This easy, 4-ingredient sour cream frosting is smooth and luscious with a sweet and tangy flavor. It’s perfect for decorating cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and dipping fresh fruit!
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A Simple Spreadable Frosting
This sour cream frosting recipe is tangier than a sweet buttercream frosting but lighter in consistency than a cream cheese frosting. If you are a fan of either of those two you’re going to love trying your hand at something just slightly different!
This creamy and velvety smooth frosting uses just 4 simple ingredients and it takes what is originally basically a buttercream frosting and turns it into something with a delicious tang. A not quite cream cheese, sour cream frosting! If you’ve always considered frosting something that should be sweet, I assure you, you’ll never look back. There is definitely still a sweet note, and of course, that lovely warming hint of vanilla, but the added tang is truly irresistible.
It’s very spreadable which is great for slathering carrot cake, cinnamon rolls, and chocolate cupcakes. As you can imagine it’s a versatile frosting that can be used interchangeably on many occasions wherever you might have found cream cheese or buttercream frostings, such as these soft sugar cookies or red velvet brownies. It’s genius!
Will I Taste the Sour Cream?
So, you know how in buttercream you taste the buttery aspect, without feeling like you’re actually eating butter? And in a cream cheese frosting, you can taste the thickness and the essence of the “cheese” without actually feeling like you’re eating a spoonful of cream cheese.
That’s what enjoying a sour cream frosting is like. You can definitely taste the essence of the sour cream. The tang, the smoothness, and the slight sour kick, but no, you will not taste it otherwise. It’s a humble addition that enhances a frosting in the best way.
Tips & Variations
- For chocolate sour cream frosting, add a Tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder. It’s a variation of both my chocolate frosting recipe and chocolate buttercream frosting.
- A drop of food coloring for added color would be a fun and festive way to decorate for a particular occasion.
- I use unsalted butter because I think the tang in the sour cream balances the sugar. If If you would prefer to use salted butter or add a pinch of salt to the frosting, you can.
- If you find your frosting is too thick, add in more sour cream a little bit at a time until desired consistency is where you want it.
- If you don’t have any sour cream on hand, but you happen to have some Greek yogurt (none of that Greek-style yogurt stuff), go ahead and give that a try!
- For a lemon frosting, swap the vanilla for a bit of lemon juice.
Ways to Use Sour Cream Frosting
There are so many ways to use it, especially because it can replace other types of frostings for a change! Below are some of my favorite ways to switch it up from time to time.
- Pumpkin bars
- Homemade Oreo cookies
- Easy vanilla cupcakes
- Oatmeal cream pies
- Pumpkin bundt cake
- Orange sweet rolls
- Rainbow cupcakes
Recipe FAQs
The best and easiest way to thicken frosting is by adding in more powdered sugar. Sifting the powdered sugar before adding it in will ensure the frosting won’t have any lumps. Add a little at a time until you have reached the desired thickness.
Powdered sugar is the best way, however, you can use corn starch to help with the frosting being too runny.
It is best to keep the sour cream frosting in the refrigerator as long as possible but leaving it out for about two hours will be the maximum amount of time.
Storing the Frosting
It is best if used right away. Any unused frosting should be kept in the fridge, and covered in an airtight container. It has dairy in it, so you will want to avoid leaving it out at room temperature for extended periods of time.
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Sour Cream Frosting
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Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter , softened
- ¼ cup sour cream , more if desired
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar , add more as needed
Optional: Pinch of salt, heavy cream or milk, food coloring
Instructions
- I n a medium bowl, se an electric or handheld mixer and beat the butter until smooth. Add in the sour cream and vanilla. Add up to 1/4 cup more sour cream for a softer frosting. Then add in half of the powdered sugar and mix until creamy.
- Add the remainder of the powdered sugar. Add a Tablespoon or two of heavy cream or milk if it becomes too thick. Add more powdered sugar as needed. Taste and add a pinch of salt if needed. Add a couple drops of food coloring if desired.
- Spread the frosting on top of the cookies or cakes or store in a covered container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: 5 Ingredients Or Less, American, Desserts, Frosting, Gluten-Free, No-Bake, Nut-Free, Vegetarian
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
I really like this…it’s more substantial than a simple sugar glaze but not as heavy as cream cheese frosting which is a bit much for breakfast. I made a batch of this to go on cinnamon rolls and it seemed just right – although they were still warm from the oven and so the frosting was more melty than creamy, but all the better! I’ll be keeping this recipe on hand.
I love this! I’m glad you enjoyed the frosting Terry!
Could this icing be used to replace Royal Icing somehow? If so, what suggestions would you recommend to decorate cookies using a piping bag and still getting that glossy, hard finish?
No unfortunately this can’t replace royal icing. This one could: https://www.iheartnaptime.net/sugar-cookie-icing/
This recipe is so amazing because it doesn’t use any butter so it’s much healthier! It only uses a few ingredients that you can find at home and easy to find. 5 out of 5 stars for sure.
It’s one of my favorite frosting recipes! I’m so glad you like it as well Cayla :)
It does use butter – a whole stick in fact.
How many “servings” for a 13×9 sheet cake? Or for a two-layer 8″ or 9″ cake? Not sure how much I should aim for, but looking forward to it!
This will cover a 9×13″ cake. It will cover the outside of the cake, but you’d need to add a filling or double the recipe if you wanted it filled with it as well :)
I tried this frosting and it was so fluffy and not too sweet. It had the sourness from the sour cream, perfect for sweet cookies!!
4 STARS
Easy and turned out great!
Absolutely perfect exclamation
Amazing!!!! I wanted something tangy to balance out the sweetness of my strawberry cupcakes and this frosting was perfect!! I added lemon juice and lemon zest and everyone loved them! I can see this working with literally every flavor cupcake I love making. So much better than my usual American buttercream which I do also love but no one else on my family can tolerate due to the cavity inducing sweetness!
Plus the texture is so beautiful and creamy almost custardy (but firm enough to pipe beautifully with my Wilson star tip!!)
Thank you Jamielyn!!!!
You are so welcome! I love that combination! Glad that it worked out for you. Thank you for a great review and sharing.
So glad to see the reviews here saying you can pipe the frosting :) my son isn’t a frosting fan so I think I’ll try this one. He likes cream cheese ones so maybe he will like this too.
Hi Stephanie! I love cream cheese frosting too :) I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Made the Sour cream frosting… Love it… Happy baking… Cape Town, South Africa 💚
I made this frosting to top a strawberry cake. For extracts I used 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp strawberry and 1/8 to 1/4 tsp lemon. The lemon gave the frosting a hint of citrus. The texture of my frosting turned out a little softer than I’m used to but rave reviews from my family. So I’ll definitely make it again.
Has anyone tried making the chocolate variation?
Loved the texture of this frosting! So creamy and smooth.
My mind is BLOWN!! This was delicious! The sour cream makes it so smooth and creamy.
After frosting the cake, can it be frozen? Will the frosting hold?
Yes you can freeze the frosted cake :)
This recipe didn’t completely frost a two-layer cake, but that was okay by me since I like less frosting on my cake. Otherwise, easy and good recipe.
Had a lemon box cake and decided to try a sour cream frosting since I had extra..It turned out great! Quick weeknight desert and delicious
Mm that sounds so delicious! Glad you love the frosting, Sonia :)
Can you mix half cream cheese and half sour cream?
Yes you could do half and half :)
I absolutely love this frosting on cookies! It’s so creamy and delicious every time!
This was delicious. Such a refreshing alternative to buttercream for sure
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the frosting, Joshlyn :)
I just loved the addition of sour cream in this recipe, its was smooth fluffy and so delicious. This recipe is a keeper for sure!
I’m so happy to hear that you loved it, Claudia :)