Coconut cashew cream cheese frosting that comes together in minutes in a food processor or blender. This is the perfect thick, creamy and healthy frosting for cakes and cupcakes, cookies and brownies!
So, last Friday was Adam’s birthday. He timed his Whole30 perfectly so he could finish right before his birthday AND the Super Bowl – two days of the year I’m guessing most of us don’t want to be committed to a Whole30.
I mean – I’m willing to make Paleo cupcakes (of course), but I’m doubting anyone truly wants a meatloaf/egg “cupcake” with sweet potato puree for frosting to celebrate their own birthday. Right?? Or wrong? Definitely speak up if the meatloaf/egg cupcake is your thing. 
Anyway, since I had big success making cashew coconut cream for my raspberry cream cups, I decided to run with a good thing and go for “cream cheese” frosting.
There were cupcakes involved too (you can see the first photo!) I’m not trying to hide them or anything – just waiting until Saturday to post them since this coconut cashew cream cheese frosting deserves a post of its own. It’s crazy delicious, very versatile (you can frost your own arm if you wish) and can even serve as a sweet dip if you dare to go that way.
Ultimate chewy chocolate chip cookies – you might have just met your soul mate.
As you can see from the photos, I used my food processor for this job – but – I’ve heard that blending cashews into cashew cream can work well in a Vitamix too if that’s what you prefer. I personally don’t have one yet (on my wish-list) but I’ve spoken to people who swear by it for the creamiest of creamy sauces, so I’m guessing it can handle soaked cashews like a dream.
Because this frosting was all about go-big-or-go-home, I also dug out my cake decorating tips to make this creamy coconut cashew cream cheese frosting look extra pretty. For best results, I recommend chilling the frosting for at least an hour prior to decorating to get it extra creamy and thick.
Luckily this frosting doesn’t harden OR get too gooey – it keeps its texture really well – I just found chilling it gave it that extra bit of thickness that a cream cheese frosting should have. Or rather, “cream cheese” frosting, I suppose.
So – how did this all go over with my family? No one completely rejected it, which is saying A LOT around here. Better yet, no one had any clue that the creamy cupcake frosting they were eating was actually blended up cashews. Pretty cool, right? Frosting can be a picky, tricky subject for many, and healthy frosting is that much more of a challenge, don’t you think? Let me know if you like it! Now let’s get soaking, blending and frosting 🙂
Coconut Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting {Paleo w/Vegan Option}
Coconut Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting {Paleo w/Vegan Option}
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups raw cashews soaked in filtered water for at least 4 hours**, drained, rinsed, and gently dried
- 2/3 cup coconut cream chilled*
- 2.5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp coconut oil solid
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4-6 tbsp raw honey or pure maple syrup for the vegan option (adjust sweetness to preference)
- Large pinch fine grain sea salt
Instructions
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In a food processor or high speed blender, blend cashews on high until a paste forms, then scrape the sides.
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Add remaining ingredients and continue to blend or process on high for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is creamy.
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Makes enough frosting for one dozen cupcakes or a 9" double layer cake. Store frosting covered in the refrigerator for up to one week. It will thicken when chilled but won't completely harden. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*You can use a 5.4 oz can, refrigerated - any water in the can discarded, or the thick part of a can of full fat coconut milk.
**Prep time does not include the time needed to soak cashews.
Nutrition
Want more Paleo and vegan sweet treats? Try one of these!
Cashew Caramel Clusters (with date caramel)
No bake Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
No Bake Chocolate Coconut Butter Cookies
Chocolate Dipped Cookie Dough Truffles
Tell Me!
Do you enjoy decorating cakes, cupcakes, cookies?
Favorite cake/frosting combo?
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Baffled how to thicken the frosting. I didnt see your note to use fat only of coconut cream til after fact. I mixed the fat and liquid together. But now have this flat (runny) like frosting. Any help appreciated.
I love the taste but i think what i didn’t do correctly til after reading after recipe notes was recommended using Fat part of cocky cream. It turned out rather runny. Will see what it does overnight. If nothing else my suggestion to fix it would be to blend more cashews and add maple powder sugar to thicken. My fault though. I definitely am curious if using vitamix makes it runnier than it should since i see massive comments having same issue. Maybe need less soaking time with cashews since it makes them more wet and swell. Id imagine that is why we soak them in the first place. Your other recipes i dont soak long because of runny issues. We live and learn.
I love this page and have been following for a long time but this recipe just did not turn out well. I used it to ice a cake I made because my friend is allergic to cornstarch but the icing just wasn’t thick enough even after refrigerating overnight. It basically started to melt as I was icing the cake. Very disappointed and I would not recommend. Sad to say
Thank you for sharing this versatile and healthy frosting recipe!
Can this frosting be flavored with other natural extracts, such as almond or coconut, to complement different baked goods?
What if I use violife cream cheese alternative? How would i make the frosting recipe? It’s made from almond.