I’ve shared my favorite sugar cookie and now have some great new sugar cookie recipes for Summer. I have also shared a few fun ways to decorate the sugar cookies. What I haven’t yet shared is my favorite recipe for royal icing!
Well friends, today is the day! I am finally sharing my favorite royal icing recipe that I use for all my decorated cookies. After trying a few recipes over the past year, this one is my hands down favorite. It is easy to pipe and creates the perfect crust on the cookies for that perfect finish.
The recipe is pretty much like any icing you would have made when decorating cookies – water, powdered sugar, vanilla – but the key ingredient, and what makes it crust up so perfectly is meringue powder.
Meringue powder, as you may have guessed, is processed egg whites (so they are safe to consume without heating up) that help give the icing it’s consistency and also it’s signature “crust”. With the help of meringue powder, this icing will dry perfectly so that you can stack and package these cookies without fear of ruining all your hard work!
To start off, I whisk the meringue powder and water until it forms a foam. I like to whisk this up with a plain old while, not the whisk attachment of my stand mixer. I find that the whisk attachment doesn’t really do much.
Then I dump in the powdered sugar and vanilla into the mixer and let the thing go to work. This is when a stand mixer really comes in handy because you need to let this mix for about 2 minutes. If you find that the icing is too thick and isn’t mixing very well, add a bit more water – about 1 tbsp at a time.
Update: Because I now make such large batches of icing for my cookie decorating classes, I have started using a hand mixer. I actually like using the hand mixer a lot, even though it is a little bit more work. But hey! I’m also getting an arm workout in, too! I just mention this because I know not everyone has a stand mixer, so I want you to know that a hand mixer will work just fine!
I just whip it up until the icing becomes light and airy. You will know it’s ready because the color will change from a cream color to almost white. Don’t get me wrong, though, at this point it is VERY thick. This is the kind of icing that you would use to construct a gingerbread house. I’ve learned that you always want to start with thick icing, then thin it down because 1) it keeps longer in the fridge or freezer if you want to make it ahead of time and 2) it’s easier to thin down than to thicken.
Speaking of thinning down, the photo above is the end result of thinning the icing down to flood consistency. I know it’s flood consistency because when I run a spoon or knife over the surface, the icing goes back to how it was in about 10-15 seconds.
My trick to thinning my icing is to separate out the icing into separate bowls for each color I will need. I mix in the color, then slowly add in water using a spray bottle. That way, if I want to have piping AND flood consistency icing that’s the same color, I can just spoon some out once it gets to piping consistency.
So how do I know when it gets to piping consistency? I know the icing is good for piping when I can lift up a spoon or knife from the surface and the icing drops down in a relatively steady stream and then forms a soft peak.
Speaking of coloring my icing, I prefer to use gel food coloring versus the liquid stuff you buy at the grocery store. My favorite brand is AmeriColor, which you can find in singles or packs on Amazon. But I also like Wilton brand, which you can find at Michael’s or your local craft store.
So now that you know how to whip up a batch of royal icing, here’s an easy Valentine’s Day cookie you can make this weekend.
Start with heart-shaped sugar cookies. Then outline the heart in flood consistency royal icing. While the outline is still wet, fill it in with a generous amount of flood consistency icing (NOTE: you can always add more icing if it’s not enough, but you can’t take it away), then spread out the icing with a toothpick or scribe tool (the yellow thing in the bottom right corner).
You can see the I am using a generic zip-top bag for my piping, which I totally prefer because not only are they cheap and readily available, they do the job just as well. If I am doing something a bit more details or precise, then I would use a piping bag (like these) and some of my piping tips (I highly recommend this kit, but I use this one and this one most often)
If your edges aren’t perfect, that’s okay! Use the toothpick to even out the outline by swirling in small circles in the icing. Once you are happy with it, tap the cookie on the table to get rid of any air bubbles.
Then to finish them off, use a red food coloring marker (found at any craft store) to write your favorite love word or phrase.
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! And have fun decorating your cookies!
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I LOVE your conversation heart cookies! I’ve never tried to make my own royal icing – already pinned this so I can try out your recipe some time š Thanks for linking up with Merry Monday this week!
Thanks Emily! Let me know how the icing turns out for you!
Emily,
Is there a way to add gloss to this icing? glycerin or corn syrup?
You can make a glossy royal icing by using corb syrup instead of meringue powder. I dont know that it will harden like royal icing, so you may not be able to stack them.
What if I don’t have meringue powder? What would be the recipe with egg whites
You can sub 3 pasturized egg whites for meringue powder, but I have found that the icing doesn’t dry as well. You may also want to look up a recipe for corn syrup royal icing. However, you can find meringue powder at your local craft store.
I enjoyed your video! I have question on powdered sugar. I always have used C&H powdered sugar to make royal icing. But I bought Zulac from 99 cent store thinking they are all the same. It was terrible. I could not make decent roses and it was so heavy. What brand do you use?
I use the same recipe here from a baker I got about 40 years ago! But it is just 1 tablespoon instead of 3 tablespoons of meringue. Would is the difference in using more of the meringue?
Thanks!
Hey Barbara. I buy my powdered sugar at Costco, and it is U.S. Sugar Company brand. If I buy it at the grocery store, I typically will by Imperial or even the generic brand. Likely, the 99 cents store variety has way more corn starch in it than normal powdered sugar.
Adding more meringue powder just ensures that the icing dries completely hard. I will admit that when I am running low I will cut it down to 2 tbsp instead of 3. I have attempted to use less when I was in a pinch and trying to stretch my last remaining meringue powder as far as I could and the icing never dried completely. Hope that helps!
A note about powdered sugar: I have been in the candy business for 30 years and I can tell you there is a big difference in powdered sugars. Unless the package indicates that itās āpure cane sugarā, like C&H, it is likely beet sugar which has an off-taste to me. All the cheaper sugars Iāve found are beet sugar and they compromise the final taste so I use pure cane sugar exclusively in anything I bake ā or cook.
Thanks so much for sharing your expertise Sheila! That’s a great point.
This recipe was great! Just make sure to get the right consistency by adding water. Definitely add in a little at a time. š
Definitely! I recommend using a spray bottle or a dropper to add in a little at a time. But of you add to much, you can always add in more powdered sugar.
Hi! Thank you for your recipe! I’m making 48 cross shaped cookies for a baptism. Approximately how much icing do you think I will need?
About how big are the cookies and how many colors will be using?
The cookies will be 3 in. x 4 in. And they will be just plain white
I would double the recipe and use a 2 lb bag of powdered sugar, and 7-8 tbsp meringue powder. You may have some icing left over but its better to have too much than too little.
Hi! I just got baking 72 of your Sugar cookies for my daughter’s birthday party on Saturday. I plan on using this Royal Icing recipe to ice the cookies. My question is when would you recommend icing the cookies? Like what is the earliest that I could ice them and not have the cookies get “mushy”. Also, when I have done icing them how should they be stored?
Thank you!!
Hi Hannah!! Sounds like you are hard at work! I tend to ice my cookies anywhere from 1 day to 3 days prior to serving. You really dont have to worry about the cookies getting mushy. The icing will harden once it dries. The best way to store them is in a zip top bag on the counter. If you need to ice them more in advance, store them in the freezer with a paper towel or parchment paper between layers. The only drawback is that the icing may discolor a bit. If you have any other questions, feel free to email me.
How do you reuse the refrigerated frosting? It’s very hard
I only recommend refridgerating icing for 1 to 2 weeks. If its very hard and dry, its been exposed to thei air too long. I place my royal icing in an airtight container, the cover the surface with plastic wrap before covering with the lid. Once you take it out of the fridge, let it warm up a bit on the counter, then mix in water to get it to the right consistency.
I’ve never made royal icing for cookies before – your post was perfect! All of the cookies turned out perfectly (except for the *cough*ones I ruined on purpose*cough* rejects!). Thank you so much for your helpful tips!!
Yay! So glad you found the post helpful! And that even the reject cookies found a nice new home (I assume, your stomach š because thats where my reject cookies end up).
The instructions say to use flood icing for the border then icing in the center. I thought it was the reverse. Can you please confirm? Thanks.
I use flood consistency icing for both the border and the inside. You could use piping consistency for the borders, but then you cant fix them if you under-line them.
Thank you for that clarification.
Hi, do you get the flood consistency by adding water to the mixture?
Yes, I recommend slowly adding water using a spray bottle or teaspoon to get to flood consistency. You can see video of how I thin down icing in this post: https://followtheruels.com/2016/11/perfect-christmas-cookies/
I will be making this recipe with seniors, just wondering how long it takes for the icing to set on the cookies.
To completely set and harden, about 2-4 hours. However, it will start to form a crust in just a couple minutes after being exposed to the air.
Thanks for this recipe! I have attempted at least 4 royal icing recipes and I could never get it right. They were always too runny or never set properly. I made these heart cookies for valentines day yesterday and they came out perfect!
Yay! I am so glad!! Thanks so much for the comment.
Hi! I just read your instructions. They are great and the details are perfect. Iām making my second batch of sugar cookies and this is the icing I have been looking for. The first batch was good but it was the hard icing.
Oh good! I am so glad you liked the post! Let me know how it turns out for you or if you have any issues.
Hi Lindsey! I canāt wait to try your recipe, but was wondering why you donāt use any cream of tarter? I had heard that if you want your icing more of a true white, that a little helps with that.
Thanks so much in advance!
Hey! I find that cream of tartar really only helps stabilize meringue, which really isn’t necessary for this recipe. If you want a true white icing, avoid using vanilla extract (use almond instead) or use white food coloring.
Good to know and thank you for the quick reply!
Can I use lemon instead of vanilla?
Of course! You can use lemon juice (you will need a little less water) or lemon extract.
Hi Lindsey – thanks for all the tips. I have about 220 cookies to make and ice for a friend’s party – how much icing do you think I would need to make to decorate. Can you confirm how long I need to let the flooding icing dry before I can then decorate on top with more detail? If I ice two/one day before presume that would still be ok and how should I properly store them? Yvonne
Wow, 220 cookie!? You are a good friend. It would depend on how big the cookies are. I can decorate about 40-50 3″ cookies using a 2 lb bag of powdered sugar. For 200+ I would recommend about 8 lbs, so 8x the normal recipe. The flood icing would only need to sit and dry for about 2 to 4 hours before you decorate on top. But wait at least 4 to package. The cookies are fine to sit out for a day, and I typically package them in large zip top bags.
thank you!
What is your average drying time for the base layer and for the whole cookie to be completely dry enough to stack?
I would allow at least 4 hours before stacking. But if you just want it dry enough to pipe on top, you can just wait 30 minutes.
This was amazing my cookies were awesome!!!
Hi! I’ve never tried to make royal icing before, but I’m going to try this coming weekend on some Halloween sugar skull cookies. I do have a question – I watched your Youtube video on how to make the royal icing, and in the video, you had 3 tablespoons of meringue powder. In this recipe, you call for 2. I just want to get the right water to meringue powder ratio. Just wanted to double check which recipe to follow! Thank you so much for your help! Can’t wait to try this out!
Good catch Ali! I need to edit the recipe. Not sure why it says 2. I use 3 tbsp meringue powder for every pound of powdered sugar. Good luck!
Recipe still needs to be corrected to show 3 Tbsp meringue powder instead of 2 Tbsp.
Updated!
I do not have meringue powder. Can I just make this recipe without it (will the icing still harden), or should I sub in real egg whites?
Micky, without meringue powder or egg whites, the icing will not harden. You could sub in egg whites, but I would recommend looking up a specific recipe that can give you the exact measurements and cooking instructions (I would assume you need to heat the egg whites). However, meringue powder is available at mpst craft stores in the baking section and in some large grocery stores here in the US.
I donāt know what I did wrong! Iāve made royal icing a million times but decided to try out meringue powder this time. I kept adding water and never got to the right consistency, but it did start getting very full of air. Now itās tasteless, and will not dry. Not even crusted after 2 hours ? I halved it, but followed the above measurements exactly.
Oh no, I’m sorry that this recipe didn’t work for you. The meringue powder shouldn’t have changed anything. How were you making your royal icing before? With egg whites? Feel free to email me if you would like more help figuring out how to get it right.
I couldāve written this post myself! You probably had a huge volume of icing after all that, right? After a bit of googling, I found out that it was likely from overbeating the icing. Made another batch and kept the hand mixer on the lowest speed and that fixed it! The icing took a fraction of the time and water to make. I also had a MUCH smaller volume of icing. Mix the icing super slowly and give the sugar a little time to melt into the small amount of water before adding more.
Meringue powder is awful to work with! But it sure did make pretty cookies! Would it be terrible to put the meringue powder and water in the blender and blast it for half a second instead of getting it all over my kitchen?
Absolutely not. It does tend to fly everywhere if you whisk it a little too aggressively. It may also help to add meringue powder to the bowl then pour water in on top so there isn’t any dry powder on top. Then slowly mix it until it’s fully saturated.
Hey! I love this recipe. It’s so easy to use and works great. I hope you don’t mind if I use your recipe for my blog. I mentioned you. Thanks!
Hi Casey. Thanks for letting my know! As long as you link back my recipe I am fine with you putting it on your blog.
Hi Lindsey, thanks for the recipe, I tried it and wasnāt sure if i did it right.
the icing were hard, nice and smooth after being dried,
then I found the icing underneath the crusted surface was sandy when I pressed it with my fingers, itās dry not wet, but just not as hard as the surface,I donāt know if itās normal, hope you could help my issue, thank you
Hi Fiona! It sounds like the icing didn’t dry all the way. It can some times take a full 4 hours or even overnight for the icing to dry. I typically let my cookies dry overnight before packaging them. Hope that helps!
thanks so much for the prompt reply, will try letting the cookies dry overnight next time, and let you know the result š
If you use regular egg whites instead of the mirangue powder, will you still get the nice crust over so that you can stack the cookies?
I believe so. The meringue powder is essentially dehydrated egg whites with some flavoring added in, so I wouldn’t see why regular egg whites wouldn’t crust over. However, I have not made royal icing this way (maybe this will be my next experiment!), so I can’t say for sure.
When these are finished drying what will the consistency be like? I realize it will be hard but is soft hard or hard hard? Lol. I know thatās redundant but I made some once and it was just really hard to bite down on. Love your videos! Thanks!
Jared, great question! The icing is definitely hard, but not so hard that it will break your teeth. I would say it’s harder than a sugar cube but much softer than a hard candy or toffee. Since you are only adding a thin layer, it breaks easily when you bite it. Does that help?
This was my first time ever making royal icing and I so appreciate your guidance! I need some practice still with consistency and flooding, but my Christmas cutouts look great! Thank you!
So glad, Karen! Yes, working with royal icing and making the different consistenciesā does take some practice. But I’m sure your cookies look great!
Thank you so much for this recipe! Because of you, I looked like a rock star. My daughter just finished performing in her first professional theatre production, and last night was the final curtain. I used your sugar cookie and royal icing recipe to make cookies that looked like her character in the show to give out to the cast and crew. They came out AMAZING! By nature, I am NOT a crafty person, so I was a little shocked at how awesome they were. And not only did they look like they were done by a professional baker, they were DEElish! I put them in individual baggies with a custom gift tag, and handed them out to “ooohs” and “aaaahs.” My only caveat was I beat the first two batches of royal icing at too high of a speed, and added too much water too quickly, and turned it into foam. I slowed things WAY down on batch #3 and it turned out perfectly – I would describe the flood icing as “Elmer’s Glue” consistency. Before flooding, I broke two of the cookies, but used the piping consistency to glue them back together and it worked! So thanks for teaching me how to Follow The Rules and make the most awesome final curtain gift ever!!!
Deena, that is amazing!! I am so happy to hear that your cookies turned out so well (I would love to see pictures)! “Elmers Glue” consistency is spot on. What a great way to describe it. And I am glad you learned the trick of how to glue cookies back together. I have to do that a lot. Thanks for sharing your success story with me. I loved it!
Try almond flavoring in the cookie ā my favorite! Thanks for the icing instruction!
One cup how many grammes is it?
Can I freeze this royal icing after mixing but NOT THINNED?
Yes, absolutely. I do it all the time. Once you take it out of the freezer, let it thaw completely, then give it another good mix before thinking down.
Hi! Great tips for knowing about icing consistency…I was wondering, what’s the yield for this recipe? It says 2, but it doesn’t say anything else…also, how many medium size cookies can I decorate with this amount? Thanks in advance
Hi Nathalie! Great question. It really depends on the size of the cookies and the amount of detail. For a cookie about 2-3 inches big, this is enough icing to cover approx. 18 to 24 cookies with one layer of icing and some details. Hope this helps!
My icing tasted horrible when I was finished with it. I am not sure what I did wrong. Could it have been the powdered sugar that I used?
Ack! So sorry to here that! Sending you an email so we can diagnose the problem.
Hi quick question. Can I ice the cookies and then freeze them? If so how long can you freeze them for and how do you store/thaw them? Thanks!
Hi Nickie. Technically, yes. I have definitely done it before, but I don’t recommend it because when you take them out of the freezer condensation forms on the top of the cookie which could cause discoloration. If you do it, you can leave the cookies in for a couple weeks, but DO NOT take them out before you are ready and then put them back in. Once they are out of the freezer, keep them out.
A better option is to make the cookie dough, roll it out, cut it into shape then keep the cutout cookie dough in the freezer until you are ready to bake. Then decorate batches at a time as you need them. Sometimes that’s just not feasible, but wanted to give you the options!
Hello, Thanks for all the tips! There is just one thing I canāt seem to find much help with. Color bleeding! Iāve watched so many YouTube videos that make transfers and add them onto cookies. I made Superman logo transfers and let them dry overnight. Then I flooded in blue royal icing and added the dry transfer to the wet blue icing on the cookie. It looked great at first then the yellow on the Superman logo turned green!!!what did I do wrong?
Hi Linz! Such a good question and a common problem I have had in the past. The first and easiest solution is to layer a darker royal icing transfer on top of a lighter icing to avoid that. Of course, that may not work with specific designs and could also risk bleeding the other way. So, to prevent bleeding as much as possible (in either direction) I actually add white food coloring to my light color which almost adds a chalk like texture to the icing and limits the amount of bleeding. But you may not be able to prevent all bleeding especially when working with very pigmented colors like blue or red.
Could you substitute the meringue powder for powdered egg whites?
Yes you can. Essentially they are the same thing. Meringue powder just has some added sugar and flavoring.
Once the icing has dried, is this a hard royal icing like the consistency of making a gingerbread house or is it still soft?
It dries completely hard, so you can stack and pack the cookies without risking ruining your hard work.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. This was my first time making royal icing ever, and it was so easy to follow your directions and get great results. I loved that it is not an overly sweet tasting frosting. This is definitely the ONLY royal icing recipe I’ll be using!
So great to hear, Erica!! Thanks for sharing!
My sons birthday is in Aug. I was wanting to start on them now, can I freeze the cookies and if so can I freeze them with the icing or should I wait a week or 2 before the party
I do not recommend freezing the cookies with the icing. The icing can get discolored or deteriorate due to the moisture. You have a couple options: 1) freeze the cookie dough that has already been cut out and bake/decorate in batches. 2) freeze the already baked cookies and decorate shortly before the party. The cookies will stay good for several days at room temp.
Hi, is this recipe gluten free?
Yes it is.
Great video! Some recipes call for mixing the meringue powder with the sugar, THEN adding water. This has led to grainy royal icing recently for me! I am wondering– you mix your meringue with water first… do you notice it helping your icing to be less grainy?
Thanks!!!
Nope, not at all! I think it would only be grainy if the sugar was grainy, and then it may be time to get new sugar. Mixing it with the water first just helps “fluff up” the meringue and thus the icing. However, when I’m feeling a bit lazy, I just mix the meringue powder into the sugar, then add the water and skip the whisking step. Either one typically yields very similar results.
Hi. Love your cite. I make the Russian tip flowers plus many other items with a buttercream recipe as I only make cupcakes. They have a great taste but they melt so fast. Donāt want to take orders only to have them melt and loose details. Iām thinking of trying the royal icing stiff consistency but Iām afraid they will dry to hard and loose their flavors. It is cake and usually cakes have soft frosting. I tried a buttercream recipe and added 1 tbl of meringue powder. Terrible terrible. Please any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank u
Hi Karen. Royal icing may not be the best for cakes as it get’s really stiff. A thick layer on top of a cake would probably ruin your delicious cake. Have you tried Italian meringue buttercream? I find that it doesn’t “melt” quite as quickly. Good luck!