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You may wonder why I’m posting another chocolate frosting recipe when this Fudgy Mocha Frosting is so delicious. Well, it’s also very rich and calorie-dense and makes a huge batch. I wanted a lighter version, so that’s what this frosting recipe is. It actually tastes a lot like the fudgy frosting, but it makes a smaller batch and it uses a secret ingredient to help cut down on some of the excess fats. Not that I have anything against fat, but enough is enough sometimes.
You wanna know what this secret ingredient is? Well, I use it in almost everything, from ice cream to soup. It’s cottage cheese. Don’t worry, you can’t taste it. It adds volume without the calories (and it adds protein! How’s that for awesome?!), and it makes this frosting a lovely milk chocolate intensity.
Would you like a cake recipe to go with your frosting? Or do you want to just eat the frosting? That’s fine, I don’t blame you one bit. The chocolate made you do it. But if you want some cake with your frosting, you should totally check out this chocolate layer cake recipe. It doesn’t take any wacky ingredients like my fudgy cauli-chocolate cake does-unless you consider zucchini a weird ingredient. I don’t. Zucchini is totally normal and has been used for ages to give baked goods moisture.
AND, just so you know, this fabulous frosting features in my Mocha Cake (you know, the one I made for my birthday…the one that’s in all the pictures in this post). Drool. It’s seriously the best cake I’ve ever made. I know I said that about my zucchini spice cake, but I say it again, this time with more emphasis cuz we’re talkin’ about chocolate. And you know how I feel about chocolate…
You can snag my “official” pin for this recipe here.
You can find this recipe in my cookbook, Necessary Food.

- 1 stick salted butter, softened
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 3 doonks THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder (a doonk is 1/32 tsp.)
- 3 Truvia packets, ground in a coffee grinder (2¼ tsp. Truvia; you could also use half that of THM Super Sweet Blend)
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup unsweetened almond milk
- ⅓ cup cottage cheese
- ¼ cup coconut oil, softened (use refined if you don't want a coconut flavor)
- In a stand mixer (a good hand mixer would probably work as well), beat the butter, cocoa powder, sweetener, and vanilla until smooth. Heat the almond milk and blend it in a blender with the cottage cheese until totally smooth (a Ninja single-serve blender cup works great for this). Beat this mixture into the butter mixture, then add the softened coconut oil and beat again. Put the mixing bowl in the refrigerator to chill for a bit if the frosting is runny, then beat again once it has firmed up a little (if you refrigerate it too long and it won't beat properly, let it set out to warm up to room temperature and try again). Frost your cake, then refrigerate to firm the frosting up to the desired consistency. The frosting will be fudgelike when fully chilled, so don't chill it before frosting your cake. Yields about 1½ cups (which I use to frost my Mocha Cake recipe).
Feel free to adjust the sweetener to your taste and what you have on hand. If using a granulated sweeter, grind it in a coffee grinder.
Check out this sweetener conversion chart if you’re working with a different sweetener than I am.
Suggested Products:
- The single-serving Ninja blender cup that comes with this blender set comes in handy in many recipes, including this one.
- I use Hershey’s Cocoa Powder.
- THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder does a fantastic job of sweetening, but in most chocolate things I find that mixing it and Truvia gives the best flavor. You can purchase the stevia (as well as THM Super Sweet Blend) from the Trim Healthy Mama online store.
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can cream cheese be used in place of cottage cheese?
if so, do any adjustments need to be made?
I’m not sure, since I’ve never tried that in this recipe. 🙂 Maybe you’d like to try this one instead >> https://www.briana-thomas.com/fudgy-mocha-frosting-low-carb-sugar-free-thms/
If I was going to have this as a snack to satisfy my chocolate fix, how much should I have?
It’s really rich so I don’t recommend that you eat only it as a snack, but a few tablespoons once in awhile along with a protein source should be fine. 🙂
Why do you always use artificial vanilla extract?
I often use imitation because I don’t usually buy the groceries and that’s what my mom gets. 😉 I’ve actually edited most of my recipes to use regular vanilla extract, but this is an oldie.
Oh, okay. I just didn’t know what your affinity for it was because I had seen it repeatedly on your blog. Since it is made from petroleum derivatives, it didn’t seem appropriate for “healthier” living.
Why do you heat the almond milk? That was the only part that didn’t quite make sense to me.
Thank you for this recipe! I am making a cake for a birthday bash at our church and am excited to make it THM friendly 🙂
Having the almond milk hot helps the cottage cheese blend smoothly. 🙂 You could try not heating it if you have a good blender.
Hi sweety you are a genius ;0) I will love your Desserts I have tried so long to make sugar free and low crab goodies and nothing works or was not edible.Thank you and keep up the good work Vickie