The Best Royal Icing for Decorating Cookies

Royal icing is a type of icing made with powdered sugar, water, and meringue powder (or egg whites). It may be similar to a basic icing you’ve made before, but with the added meringue powder it dries completely smooth and hardens so that you can stack and package cookies without ruining your hard work.

There are three main types of royal icing: stiff consistency, piping consistency, and flood consistency. They are used for different decorating techniques, although sometimes you can use different consistencies to achieve the same result.

In the video below I will show you my quick and easy method for making royal icing that is perfect for decorating cookies!

Scroll down to see the full recipe and detailed instructions.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pound (about 4 cups) powdered sugar

• 1 ounce (about 3 tbsp) meringue powder

• 2 fl. ounces (1/4 cup) water, plus more for thinning

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, add the powdered sugar and meringue powder. Quickly mix together to evenly distribute the meringue powder.

2. Add in water and flavoring and mix with a hand or stand mixer on a low to medium speed for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. If the mixture is too dry and crumbly, add more water until it comes together as a thick icing.

3. Add water a little a time to thin down to the desired consistency.

• Stiff consistency: Forms a stiff peak and does not move after a spoon is lifted from the surface.

• Piping consistency: Forms a gentle peak that curls over. Moves slightly when a spoon is lifted from the surface.

• Flood consistency: Very fluid and flows back into a flat surface within 10-20 seconds.

Notes

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!

I prefer to use gel food coloring when coloring or tinting my icing because the color is very concentrated and it doesn’t alter the consistency of the icing.

Royal icing takes about 4 to 8 hours to fully harden, but it will start to crust very quickly. Always cover your bowl(s) of icing with a damp towel, plastic wrap, or a lid to ensure your icing doesn’t dry out.

Alternatively, if you want your icing to dry more quickly, set it in front of a fan to speed up the drying time.

See my Royal Icing Frequently Asked Questions Post for more.

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