This vegan cream cheese frosting doesn’t have any unusual ingredients (and no processed vegan cream cheese!), is maple sweetened, paleo and dairy-free!
I needed a dairy-free cream cheese frosting a while back and I couldn’t really find anything without processed vegan cream cheese, margarine and powdered sugar. I’m okay with powdered sugar (though I try to avoid it if possible!) but the other two? I’d rather pass.
So today’s vegan cream cheese frosting only uses “real” ingredients – maple syrup and coconut milk, yogurt, and oil!
You may be wondering if this really tastes just like regular cream cheese frosting and the answer is – no, it doesn’t. But given all the coconut ingredients in this, I’m guessing that was clear. :) For a less coconutty version, use regular Greek yogurt and refined coconut oil, which doesn’t have any coconut flavor.
The taste is similar to regular cream cheese frosting in that it’s tangy, but it’s lacking the obscene amount of sugar, which is fine by me! This was just sweet enough for our liking.
The texture is also kind of different once on the cake and refrigerated – then it’s more like a whipped cream cheese frosting. Despite the differences, it’s still an amazing sub, especially on goodies like carrot cake.
The cake pictured is the cake version of my grain-free healthier carrot cake muffins. I doubled the recipe and baked it in two 8″ pans for 17 minutes.
The texture was somehow different than when baking them as muffins, which seemed fluffier. Baking it up as a cake resulted in a more compact, velvety result. Both are awesome – just different!
This dairy-free gluten-free coconut layer cake from Flippin’ Delicious would also go really well with this frosting (and doesn’t it look amazing?!)
Make sure to use coconut yogurt or another type of dairy-free yogurt (preferably one that’s on the thick side, like Greek yogurt). There are a few different brands that offer coconut yogurt but you could also make your own.
Most recipes (like this thick, homemade yogurt involve incubating the yogurt 6-24 hours. If that sounds too fussy, I like the sound of this cheater version of homemade coconut milk yogurt.
This is like your typical soft cream cheese frosting in that it doesn’t pipe (or at least not like buttercream). This vegan cream cheese frosting is definitely more of a spread-it-on kind of recipe!
The frosting yielded about 1 1/2 to 1 2/3 cups, which was just enough for my two-layer cake. Note that it’s a somewhat thin layer of frosting (and that I put too little in the middle and too much on the top). If you want a little more, you can easily make 50% more or you could just double it and use any leftovers on one of these grain-free goodies!
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting (paleo, dairy-free, naturally sweetened)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 1 1/2 – 1 2/3 cups frosting
Ingredients
- a 14-ounce (396-gram) full-fat can of coconut milk, chilled overnight1
- 1/4 cup (60 grams) coconut yogurt (make sure to use paleo / vegan yogurt or regular Greek yogurt for a non-dairy-free / vegan version)
- 1/4 cup (56 grams) coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
Directions
- Remove the can of coconut milk from the refrigerator and without shaking it or turning it upside down, open it and scoop out the solidified, waxy layer of coconut cream at the top into a medium mixing bowl. Do not use any bits that are slightly watery! I got 200 grams of coconut cream from my can. Use the remaining coconut water in a smoothie.
- Use an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer (fitted with the whisk attachment) to beat the cream on medium until light, fluffy and soft peaks form.
- Add the yogurt, coconut oil, vanilla, salt, and 3 tablespoons of maple syrup. Beat for about 10 seconds and add more maple syrup, if desired. The frosting will be quite thin now but firms up somewhat after chilling.
- Chill for about 4 hours. The frosting will still be rather soft but after frosting your cake or cupcakes, a little of the moisture will be sucked up and will appear as it does in the pictures. Refrigerate anything frosted with this frosting.
- Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Place the unshaken can of coconut milk in the refrigerator overnight or for at least 6 hours to allow the cream to separate from the water. If you've never made whipped coconut cream before, I highly recommend reading this post on coconut whipped cream from Gimme Some Oven.
- Piping isn't possible with this recipe as it's too soft.
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69 comments on “Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting (paleo, naturally sweetened)” — Add one!
Yup this recipe worked really good for me and was a crowd hit! I frosted a lemon coconut cake w it. I wish I had doubled the recipe though, it is like a moose, I wanted a bigger proportion of this stuff in my cake layer. Tips: Once frosted I kept my cake cold in the fridge until serving bc I was afraid it would start to melt off. And I sped up my coconut milk chill time: what I did was I had cold water already in the fridge, so I put the can in a bowl with the very cold water for a couple hours, meanwhile put a glass bowl to chill in freezer, then added coconut cream to the very cold bowl and kept that the fridge for another hour or so, and stirred every now and then with a spatula to distribute the coldness from the glass. I think I chilled my coconut milk sufficiently in about 4/5 hrs since I forgot to do overnight.
I’m so glad that it was a hit! A lemon coconut cake sounds so lovely. :) Thanks for sharing your tips! And yes, it definitely needs to stay refrigerated. Thanks a bunch for your comment!
Can I replace the maple syrup with honey? And is there a replacement for the yogurt?
I haven’t tried it but it can probably be used in the same amount (or even a little less). The issue may be that the frosting will taste very much like honey. The maple is much more subtle. Unfortunately there’s no sub for the yogurt. Sorry about that!
What is the nutritional information for your vegan cream cheese frosting?
I’m so very sorry for just now seeing your question! It was in spam for some odd reason. I don’t have that info but you could use this recipe analyzer for the nutritional profile. :) I’m currently looking into a way to be able to share the nutritional info in my posts. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Wow! I just made this and it is the first time that I’ve actually succeeded in finding and making a creamy df frosting. It was like watching magic happen when the liquids became creamy. Thank you! You are a magician!
Yay! I’m really glad that it worked out well for you. :) Thanks for your feedback!
would it be possible to just buy coconut cream and whip it, or is refrigerating the coconut milk to get the cream preferable? just curious! im excited to try this one out :)
You can just get coconut cream! Hope you’ll enjoy it. :) I’d love to hear how it comes out!
Hey there, I so my frosting’s been in the fridge for about an hour and it’s reallly thick, like almost solid. (I think it was the coconut cream :( )Any ideas for how to thin it out?
Hmm. Coconut cream shouldn’t have caused that! Are you sure it was coconut cream and not creamed coconut (also known as coconut butter)? Because that could have made it solid. If you leave it for a bit at room temperature, does it soften enough to spread on the cake? Then you could serve it at room temp.
so yummy, thank you!
You’re welcome! Thanks for your comment. :)
Thank you so much for this receipe! Isn’t Greek Yoghurt non-vegan though? Just wondering, thank you! Keep up the great job!
Thanks! And yes. The recipe calls for “coconut yogurt (or regular Greek yogurt for a non-dairy-free / vegan version).”
Just made this. Perfect. I was looking for a vegan cream cheese type frosting made without powdered sugar- which was mainly all I could find. I didn’t have yogurt on hand, so I substituted by making my own almond milk buttermilk (almond milk + fresh lemon juice). Also I didn’t have maple syrup so I sub’d for half molasses and honey. Turned out lightly sweetened and super light…and minor fluff…which I expected right away. It’s in the fridge cooling and I know this will be heaven on the vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls I made to go with this. This is why I’m a happy fat vegan. Thanks for this recipe!!
Pumpkin cinnamon rolls?! Yum. I’m so happy that it came out well! I’m surprised that it worked out with buttermilk in place of yogurt. I would have thought that it’d come out runny. And a happy fat vegan sounds much better than an unhappy thin vegan. :D Thanks for your feedback and sorry for my slow reply!
Loved it thank you. My daughter is cow dairy and cane sugar free..so I made vegan carrot cake with agave and frosted with this. I added some lemon zest to the icing and some on top for decor. Yummy.
I love the idea of adding lemon zest! Thanks for the tip. I’ll have to try that myself! I’m happy you enjoyed the frosting. Thanks for your comment. :)
Looking forward to trying this frosting on the weekend for a birthday cake! How many ml does the coconut cream convert to? I have a 400ml can, is that roughly the same?
It is the same! Hope you’ll enjoy it. :)
I tried this yesterday and it was good. Thank you for the recipe!
I’m happy you liked it! Thanks for your comment. :)