Lusciously thick and lightly sweet, this bright lemon cream cheese frosting is lightened up with Greek yogurt and a kiss of pure maple syrup. I promise you don't need powdered sugar or butter to make an incredible, decadent frosting. Just beat with a handheld mixer and slather on my healthy lemon cake or lemon blueberry baked oatmeal.
If you've laid mouth on my OG five-star healthy cream cheese frosting, you already know it's wildly delish and just begging for a hint of fresh lemon. Enter her zesty little sister!
My whole fam gobbled this up smeared on my nourishing lemon poppyseed bread. But honestly my favorite way to eat it may just be straight up with a spoon. It's giving lemon cheesecake!
How I bring cream cheese to room temp
My preferred slower soften method is remove the foil, set cream cheese on a plate, and let it sit on the counter for an hour.
If you need this frosting like yesterday, use this quick method: remove the foil and microwave cream cheese for 20 seconds. It should not be hot--that's just asking for runny frosting. Eeeeek.
Why room temp in the first place, you ask? It will be lumpy if it's too cold! Hard pass.
Let's make it
No runny frosting allowed
The key to thick frosting is full fat, brick style cream cheese. Trust me, it's essential for texture! I've tested this with lower fat cream cheese, cream cheese spreads, and whipped-style and the higher moisture of these content makes it runny.
Another culprit is using runny yogurt. It must be thick, Greek-style (Fage is my go-to since it's super thick). It was clear in testing that runny yogurt means thin frosting.
This last minute addition surprised me
I'm a cream cheese frosting pro at this point lol, so when I developed this version I assumed lemon zest and juice would be perfect. But when I tasted it, I wanted a little something something for flavor that I couldn't put my finger on.
More lemon juice was a no since it would make the frosting less thick. Turns out a little pinch of salt was the answer to balance the sweet and the tangy.
This tastes way more indulgent than it has any business being!
Print
Healthy Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
- Category: Desserts
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Lusciously thick and lightly sweet, this bright lemon cream cheese frosting is lightened up with Greek yogurt and a kiss of pure maple syrup. I promise you don't need powdered sugar or butter to make an incredible, decadent frosting. Just beat with a handheld mixer and slather on lemon cupcakes, baked oatmeal, lemon cake, and beyond!
This recipe makes just under 2 cups, or enough to frost an 8-inch cake or 12 muffins/cupcakes.
Ingredients
- 1 8oz block full fat brick-style cream cheese, at room temperature*
- ¼ cup plain Green yogurt (I like Fage 2% since it's so thick)
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice (this juicer is my fave)
- zest of 1 large lemon
- tiny pinch of salt
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer and beat on medium speed for a few minutes, or until smooth and fluffy. It may seem liquidy at first but will come together and thicken up as you keep beating. It will continue to thicken in the fridge.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Be sure to refrigerate anything frosted within two hours.
Notes
Adapted from my healthy cream cheese frosting.
Dylan says
My favorite flavour yet! Yum!!!
Alexis Joseph, MS, RD says
Yayyy me too!!