powdered sugar. Since powdered sugar helps give this frosting its structure, you can adjust the amount of powdered sugar — add more or less to get your desired consistency.
STEP FOUR: Once the powdered sugar has been fully incorporated, scrape down the sides of the bowl so that your mixture is in the center. Beat on medium speed for about 1 minute until lightened. Finally, add the Cool Whip and beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds until fully combined.
STEP FIVE: Transfer your Cool Whip cream cheese frosting into a piping bag, and use immediately. Enjoy!
Can I Make Cream Cheese Frosting With Different Flavors?
Yes! You can easily change the flavor of this recipe by making some simple adjustments.
Don’t want to use vanilla extract? Feel free to swap or combine any extracts of choice –– lemon, orange, almond, or coffee are just a few options.
Not only can you adjust the flavor, you can change the color too!
To make colored frosting, add a few drops of gel food coloring to the butter and cream cheese mixture in the beginning. A little will go a long way!
You can make it chocolatey by adding cocoa powder and instant pudding mix like my chocolate Cool Whip recipe.
How Do You Store Homemade Frosting?
Cool Whip cream cheese frosting is best when used immediately, but it also keeps well if you want to store it and use it at a later time.
You can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
This recipe makes a good amount of frosting, but you can half it if you only need a smaller amount. Or, use half and store the rest for later!
Why Is My Cream Cheese Frosting Not Smooth?
The key to getting perfectly smooth frosting is using butter and cream cheese that has been softened.
Frosting that is too lumpy is likely the result of the ingredients not being soft enough, which makes it difficult for everything to combine properly.
To give them enough time to soften, I recommend taking your butter, cream cheese, and Cool Whip out and letting them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before you start the mixing process.
Other Recipes With Cream Cheese That You’ll Love:
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Vanilla Mousse
- Apple Crumble Cheesecake
- Strawberry Crunch Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting
Cool Whip Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup 1 stick butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 8 ounces cool whip cold but not frozen (see ingredient notes)
Instructions
- Add the cream cheese, softened butter, and vanilla to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy– about 2 minutes.Â
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the powdered sugar. When all of the powdered sugar has been incorporated, scrape down the sides of the bowl and then turn the mixer to medium speed and beat until lightened– about 1 minute.Â
- Next, add the cool whip and mix on medium speed until fully combined– about 30 seconds.Â
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag and use it immediately.Â
I was very excited to find this recipe, I love Cool Whip! Despite following the directions to the letter to make the frosting for my homemade 2 tier carrot cake, I was faced with a major issue. Everything was going swimmingly for maybe 3 minutes. I frosted the top of one tier and placed the other tier on top, and began my crumb coat of the whole cake. Within seconds, the frosting was leaking out the sides! I kept trying to remove the excess, but it was a continuous flood! The same thing resulted with the cupcakes that I tried to frost. So, lesson learned, I don’t think Cool Whip is the best ingredient for a layered cake dessert, or a cupcake. Great idea but I am not sure it really works as well as reported. However, a proviso must be explained, I am not a professional baker, so it could always be human error, but I hope this helps any of those home bakers like myself to be very careful before using it on the cake. Test it out first to make sure the consistency is what you need. I learned it the hard way!