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This dairy-free cream cheese frosting is almost too good to be true. It’s ultra-creamy and tastes remarkably similar to cream cheese frosting, without using nuts or tofu.
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
The secret to this creamy frosting? Sweet potatoes. White sweet potatoes, to be exact.
Did you know that sweet potatoes come in a variety of different colors? For years, I had no idea. There are sweet potatoes with white flesh, purple flesh, and the traditional orange flesh that we probably think of most often. (In the U.S. we often call orange sweet potatoes “yams,” though, technically, they are still just sweet potatoes.)
I used white sweet potatoes in this recipe for obvious reasons– I wanted this frosting to look like traditional cream cheese frosting!
Naturally Sweetened Sweet Potato Frosting
Because this recipe doesn’t call for powdered sugar, it’s not as thick or grainy as a traditional frosting. Instead, it’s silky smooth and a lot “lighter” in texture.
It’s sweetened with pure maple syrup and gets it’s signature tangy flavor from a combination of freshly squeezed lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. I find that this acid combination tastes more like “cream cheese” than if you were to just use one or the other alone.
I recommend that you make this frosting the night before you plan on serving it so that it can thicken in the fridge. It’s a little runny straight out of the blender, but it thickens up quite a bit more when chilled and tastes even MORE authentic when you spread it on a batch of Vegan Pumpkin Bars or Coconut Flour Carrot Cake.
This recipe makes a little over 2 cups of frosting, and would nicely cover a sheet cake baked in a 9-inch by 13-inch pan. I double the recipe when frosting a two layer cake, as pictured above.
I used it over a 9-inch square pan in the photo below, with plenty of icing leftover. I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Ingredients
- 1 large Hannah sweet potato (white flesh)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup (at room temperature)
- 6 tablespoons coconut oil (melted)
- 2-4 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- To prepare the sweet potato, peel and cut it into 1-inch chunks. In a pot fitted with a steamer basket, bring 1-inch of water to a boil and steam the potato chunks until fork-tender, about 10-15 minutes.
- Transfer the steamed potato chunks into a 1-cup measuring cup and mash them with a fork to tightly pack the cup all the way to the top. (Reserve any remaining sweet potato for a future smoothie or salad topper.)
- Transfer the mashed sweet potato to a blender, and add in the maple syrup, coconut oil, 2 tablespoons of water, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and salt. Blend until silky smooth.
- If the mixture isn't blending well, add more water 1-2 tablespoons at a time until very smooth. Be careful not to add too much water or the frosting will be too runny. Once smooth, transfer the frosting to an airtight container to store in the fridge.
- This frosting will thicken overnight and can be spread over your favorite cakes, bars, or cookies. Be sure to keep the frosting refrigerated for best texture, though it can sit out at room temperature for several hours for serving. It should last up to a week when stored in the fridge.
Video
Nutrition
Per serving (roughly 1.5 tablespoons): Calories: 53, Carbohydrates: 5, Fat: 3, Protein: 0
Recipe Notes:
- If you don’t care for coconut oil, you can reduce the amount used to 4 tablespoons and increase the water by 2 tablespoons for a slightly thinner/runnier frosting. I use unrefined coconut oil, which does leave a hint of coconut flavor, but you can use refined coconut oil for less coconut flavor. (I’m sure vegan butter would work here, too, but I haven’t tested that myself.) If replacing the coconut oil, you must use another fat that is solid at room temperature so that the frosting will thicken up.
- If you can’t find white sweet potatoes, another variety will probably work, the color just won’t be the same. (Purple sweet potatoes would be fun for a naturally-colored frosting, too!)
- Feel free to use another liquid sweetener in this recipe. Keep in mind that honey is not vegan, and is sweeter than maple syrup, so you might need to use slightly less than this recipe calls for.
- If you’d like a more tangy frosting flavor, feel free to add more lemon juice or vinegar, just 1/2 teaspoon at a time until the flavor is to your liking.
As always, if you make any modifications to this recipe please leave a comment below letting us know what you tried so we can all benefit from your experience.
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite type of frosting? I’ve always been partial to white or chocolate buttercream, and I have more dairy-free & nut-free options in my cookbooks!
Question for you. I’m trying to make a cake for a friend who uses diet to control her MS. She is vegan, but she also obtains from coconut. The only fat she uses is olive oil and I can’t imagine that would taste good. Suggestion for replacing the fat? Or has anyone left it out completely? Thanks.
You could try Spectrum Organic All Vegetable Palm Shortening. I’ve purchased it at Whole Foods and Target. A tub is usually around $7-$8.
If it’s for MS, it sounds like a low saturated fat diet. No coconut and no palm anything on it. My husband is doing the same diet, it’s a challenge because coconut everything is all the rage with vegan diets.I love the sweet potato idea, but I will sub a few cashews for the coconut!
Has anyone used sugar free maple syrup for this?
This was fantastic, I can’t get over how it tastes like cream cheese!
I have quite a bit of leftover icing after using it for your gf pumpkin bats. Do you think this would freeze well? I don’t want it to go to waste 🙁
Yes, I think it’s starchy enough that it would freeze and thaw okay. Glad you enjoyed it!
I made this and tried a few different versions! I made the one with lemon… it as ok but really enjoyed it when I added vanilla!! Then I took some of that and added cocoa powder with a little extra stevia. I used stevia and swerve for all the versions. I’ll definitely make it again
I made with vegan butter and it came out perfect
This frosting is completely new to me. That is something I will have to try. I am a professional chef, but rather new to veganism. I learned something new today. Thank you
I’m very curious to try this. BTW, sweet potatoes (white or yellow centers) are native to the Americas and yams (orange centers and what we often call sweet potatoes) are native to Africa. Many grocery stores carry both, but it takes a close look to determine which is which.
I just stick my nail into the potato to see if it is white!!
Yams aren’t grown in the US. You’ll see Yam or Sweet Potato labels in grocery stores in the US. No matter what the color is though, they are all sweet potatoes. Yams are a different plant.
I just made this and am planning on trying to use it in a pumpkin roll in the morning after it sets up.The flavor is really good, however the texture seems a bit grainy/starchy. I’ve used a ninja blender, but after 5 or more minutes it hasn’t gotten super smooth. Will that change? Thinking maybe it won’t be noticeable once I spread it in the roll, but was making sure I didn’t do anything wrong. Also it is quite a bit darker than yours-maybe my maple syrup brand was different? I use pure Maine dark maple syrup. Thanks for your feedback.
I was so excited to find this recipe! No cashews, powdered sugar, or store bought junky vegan cheese! Woo hoo! I was a bit nervous about the final result but I just made it and it’s soooo goooood!!! I did use honey and I think about 5-6 tablespoons is perfect, I also added 2 teaspoons vanilla and a half teaspoon almond extract, I upped the salt to 1/4 teaspoon and used coconut milk in place of the water…it amazing! THANK YOU!
How do you think this would work in a pumpkin roll? I have a GF, vegan recipe for thanksgiving that I’d love to try this as a repacement for the regular cream cheese frosting. Last year I tried a pudding, but it wasn’t so good. Do you think it would withstand being rolled up in a pumpkin roll and frozen like I do for the other?