Naturally Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting
Learn how to make naturally sweetened cream cheese frosting with dates, not powdered sugar! It's creamy and delicious, with a subtle caramel-like flavor.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on July 9, 2024
I’ve been experimenting with naturally sweetened cream cheese frosting. After much trial and error, here’s my recipe! Instead of powdered sugar, I used Medjool dates.
The dates contribute lovely caramel-like flavor and color, which I’m sure you’ve noticed by now. They also add some fiber, which you don’t normally find in frosting recipes.
Even though this frosting doesn’t look or taste exactly like classic cream cheese frosting, this fruit-sweetened frosting is creamy and truly delicious. Plus, it’s very easy to whip up in your food processor!
Why dates? Honey and maple syrup are my usual go-to natural sweeteners, but they don’t work in frosting. Their flavors are too pervasive and they yield frosting so runny, it runs down the cake.
Dates are the answer. I like to call them “nature’s caramels.” When you blend pitted dates with some water, they produce a date paste that is thick and creamy, not unlike the texture of whipped cream cheese.
In addition to dates, you’ll just need cream cheese, butter, and vanilla for this recipe. A little pinch of salt enhances the flavor of it all. Please let me know how you like this frosting in the comments!
Naturally Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting
Learn how to make naturally sweetened cream cheese frosting! It’s so easy. This recipe as written yields 2 cups, or enough frosting for one 9″ round or square cake layer, or 12 cupcakes. Multiply as needed (times two for a double-layer cake or 9×13″ sheet cake, and so on).
Ingredients
- 18 Medjool dates (about 1 ½ cups firmly packed)
- ½ cup room temperature water, plus hot water for soaking
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Small pinch of salt
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- To prepare, pull the cream cheese and butter out of the fridge so they have a few minutes to warm up. Slice the cream cheese into quarters and set aside.
- Place the dates in a heatproof bowl and pour hot water over them until they are covered (this ensures that the dates are hydrated and soft enough to blend—don’t skip this step!). Let them soak for 10 minutes, then drain.
- Once the dates are cool enough to handle, remove the pits and discard them. In a food processor, combine the pitted dates, ½ cup room temperature water, vanilla, and a little pinch of salt.
- Process until the date mixture is quite smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes, pausing to scrape down the sides as necessary. Then, add the cream cheese and butter and blend until smooth and fluffy.
- Use the frosting immediately, or store it in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 5 days. Before using, let it warm to room temperature for about 15 minutes and briefly rewhip before using.
Notes
Chocolate version: For chocolate cream cheese frosting, blend in ⅓ cup cocoa powder with the cream cheese and butter.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This is really nice and doesn’t give me a sugar headache like regular frosting!
Great to hear, Alisa! I appreciate your review.
Made with vegan cream cheese (Kite Hill brand) to go on my chai cake. Tastes awesome!
Great to hear it worked out, Liv!
For my one year old I wanted to make for his birthday a cake with no or nearly no sugar so I used that frosting on top of a banana bread with no sugar.
It tasted sooo good.
The frosting was enough to cover a whole cake and over night in the fridge it had the perfect consistency the next day.
Thank you
Go-to frosting recipe for my toddler. Love it (and all of your recipes)!
This cream cheese frosting is absolutely delicious! We are not a family of frosting lovers and everyone went crazy for this one. Just a touch of sweetness with a mellow flavour and a beautiful caramel colour. This will definitely be a staple in our family, along with your fabulous carrot cake. I sure can’t go wrong searching your recipes first!
I’m so glad you enjoy it, Jackie! I’m glad my recipes are a first stop for you when you are looking to make something. I appreciate your support!
THIS IS AMAZING! thank you for sharing as I am always looking for healthier alternatives to typical sugary and artificial desserts.
I made this recipe before and paired it with your healthy pumpkin bread recipe for a pumpkin spice cake for my baby’s first birthday! It was delicious and a big hit with everyone there, of all ages! I’m planning to make this for my daughter’s 4th birthday now and she’s requested strawberry frosting… any thoughts on how to make this frosting strawberry flavored? Add 1/3 cup fresh strawberries or grind freeze-dried strawberries to get 1/3 cup, similar to the chocolate alternative? It will be an experiment and I can report back, but would love your expert advice on what you’d try! We’re big fans of yours over here and make at least one recipe a week from your blog or cookbook!
I didn’t have a food processor but a 15+ years old Oster blender. I had to add a little more water so as not to burn the blender. Maybe next time I could split dates in two, and then blend them, however, I am very happy with the frosting! Excellent choice for a birthday cake with no added sugar (if you don’t count dates as sugar)! Also, I didn’t add salt and it still tastes fine.
Hi… thanks for this recipe, looks really promising for a no sugar alternative. Can I use salted instead of unsalted butter and if so, do I skip the pinch of salt?
Sure, you can try that. I appreciate your review!
Perfect for my one year old’s birthday cake! My only wish is that I had reserved the water from the dates as the room temp water needed. Seems like keeping that sweet water would have made a lot of sense! Frosting is going on your wonderful pumpkin muffin recipe.
Oh my! Love dates, but we’ve had them a lot lately, so I subbed dried figs for the dates. Poured boiling water over them and left to soak overnight, then followed the recipe, using the fig-liquor from soaking. It was probably the best icing I’ve ever tasted. The guests who shared it with us raved. It went atop your ‘healthy banana bread’, which I cooked up in a round cake pan for a birthday with 4 year olds. Parents and children alike were asking for more!
I love to hear that! Thank you for sharing, Wynne.
This recipe sounds great! I am trying to eat more heart healthy because of high cholesterol and cutting my saturated fat. I will be using the light cream cheese, but do you have any suggestions for a butter replacement? Or maybe I just indulge a little with this one.
Thanks!
I’m not sure without trying it, sorry!
I went ahead and tried it without the butter and even cut the amount of dates for less sugar content. It turned out great! I think it is better to use less water when using less dates for the right consistency tho. Thanks for the recipe! I would have never thought of sweetening with dates until I saw this. It is the perfect combo!!
Thank you for sharing, Gretchen!
Just made this for my twins 3rd birthday. I can’t stop licking the food processor bowl! I used a lot less dates (1/2 of what the recipe listed) and it is still very very sweet, but maybe the dates I used are just different? They were pretty large and plump, so I think full of sugar. Great recipe, thank you for sharing!
Hooray! Thank you for sharing. Dates are sweet and some batches can be a bit sweeter than others like any fruit. I’m glad you enjoyed it, Lily!
yummy!! They just came out of the oven and I am munching as I write. Will make this my go to!
The natural date cream cheese frosting is amazing. I love that there’s no sugar!!
Just made this to top off the GF Pumpkin muffins from your site (also a regular bake in my house). It was the perfect addition to add a layer of sweetness to the muffins without any sugar! Love your recipes!
Hi Barbara, so glad you loved that combo!
Every time I need a cream cheese frosting I use this recipe.
Love your recipes
Thank you
I made this frosting recipe for my daycare children and it’s incredible. I will be making it for my grandsons first birthday banana smash cake.