• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Fantabulosity logo

  • All Recipes
  • Vintage Recipes
  • Holiday
  • Dinner Theme System
  • About
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • All Recipes
  • Theme Night Dinner System
  • Dinner
  • Desserts
  • Holidays
  • Contact
  • About Jessica
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Brownies

    Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting

    By: Jessica · Posted: Aug 19, 2023 · Updated: Nov 3, 2024 · This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

    • Facebook
    Jump to Recipe 3 comments
    5 from 4 votes
    Brownies with cream cheese frosting, with a close up of a bite taken out of it.

    These Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting are made using a chocolate fudge pudding mix, and a few other ingredients that come together and pair perfectly with the creamy cream cheese frosting!

    The brownie recipes you’ll find here are always easy, and this recipe is no exception. In a little over an hour, you’ll have a delicious dessert ready for you to enjoy.

    Sliced brownies with cream cheese frosting on counter.

     

    Ever since these strawberry brownies went viral online, I knew you loved brownies as much as I do. So since then, you’ve seen similar recipes like these chocolate peanut butter brownies, and these cornflake brownies appear here too, so I think you’re going to love them all just the same! Or if you love using cake mixes when making desserts, you’ll love these red velvet brownies too!

    Have an Instant Pot? You may also love these Instant Pot brownies too!

    Jump to:
    • Why You’ll Love This Recipe
    • Ingredients Needed
    • How to Make Brownies with Cream Cheese
    • How to Make Homemade Brownies
    • How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting
    • Recipe Pro Tips
    • Recipe FAQs
    • 🍽 What to Serve with This Brownie Recipe
    • More Dessert Recipes You’ll Love
    • Recipe
    • Comments

    Why You’ll Love This Recipe

    • Chocolate + Cream Cheese: Flavor combinations can make or break a recipe. In this case, the cool and creamy, sweet cream cheese frosting, combined with the chocolate flavor is the perfect combination.
    • Pudding Brownies: Did you know that if you add pudding mix to brownies, it can make them more moist and even softer? It’s true. You’ll love the addition of the mix to these.

    Ingredients Needed

    I’ve highlighted a couple of ingredients below with some relevant notes for this chocolatey brownie. Aside from this, the ingredients needed are pretty basic.

    Labeled ingredients for homemade brownies with cream cheese frosting.
    • Butter – The unsalted butter will be used for the brownies and the salted butter will be used in the cream cheese frosting.
    • Flour – All-purpose flour is recommended for these brownies.
    • Cream Cheese – Since this needs to be softened, go ahead and sit this out so it has time to soften when it comes time to use it for the frosting.
    • Chocolate Chips – Using milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet should be ok, however, it will alter the taste of the brownies slightly.

    How to Make Brownies with Cream Cheese

    These fudgy brownies are made from scratch, instead of using a box mix. However, this recipe is still very easy to make!

    This chocolate brownie and cream cheese frosting recipe is broken into 3 components:

    • make the brownies
    • allow brownies to cool
    • make and frost the brownies with frosting

    *Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*

    How to Make Homemade Brownies

    BEGIN: Set the oven to 350° and prepare an 8 x 8 baking pan by lining with parchment paper and clipping the sides down to the pan.

    Steps 1-4 of how to make homemade brownies with cream cheese frosting.

    STEP 1. In a microwave-safe bowl, add half of the chocolate chips and the butter. Microwave for 30 seconds; if the chocolate is not completely melted, stir and microwave for another 15 seconds. Continue to do this until the chocolate is completely melted and well combined with the butter. 

    STEP 2. While the chocolate is cooling, mix sugars, vanilla, and eggs together in a large bowl for 3 to 5 minutes until smooth and not gritty. This will give you a fudgier consistency.

    STEP 3. Add the melted chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and whisk to combine. 

    STEP 4. Next add the flour, pudding mix, and salt.

    Steps 5-8 for making homemade brownies.

    STEP 5. Whisk until smooth; the batter will be thick. 

    STEP 6. Add in the chocolate chips, and mix in.

    STEP 7. Get the baking dish that was prepared earlier.

    STEP 8. Pour batter in to baking dish and spread batter to the edges until brownie batter is level. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. The less time you bake the more fudgy the brownies will be.

    Completely cool brownies before frosting. 

    How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting

    Steps 9-12 for making cream cheese frosting to go on brownies.

    STEP 9. In a large mixing bowl add the butter and cream cheese and cream until light and fluffy and pale in color. 

    STEP 10. Add half of the powdered sugar to the cream cheese mixture and mix scraping the bowl as needed. 

    STEP 11. Add the remaining powdered sugar, vanilla, half and half, and salt.

    STEP 12. Mix until smooth. 

    Steps 13-15 how to frosting brownies with cream cheese frosting.

    STEP 13. Grab the fully-cooled brownies.

    STEP 14. Spread the perfect finishing touch (frosting) evenly over cooled brownies.

    Cut and serve the pan of brownies for a decadent dessert.

    Recipe Pro Tips

    • Allow to fully cool. Making sure that you allow the cake to completely cool before frosting is key or the frosting won’t turn out the way that it should.
    • Correct temperature. Butter, eggs, and cream are the key ingredients that should be at room temperature before making this recipe.
    Bite taken out of brownie with cream cheese frosting.

    Recipe FAQs

    What is brownie frosting made of?

    There are different types of frosting recipes that can work on brownies. Cream cheese frosting and buttercream frosting are the two most popular recipes.

    How do you store brownies with frosting?

    Depending on the type of frosting, some can be stored in the refrigerator or stored at room temperature. Brownies with cream cheese frosting should be refrigerated in an airtight container but they can sit out at room temperature for up to two hours.

    🍽 What to Serve with This Brownie Recipe

    Serving decadent brownies with a scoop of ice cream (a la mode) is common and serving your favorite flavor of ice cream with these cream cheese brownies would be a great idea.

    More Dessert Recipes You’ll Love

    If you love easy desserts like these fudgy chocolate brownies, then you’ll love all of our desserts. (Especially if you have an Instant Pot, try these brownies made in the Instant Pot.) Here are a few dessert recipes you don’t want to miss:

    • Strawberry cake mix cookies on white plate.
      Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies
    • A mixed berry mini trifle.
      Mixed Berry Mini Trifles
    • Slice of no bake Oreo cheesecake on a plate with a Hugs Kiss, candy bar and Oreo cookie.
      Oreo Cheesecake
    • Slice of peanut butter cake with peanut butter frosting on top, sitting on a plate.
      Peanut Butter Sheet Cake with Peanut Butter Icing

    Did you make this? I’d be so grateful if you left a “star” rating below to let me know what you thought! Then, the next time you need a quick and easy recipe, come back to Fantabulosity to browse all of my easy recipes!

    Recipe

    A brownie with cream cheese frosting, tipped on it's side, in the middle of other brownies.

    Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting

    Jessica Burgess
    Homemade brownies with cream cheese frosting, use a pudding mix to make them moist and soft! The cool cream cheese frosting combined with chocolate is the perfect pairing!
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 minutes mins
    Cook Time 30 minutes mins
    Cooling Time 1 hour hr
    Total Time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Servings 9 brownies
    Calories 577 kcal

    Ingredients

    Brownies

    • ½ cup unsalted butter 1 stick
    • 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips divided
    • ½ cup granulated sugar
    • ½ cup brown sugar
    • 3 eggs
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • ½ cup all-purpose flour
    • 3.9 ounce box of chocolate fudge pudding mix mix only
    • ½ teaspoon salt

    Frosting

    • 4 ounces cream cheese softened
    • ¼ cup salted butter ½ stick
    • 2 cups powdered sugar
    • 1 teaspoon half and half
    • ¼ teaspoon vanilla
    • ⅛ teaspoon salt a pinch

    Instructions
     

    For Brownies

    • Set the oven to 350° and prepare an 8 x 8 pan by lining with parchment paper and clipping the sides down to the pan.
    • In a microwave safe bowl, add half of the chocolate chips and the butter. Microwave for 30 seconds; if the chocolate is not completely melted, stir and microwave for another 15 seconds. Continue to do this until the chocolate is completely melted and well combined with the butter.
    • While the chocolate is cooling, mix sugars, vanilla, and eggs together in a large bowl for 3 to 5 minutes until smooth and not gritty. This will give you a fudgier consistency.
    • Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Next add the flour, pudding mix, and salt. Whisk until smooth; the batter will be thick. 
    • Pour into the prepared pan.
    • Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. The less time you bake the more fudgy the brownies will be.
    • Completely cool brownies before frosting. 

    For Frosting

    • In a large mixing bowl add the butter and cream cheese and cream until light and fluffy and pale in color. 
    • Add half of the powdered sugar to the bowl and mix scraping the bowl as needed. 
    • Add the remaining powdered sugar, vanilla, half and half, and salt. Mix until smooth. 
    • Spread frosting evenly over cooled brownies.
    • Cut and serve.

    Notes

    Storage: Brownies with cream cheese frosting should be refrigerated, although they can sit out at room temperature for up to two hours.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1brownie | Calories: 577kcal | Carbohydrates: 77g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 446mg | Potassium: 204mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 65g | Vitamin A: 733IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 2mg

    Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.

    Keywords brownie recipe, brownies with pudding, chocolate dessert, easy dessert
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

    More Easy Brownie Recipes

    • Strawberry brownies on white marble cutting board.
      Strawberry Brownies Recipe
    • Three lemon blondies stacked on top of one another on a piece of parchment paper.
      Lemon Blondies
    • Instant Pot brownie on white plate.
      Instant Pot Brownies
    • Hot fudge cake sitting on white plate, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
      Hot Fudge Cake
    Subscription Form

    Get 5 Days of Delicious & Easy Dinner Recipes!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      5 from 4 votes (1 rating without comment)

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




      This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    1. Sharina says

      September 12, 2023 at 5:24 am

      5 stars
      Kids super love these decadent brownies! With the generous amount of frosting on top, they turned out beautifully and delightful!

      Reply
    2. Kristen says

      September 11, 2023 at 8:23 am

      5 stars
      I have never thought to have any type of frosting on brownies but now that I have tried it I don’t think I will be able to go back.

      Reply
    3. jess says

      September 11, 2023 at 8:15 am

      5 stars
      I dont think that I ever thought to add cream cheese frosting to my brownies, but it was such a game changer! thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe!

      Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Jessica Burgess of Fantabulosity, slicing an avocado.

    Hi, I'm Jessica! - Owner and Creator of the blog and brand, Fantabulosity.

    I’m here to teach you how to make quick and easy recipes, using simple ingredients, that your family will love.

    More about me →

    Spring Recipes

    • Slice of lemon meringue pie on small plate, with slice of lemon laying beside it.
      Lemon Meringue Pie
    • egg salad on croissant
      The BEST Egg Salad Recipe
    • Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad in big bowl, sitting on napkin.
      Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad Recipe
    • Smoked chicken tenders on parchment paper and baking sheet.
      Smoked Chicken Tenders – 3 Ways!

    Popular Recipes

    • bread pudding in baking dish
      Bread Pudding Recipe: Easy Old Fashioned Recipe (With Video!)
    • Burger baked in the oven, steamed in aluminum foil, and placed on white plate.
      Burgers in the Oven
    • Oven Baked Steak with Butter and a side of potatoes
      How to Cook Steak in the Oven
    • Strawberry brownies on white marble cutting board.
      Strawberry Brownies Recipe
    • Cheeseburger Sliders
      Cheeseburger Sliders with Hawaiian Rolls
    • Baked BBQ Pork Steaks on white plate
      Pork Steaks in the Oven

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Featured In

    About

    • About Jessica
    • Contact
    • Collaborate
    • 5 Days of Delicious Dinners

    Easy Recipes

    • All Recipes
    • Dinner Recipes
    • Side Dishes
    • Desserts

    How to Cook

    • Oven-Baked
    • Stove-Top
    • No Bake
    • Slow Cooker

    Privacy Policy |Accessibility Copyright © 2025 Fantabulosity | Terms & Conditions | FTC

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required

    Recipe Ratings without Comment

    Something went wrong. Please try again.