Lusciously light and fluffy Healthy Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting made with Greek yogurt and sweetened with maple syrup. Super easy to make in 10 minutes, and no powdered sugar or butter needed. Enjoy on banana bread, chocolate cake, brownies, and beyond!
OMG. Permission granted to frost your finger[s] and go to town.
I was baking peanut butter banana bread last week and thought man, this would be absolutely splendid slathered with pb frosting, ya know? And honestly cream cheese makes everything better. So here we are!
Inspire by my famous Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting and Healthy Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, this recipe comes together in no time and the results are almost impossibly delish.
What's it good on? More like what is it not good on.
Ingredients
- Cream cheese: A brick-style block of full fat cream cheese for the base of the frosting.
- Maple syrup: My favorite natural sweetener to give this frosting the perfect amount of sweetness.
- Peanut butter: I use Kirkland's natural peanut butter with just peanuts and salt as the ingredients. I've tested this with unsalted and it also works.
- Greek yogurt: You want plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt. Not fat or full fat work, but the thicker the better! Plain yogurt is too thin for this recipe. I have not succeeding in mastering a dairy free version of this recipe.
- Vanilla extract: A splash for amazing flavor.
How to make (step by step)
Soften cream cheese for an hour.
Add peanut butter, maple syrup, Greek yogurt, and vanilla.
Beat with electric beaters for a few minutes, until thickened and fluffy.
How to soften cream cheese
If you don't soften the cream cheese, the frosting will be more lumpy and less smooth. That said, mine typically has some lumps anyway and I don't mind it!
- Slower method (recommended): Follow step 1 of the recipe card and soften on the counter for an hour.
- Quick method: Unwrap the cream cheese, discard the foil, and set it on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave for about 20 seconds. It should not feel hot. If it's too warm, the frosting may be runny.
What makes it healthy?
Dietitian here! Let's all agree that this is still frosting, not a salad. So compared to other frostings with a stick of butter and 2 cups powdered sugar (which there are certainly many occasions for!), this is clearly is a much more nourishing version.
But at it's core, it's cream cheese and sugar because that's what frosting is 🙂
- Way less sugar: we're talking ⅓ cup natural sweetener versus 2-3 cups powdered sugar.
- Addition of yogurt: Step aside butter, gut-friendly yogurt is adding the texture we need here!
- No butter: This recipe is perfectly sweet, tangy and creamy without the need for butter.
Why is my frosting runny?
This frosting should set up to be nice and thick. It won't hold up to being piped, but it should be spreadable in a way that doesn't run.
- Not beating long enough: The mixture will start off thin and clumpy. Keep beating on medium high until it's well combined. It should get much thicker and be fluffy!
- Using the wrong yogurt: Using a thinner yogurt that isn't Greek style will lead to runnier frosting.
- Using whipped cream cheese: Whipped and tub-style cream cheese have more moisture. Brick-style have the lowest moisture content.
What to frost
I love this on pancakes, muffins, breads, brownies...really anything that could use some sweet and tangy peanut butter flavor!
It's also amazing on a spoon, like a cheesecake dip if you will.
How to store
Frosting can be at room temperature for up to 2 hours. After that, it needs to be refrigerated. Keep all leftovers in the fridge.
Print
Healthy Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
- Category: Desserts
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Lusciously light and fluffy Healthy Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting made with Greek yogurt and sweetened with maple syrup. Super easy to make in 10 minutes, and no powdered sugar or butter needed. Enjoy on banana bread, brownies, and beyond!
Ingredients
- 1 8 oz block full fat cream cheese*, softened to room temperature
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Unwrap cream cheese. Slice into pieces and place in a medium mixing bowl for 1 hour to soften.
- Once softened, add maple syrup, peanut butter, yogurt and vanilla to mixing bowl.
- Use a hand mixer (electric beaters) to beat frosting for a few minutes on medium speed and then medium high until well combined and fluffy. It will start off looking very thin and will thicken as you beat it. Store in the refrigerator.
Notes
* Do not use whipped cream cheese or the kind in the tub, as they have more moisture and may yield runnier frosting.
This recipe yields 2 heaping cups of frosting, enough to frost an 8x8 pan of brownies.
Alexis Joseph, MS, RD says
LOL same
JP says
If I don’t have maple syrup or a Greek yogurt on hand, can I use regular syrup and regular yogurt?
Alexis Joseph, MS, RD says
No unfortunately those won’t work. You need pure maple syrup and Greek yogurt for this recipe to work. Regular yogurt will make the frosting too runny.
JP says
Exactly what I thought you would say! Thank you so much for clarifying before I made the mess of it. LOL. I’m definitely going to get the correct items and make this frosting for my olive oil Chocolate cake. Yum.
Alexis Joseph, MS, RD says
Ahh I hope you love it!