Live to Eat & Eat to Live

Royal Icing

Sugar Cookie Snowflakes
Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

The Only Royal Icing You’ll Ever Need

This is the only royal icing recipe that I use for cookies, gingerbread houses and fondant cake detail work.  It’s easy to work with, sets quickly and doesn’t use raw egg whites.* Best of all, it dries just hard enough to paint on and package, but not so hard that it will break a tooth.

When you’re not working directly with the icing (for example, if you are dividing your icing to make multiple colors), place a damp paper towel or kitchen towel directly on the surface of the icing. This prevents it from hardening.

This icing dries in about two hours at room temperature, but I usually leave my cookies to dry for eight hours — or overnight — if I am packaging them for gifts or for children to decorate with edible markers.

Vegan Royal Icing

This recipe can easily be made egg free by substituting aquafaba for the meringue powder and water.**

Sugar Cookie Snowflakes

Royal Icing

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Royal Icing
Servings: 48
Calories: 37 kcal
Author: Alina Eisenhauer

This is the only royal icing recipe that I use for cookies, gingerbread houses and fondant cake detail work.  It’s easy to work with, sets quickly and doesn’t use raw egg whites. Best of all, it dries just hard enough to paint on and package, but not so hard that it will break a tooth.

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Ingredients

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl using either a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat confectioners' sugar, meringue powder, water and extract (if using) together on medium speed for five minutes. Start the mixer on low to avoid being covered in confectioners' sugar.

    I start with six tablespoons of water, but you may need to add more if you live somewhere that is dry, or you like a looser icing for flooding cookies.

    When lifting the paddle up, the icing should drizzle down and smooth out within 10-15 seconds. If it's too thick, add more water. If it's too thin, add more sifted confectioners' sugar.

Recipe Notes

*If you prefer not to use meringue powder, you can omit the meringue powder and the water by replacing them with a total of three pasteurized egg whites (90 grams).

**If you need to make this egg free/vegan, you can omit the meringue powder and water, replacing them with a total of 90 grams aquafaba (six tablespoons).

Nutrition Facts
Royal Icing
Amount Per Serving
Calories 37
% Daily Value*
Fat 0g0%
Saturated Fat 0g0%
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 3mg0%
Potassium 2mg0%
Carbohydrates 9g3%
Sugar 9g10%
Protein 0g0%
Iron 0mg0%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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