Easy Whipped Cream

16 servings
Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 3 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

Easy Whipped Cream is light, sweet, and easily makes the PERFECT addition to any dessert, ready in under 5 minutes with only 3 ingredients!

Our kitchen is always busy coming up with the next amazing dessert recipe, and you’ll love adding this whipped cream to Ultimate Apple Crisp, Easy Strawberry Shortcake, and Ultimate Pumpkin Cheesecake!

Whipped Cream in bowl with whisk mix attachment and powdered sugar

Easy Whipped Cream is light and fluffy, with a creamy sweet vanilla flavor that is the PERFECT addition to almost any dessert. It’s surprisingly easy to make and only takes a few short minutes and three ingredients, heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.

It’s worth making your own because you can make twice as much for half the cost. Plus if you just add everything to the Stand Mixer, the most you have to do is wait for it to be done!

Depending on what dessert you’re making this for, you can add different flavors to the cream. A favorite go-to is almond flavoring, because it adds a really rich indulgent flavor to the cream recipe that goes perfectly with any chocolate dessert, especially hot chocolate! I’ve also added a teaspoon of peanut butter powder in the past to go with these Peanut Butter Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes.

You can also add cocoa powder, freeze dried fruit powder of any variety (banana powder is so good!), or any other extracts you love. A super creative idea is to add root beer extract to the mixture and top sundaes with it.

Easy Whipped Cream

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Whipped Cream ready?

This whipped cream recipe is ready when the cream forms stiff peaks that hold their position. If you keep going after this phase, you will make butter instead. If you’ve over-whipped your cream recipe, you can add a splash of cream and whisk gently until incorporated.

Why is my Whipped Cream runny?

Whipped cream can start to become runny if you over beat or under whip it. Try taking the beater out of the cream as soon as you start to see the stiff peaks appear. It could also be because you’re using a lower quality cream, or the cream has too many added ingredients. Try to find a fresh cream with the least amount of added ingredients possible. ALWAYS use store-bought cream, and just find the highest quality there.

What can be used instead of whipping cream?

Instead of whipping cream, you can also use full fat coconut milk (the kind in the can), just remember to chill it first.

What’s the difference between heavy cream and whipping cream?

Heavy cream and whipping cream are really similar, with only slight differences. Heavy cream has a slightly higher fat percentage, which is what we’re looking for. But you can use either for this recipe and honestly they are all but interchangeable in most recipes you need them for. Other milk products, like half and half for example, do not have enough fat, and will not form correctly.

What can I add to Whipped Cream

You can make all different flavored recipes by adding extracts, like vanilla extract, peppermint extract, or lemon extract. You can also sweeten the whipped cream with a tablespoon of honey or maple syrup for some more indulgent flavor, or throw in some lemon or lime zest for a summer recipe.

Desserts to Dollop with Whipped Cream

Whipped Cream

Tips for Making Homemade Whipped Cream

  • You want your ingredients to be really cold, so use whipping cream that’s just been taken out of the refrigerator or you can even put it in the freezer for a half hour before using it.
  • If you’re using a stand mixer, store the bowl in the freezer before you use it to speed up the whipping process.
  • If you don’t have a stand mixer you can make it with a hand held electric beater (on medium speed).
  • You can also do it the old fashioned way with just a chilled bowl and a whisk, or place your ingredients in a jar and shake until ready.
  • You can also make it with a bowl placed over a larger bowl of ice water to keep your ingredients cold as you whisk.
  • The cream will double in volume once it’s ready, so if you have ½ cup of cream, expect 1 cup.
  • For an adult version, add a tablespoon of bourbon or your favorite liquor.
  • Add a teaspoon of melted chocolate or cocoa powder to make a chocolate version.

How to Store Whipped Cream

  • Serve: Do not leave Whipped Cream at room temperature longer than 1 hour. It is best to keep it refrigerated until serving.
  • Store: Homemade whipped cream will last in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. If it starts to lose its texture, you can whisk it a few more times to bring it back.
  • Freeze: You can also put this cream recipe in the freezer for 2-3 months, defrosting in the refrigerator when you’re ready to use it.
Whipped Cream in bowl with whisk mix attachment

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Easy Whipped Cream

Easy Whipped Cream is light, sweet, and easily makes the PERFECT addition to any dessert, ready in under 5 minutes with only 3 ingredients!
Yield 16 servings
Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 3 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 2 cups cold heavy whipping cream
  • 4 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

  • Place a stand mixer bowl in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before starting this recipe.
  • Place ice cold stand mixer bowl in stand mixer and add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla to the bowl, whisking or beating with the whisk attachment on high for about 1 minute or until stiff peaks form (careful not to over beat or you will make sweetened butter).

Notes

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

Nutrition

Calories: 111kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 11mg | Potassium: 22mg | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 435IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 19mg
Keyword: whipped cream
Whipped Cream Collage

Photos used in a previous version of this post.

Three ingredient whipped cream

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. You don’t need sugar or vanilla, what you do need, is to whip it by hand! Not only does it taste better, you get almost twice as much out of it, as a mixer of any kind, breaks the air it’s supposed to hold, and that is also why Whipped Cream tend to become watery if not used right away, and mixing by hand, you also have better control 🙂

  2. I Keep a jar that has 1 pkg. of instant white chocolate pudding mix in my cabinet. I add 1 tsp. of this pudding mix for each cup of whipping or heavy cream It makes an excellent stabilizer.

  3. If I where going to put on pancakes would their need to be a different recipe or would this be fine and if I made sweetened butter then would that be good on chocolate and apple pancakes?

  4. You need to use powder sugar to whip the cream or u could use sugar l dont have powder sugar thanks

  5. I just love your recipes, Sabrina They’re always so tasty and easy for the home cook to make. Thank you.

    Peggy

    1. If you’re looking to just frost the top of the cake, it’ll be enough but if you want to frost the sides and top you’ll need to double the recipe. Enjoy!

    1. This is the first time ive made homemade whipped topping. Omg! I’ll never buy store bought again. My husband absolutely loved it on the chocolate pudding pie i made him.

  6. Fresh whipping cream is the best! I usually use vanilla, but I love your idea of adding a bit of almond extract. I love almond, so I can’t wait to try it that way!