2-Ingredient Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

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This 2-minute, 2-ingredient frosting adds balanced sweetness to spice cakes, muffins, quick breads — and even pancakes!

This frosting is thick, creamy, and lightly sweet, and it’s ideal for all your fall bakes. That said, the recipe is simple enough to keep in mind all year long. The warm flavor notes of the maple syrup balance the light tang of the cream cheese for a surprisingly complex flavor.

The best part? Two ingredients—and two minutes—are all you need.

Think carrot cake, pumpkin muffins, and spice cake in the fall, zucchini bread in the summer, and banana bread or bran muffins any time of year.

One important tip: Use regular block-style cream cheese. Light, fat-free, and whipped versions tend to produce a looser result, rather than that classic, spreadable consistency. A pinch of salt is optional but has a magical way of enhancing the tart-sweet flavor.

Bonus: This 2-ingredient frosting is also the easiest way to elevate a muffin to cupcake status!

Almost anything goes—consider this the shortcut version of the classic cream cheese frosting—but if you’d like some inspiration, here are my favorite ways to use it:

• Pumpkin Bran Muffins
• Baked Pumpkin Pancakes
• Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal Muffins
• Yogurt Bran Muffins
• Heavenly Carrot Cake Muffins
• Baked Pumpkin Pancake Whoopie Pies (coming soon!)
• Big Batch Zucchini Bread or Muffins
• Green Smoothie Muffins
• Zucchini Banana or Applesauce Bread (grain-free & naturally sweetened)

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2-Ingredient Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

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Thick, creamy, and lightly sweet with a touch of tang, this 2-ingredient frosting is perfect for spice cakes, muffins, quick breads — and even pancakes!

Yield: ~⅓ cup (enough to frost ½ dozen muffins; the recipe can easily be doubled to frost a dozen muffins or a loaf cake)

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Prep Time 2 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 minutes minutes

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Ingredients

 

• ¼ cup (60g) regular block cream cheese, softened to room temperature*
• 2 tablespoons (40g) real maple syrup
• a pinch (1/16 teaspoon) kosher salt, optional

Instructions

1. Stir the maple syrup and pinch of salt, if using, into the cream cheese. (The salt will subtly pop the flavor.)The mixture will be creamier sooner when the cream cheese is fully softened first; if not, just keep stirring until smooth. Any little lumps will work their way out.
2. Note: For a sweeter or tangier frosting, you may adjust the amount of maple syrup up or down to taste.

Notes

*Light, fat-free, tub, and whipped cream cheeses have a higher water content and can result in a runny frosting. For best results, stick with regular, block cream cheese. 

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