Classic Cream Cheese Glaze
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A smooth and decadent Cream Cheese Glaze that’s perfect to top your pancakes, cupcakes, and even oatmeal! This cream cheese glaze uses THREE ingredients to get the softest and richest cream cheese glaze! I love it so much, I lick the bowl every single time!
If you’ve checked out my pancake recipes you’ve seen plenty of them are topped with a luscious cream cheese glaze. Heck, I’ve even done a chocolate cream cheese glaze! I love this stuff so much! Every time I know I’ll be making it for pancakes, my heart seriously skips a beat or two. It brings me so much joy!
When I make cream cheese glaze, I really slather it up! I love to layer cream cheese glaze in between my pancakes so I can really taste it in every single bite. Cream cheese glaze is just an integral component to many perfect pancake recipes!
This cream cheese glaze honestly just takes three ingredients and a few minutes to make! You won’t want to make a cream cheese glaze in any other way after you’ve tried this recipe! It tastes absolutely delicious, it holds its shape, and you’ll probably want to have a few licks of it on its own!
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Glaze
We only need three ingredients to make a rich and decadent cream cheese glaze that you can use on top of all of your favourite desserts and pancakes! Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post so that you get the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE so that you can see all the measurements, and print it for later when you’re ready to make the recipe!
Here’s what we’ll need:
Cream cheese: Can’t neglect this one as the name suggests! You can use whole fat, but I’ve always used light cream cheese and I get amazing results. I probably would not recommend the 97% or fully fat free variations, however, as your glaze may get too thin and not taste as good. Let your cream cheese come to room temperature before using, as it will whisk easier with the other ingredients. I prefer to use the cream cheese from the tub.
Powdered sugar: This is also known as confectioner’s sugar. If you use granulated sugar, it will be nearly impossible to break it down when whisking. If you don’t have powdered sugar, a hack I learned is that you can make your own powdered sugar by simply blending up granulated sugar with cornstarch!
Milk: This makes the cream cheese glaze runny and smooth. If you want a thicker glaze, use less milk. You can use any milk of your choice.
How to Make the Cream Cheese Glaze
You can make cream cheese glaze using a stand mixer or whisking by hand. I have no preference, but if you’re making a bigger batch, then I would recommend the stand mixer if you have one! I’ll show you what to for both methods.
Whisking by Hand
Simply add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and whisk to combine.
Nothing more to do here. It is best to refrigerate the glaze if you are looking for a thicker glaze, but even at room temperature, it is thick enough - look at the whisk below!
Using a Stand Mixer
In case you are tripling the recipe or more, I would suggest using a hand or stand mixer if you have one. It will make the process much easier. But it is not a requirement at all.
How to use Cream Cheese Glaze
The possibilities are endless with this cream cheese glaze recipe! Here are just a few ideas:
Pancakes: This simple cream cheese glaze is iconic in my Red Velvet Pancakes, Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Roll Pancakes, and Extreme Fun & Fluffy Pancakes.
Brownies: I’ve got the base cream cheese glaze with a little mocha flavour in my Espresso Brownies!
Cinnamon rolls: Switch up your simple vanilla frosting with this delicious cream cheese glaze in my Air Fryer Baby Cinnamon Rolls!
French toast: This would really make them special!
Waffles
Variations
This is where it gets fun! This cream cheese glaze is actually a perfect blank canvas to do what you want with it! As I’ve said, it’s so delicious on its own, but I’ve had some fun experimenting with just a couple of modifications to transform the glaze!
Chocolate cream cheese glaze: All you need to do for this is follow the regular recipe and add 1 Tbsp of cocoa powder. I use it for my Yin and Yang Cookie Pancakes, and for my Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich Pancakes.
Cookies and cream protein cheese glaze: Again, follow this recipe, but replace the powdered sugar with a scoop of Cookies and Cream flavoured protein powder. If you don’t have that flavour, simply use vanilla protein and crumble in some sandwich cookies in the glaze. If you don’t have vanilla protein powder, then keep in the powdered sugar and use unflavoured protein powder. Note however that you may need more milk because of the extra dried ingredients. I use this glaze in my Cinnamon Pancakes with Cookies and Cream Glaze, and in these M&M Cookies and Cream Overnight Oats! This variation of cream cheese glaze adds the Oreo goodness, but also boosts the nutritional content with a boost of protein!
French vanilla cream cheese glaze: To make your glaze taste like a French vanilla ice cream, add some Madagascar bourbon vanilla bean paste to your glaze. A little of this magic ingredient goes a long way! I have yet to use it in any published recipe at the time being, but that will be heavenly!
Do I Serve at Room Temperature Or Chilled?
It will depend! If you’re making this glaze to use for my recipes that call for it, I’ll tell you whether or not you should chill the glaze. If you want a rich and decadent glaze to simply pour over pancakes or any type of cake, then leave the glaze at room temperature, as it will be more runny.
However, if you’re going to layer pancakes or you want the glaze to have more of an ice cream effect, then I recommend chilling your glaze for at least twenty minutes. The glaze will firm up in this time. You don’t want the glaze at room temperature if you’re using it for layering or else your pancake stack, or whatever kind of stack you’re making, will collapse. It’s happened to me before and it’s a truly disappointing sight!
Storing Classic Cream Cheese Glaze
Refrigerate any unused cream cheese glaze in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Use chilled or at room temperature. I don’t recommend you freeze cream cheese glaze since the texture will be ruined when it thaws.
Watch How to Make classic cream cheese glaze Here:
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Classic Cream Cheese Glaze
Ingredients
- 5 oz cream cheese
- 3 Tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 - 3 Tbsp milk
Instructions
- Whisk together the powdered sugar and cream cheese, and gradually add milk. Keep whisking until smooth. Allow to set before serving.
Notes
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Use this cream cheese glaze at room temperature or chilled, depending on the recipe.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
297.68Fat (grams)
24.52 gSat. Fat (grams)
14.39 gCarbs (grams)
16.16 gFiber (grams)
0.00 gNet carbs
16.16 gSugar (grams)
14.40 gProtein (grams)
4.56 gSodium (milligrams)
225.78 mgCholesterol (grams)
72.04 mgNutrition info is an estimate.
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Welcome to Cooking With Anadi. This platform is all about making cooking exciting and finding new ways to bring classic flavours and recipes at your service. Join me in my personal journey in the world of cooking. Hope you have a great ride!
