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Home » Vegan and Oil-free Recipes

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting - No Refined Sugar

Published: Mar 26, 2020 · Modified: Sep 1, 2021 by Liz Madsen

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Luscious, creamy, protein-packed Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting with no refined sugar! This healthy frosting takes only 5 minutes to make, and requires less than 10 ingredients.

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Hey Internet,

I seem to have a penchant for making things out of tofu (mostly cheese), but this time I decided to make frosting out of it!

While making a carrot cake and was trying to figure out how I could make a yummy vegan cream cheese frosting. I didn't have any cashews (I almost never do; they're kind of expensive) but I did have a fridge full of tofu (I always do).

After a little experimentation, I have perfected this delicious frosting.

This vegan cream cheese frosting is

  • Sweet
  • Tangy
  • Thick
  • Creamy
  • Light

… and perfect for spring!

What's Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting Made Of?

While many are made from cashews, mine is nut-free. It's made from tofu!

I included TWO sources of acid to get that bright, tangy cream cheese flavor. Apple cider vinegar has that subtle sweetness and bite while lemon juice has that bright citrus flavor.

I've tried this frosting with just apple cider vinegar and with just lemon juice. They were both good, but not as great as this version with both. So both is recommended but not required.

Even though this is a sweet application (savory vegan cream cheese coming soon!), I included a little salt because cheese is salty. Even if it's sweet.

Speaking of sweet, to stay away from refined sugar I used a few tablespoons of maple syrup in this!

It doesn't make it taste maple-y, if you're concerned about that (just use pure maple syrup, not the fake stuff). It's also not OVERLY sweet.

I have hated frosting for basically my entire life. It's too sweet. I don't love things that are super sweet (except my husband ;) ).

But this frosting is only somewhat sweet and nice and tangy. IF you want it sweeter, just add more maple syrup.

See the substitutions section of this post for any ingredients you might need to change.

Finally, to get it all to blend, I used a little nondairy milk. Any will work and you won't need much.

I did not add vanilla extract to this recipe because I felt my cake had enough of it in this instance, but feel free to add some to this recipe (I would start with ¼ - ½ teaspoon, then blend and taste).

How do you make Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting from scratch?

Well, first you need a base. Since we're not using store-bought vegan cream cheese (I don't care for most of them, and they have oil which I avoid), we need a somewhat firm base.

You CAN use soaked cashews if you like, but I used firm tofu instead. See the substitutions section below about using other types of tofu.

So I basically dumped all the ingredients in the blender.

What makes the frosting thick is the combination of a firmer tofu but mostly the xanthan gum. Again, check below for substitutions.

After blending everything together it's ready to spread or pipe!

What can I do with leftover cream cheese filling?

I designed this recipe so that it would likely all be used with a regular cake or batch of cupcakes, but if you have leftovers you could use it in a few ways:

  • As a sweet spread on bagels, muffins, or toast for breakfast
  • To top a sweet potato for dessert
  • Blend it up with fruit for a smoothie
  • Make a parfait with granola and berries

What Substitutions Can I Make?

So first, for the tofu, you can certainly used soaked cashews if you want to. It's the same method after that.

If you're still wanting to use tofu, I've only tested this recipe with firm and medium tofu. With medium, increase the xanthan gum by a half teaspoon.

It follows that if you want to use a softer tofu like soft or silken, you may need to add more xanthan gum. And if you are using one of these, I would be careful with the amount of nondairy milk you add and just add it a tablespoon at a time as needed to blend.

I wouldn't recommend substituting the nondairy milk with water, but you can use any nondairy milk you like: soy, almond, hemp, rice, etc. Oat milk might have too much a flavor for this, but I can't say for sure because I don't normally use it in baking.

Instead of maple syrup, you can absolutely just use powdered sugar. I would leave out the xanthan gum in this case, since the powdered sugar will thicken the icing itself.

Xanthan gum CAN be challenging to find, although I see it more and more in local and regional chains, and you can always purchase it online.

Instead of xanthan gum you can use other thickeners like agar powder, corn starch, etc. but these thickeners need to be heated. So in this case I'd probably blend everything up, stick it on the stove, and heat it up until it thickens, stirring frequently.

As mentioned before, you could just thicken your frosting with powdered sugar instead.

Finally, I mentioned you don't have to use both apple cider vinegar AND lemon juice but the combination is fantastic.

That said, you can also play around with other neutral or sweet vinegar (though I don't think balsamic would taste good in this…) like white wine vinegar or rice vinegar if that's what you have.

It might be interesting to play around with other citrus. An orange flavored cream cheese frosting sounds kinda good…

Anything Else?

As always, I hope you love this recipe!

Let me know in the comments below if you make it, tag me @Zardyplants on Instagram so I can see your beautiful recreations! If you tag me on IG, I will share your post in my stories :)

Also, one quick request: if you love how this recipe looks or tastes, please leave me a 5-star rating and a nice comment–ratings help more people find my recipes which helps me keep providing them! Thank you!

And if you're looking for more tofu dishes, check out this post I made with all my best tofu recipes.

<3

Liz

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Overhead shot of frosted cake on a blue cake stand

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting - No Refined Sugar


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5 from 6 reviews

  • Author: Liz Madsen
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 1.5 cups 1x
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

Luscious, creamy, protein-packed Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting with no refined sugar! This healthy frosting only 5 minutes to make, and requires less than 10 ingredients.

Vegan, Oil-free, Gluten-free, Nut-free, Refined Sugar-free


Ingredients

Scale
  • ¾ of a 16 oz (396 g) block of firm tofu (see above for substitutions)
  • ¼ cup unsweetened nondairy milk (any will work)
  • 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • 1.5 tsp xanthan gum

Instructions

  1. Add all ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth.
  2. Spread or pipe onto baked good. Enjoy!
  3. Please cover and refrigerate any baked good you apply this to. May remove from fridge 30 minutes before serving to serve at room temperature.
  4. Refrigerate leftover frosting in an airtight container for up 5 days.
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Category: Ingredient
  • Method: Blender
  • Cuisine: American, Jewish

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Comments

  1. Joan

    August 17, 2020 at 7:08 am

    We made a Vegan Carrot cake for our Blue and Gold Macaws “Sunshines” birthday and we chose your recipe for frosting to top it with!! It came out great and he loved it as much as us!! Thank you for the inspiration!! 🦜🏴‍☠️🎂💕 The Cotter

    Reply
  2. Joan Cotter

    August 21, 2020 at 4:07 am

    We made your Vegan Cream Cheese frosting and it is amazing! We decorated our Blue and Gold macaws vegan carrot birthday cake with it. See @sunshinecotter on Instagram to see pictures!! Love , love the frosting!! Thank you!!

    Reply
  3. Heidi Pafford

    January 01, 2021 at 3:05 am

    I just found your website by mistake and I was shocked at all the amazing recipes!! Your recipes are pure genius and thanks for posting so many of them. I can't wait to try all of them!!!

    Reply
  4. MaryJo Kringas

    February 03, 2021 at 12:26 am

    GREAT Recipe! I was looking for a way to make a high protein frosting and this is absolutely the best one I found. Totally brilliant! Thank you.

    Reply
  5. Lynda

    February 22, 2022 at 4:22 am

    Hi,
    I would like to make this with cashews. How much do I use? Would I still need to use xanthan gum?
    I'm making this tomorrow.

    thanks for your help

    Reply
    • 💚 Liz

      February 22, 2022 at 9:19 pm

      I would do 1 cup of cashews for this. Xanthan gum can help it thicken, but I don't think you need it. You could also try powdered sugar to thicken it.

      Reply
      • Lynda

        February 26, 2022 at 8:02 pm

        Ah, thanks very much. I didn't think I'd need the gum, but wasn't sure.
        Appreciate your answer.

        Reply
  6. Belen

    May 10, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    is it necessary to press the tofu first?

    Reply
    • 💚 Liz

      May 10, 2022 at 6:57 pm

      No, but drain all the water in the package and blot it with paper towels.

      Reply
      • Belen

        May 17, 2022 at 4:44 pm

        thank you! I'm trying this out today:)

        Reply
  7. J

    November 16, 2023 at 6:04 am

    Hi there, would it still work without the maple syrup or any sweetener at all?

    Reply
    • 💚 Liz

      November 16, 2023 at 4:44 pm

      I think it would not sweet enough to taste like frosting. Other than that, it would likely work.

      Reply
  8. Erin

    June 02, 2024 at 6:31 pm

    Wow this is so good. I used powdered sugar to avoid needing xanthan gum and put over pumpkin bread. Can’t more highly recommend

    Reply
    • Ally

      November 18, 2024 at 4:54 am

      Can I ask how much powdered sugar you used to replace xanthum gum? Thanks so much!

      Reply
  9. Nathalie

    August 16, 2024 at 2:49 pm

    Hey, is this frosting pipeable? :)

    Reply
    • Liz Madsen

      August 26, 2024 at 5:22 pm

      Unfortunately, no. We do have a pipeable vegan buttercream, if that helps!

      Reply
  10. Ally

    November 17, 2024 at 5:50 am

    This looks amazing! How much powder sugar would you suggest to thicken the dish if not using xanthan gum? Would you still keep in the maple syrup?

    Reply
    • Liz Madsen

      November 18, 2024 at 2:44 pm

      Sorry for the delay! Add 1 Tablespoon sugar at a time until it's the right thickness. And I would omit the maple syrup.

      Reply
  11. Mary

    February 11, 2025 at 11:40 am

    Sorry so confused on how much tofu you use. I don't know what 3/4 is? How many grams?

    Reply
    • Liz Madsen

      February 12, 2025 at 1:19 am

      It's 297 grams.

      Reply

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Hi, we're Liz & Paul!

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Paul and Liz Madsen holding their dog Luna standing in front of a lake

Hi, we're Liz & Paul!

We develop plant-based comfort food recipes that are delicious, easy, and budget-friendly. We created Zardyplants to share our fun, delicious food with the world. But what does the name Zardyplants even mean?

More about us →

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Seasonal

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Want a free e-cookbook? Download our Everyday Plant-Based Recipes.

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