Royal Icing Recipe - Delicious and Perfect for Cookie Decorating
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Royal Icing Recipe for Decorating Cookies

Royal Icing Recipe for Decorating Cookies

This is my all-time favorite royal icing recipe for my iced sugar cookies.

Find the Spanish Voiceover video here.

What is meringue powder?

Meringue Powder is a mix of dried and powdered egg whites, sugar, flavor, and stabilizers. It's an essential ingredient in making royal icing.

Where can I find meringue powder?

We sell Meringue Powder in our online store and ship anywhere within the United States. If you need meringue powder right now, try your local grocery store or craft store.

Is royal icing easy to make?

Royal icing is simple to make, and only takes 4 ingredients: meringue powder, vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and corn syrup. You can make royal icing in as little as 10 minutes.

How do I color royal icing?

Add a few drops of gel food color and then add droplets (yes, droplets!) of water to bring it to the consistency you want. Read our blog on coloring royal icing here.

 

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Comments

bubbieone - November 22, 2023

how come the video shows butter extract , but the recipe does not. Just made my first batch, and so far it looks like a great recipe. I did not have the butter extract in it. What does it do, just in case I want to try it next time?
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The Cookie Countess replied:
A vanilla-butter extract is an optional flavor-boost to this icing recipe. You can certainly leave it out if you don’t have it, but adding one teaspoon of this extract can bring the flavor of the icing to the next level. Enjoy!

Maria - November 20, 2023

Can you taste the lemon in the icing?
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The Cookie Countess replied:
It’s a subtle lemon flavor, but you can increase or decrease that to your taste 😊

Becca - November 17, 2023

I’ve never made it with the corn syrup. Does it still dry hard and allow you to stack the cookies if needed?
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The Cookie Countess replied:
Hi Becca! Yes, this icing recipe does dry hard enough for you to stack your cookies. The corn syrup just gives the icing a slightly softer bite than typical hard royal icing. I hope this helps!

M’Liss - November 14, 2023

Hi! I’m wanting to test out this RI recipe but I don’t have corn syrup on hand. Is it ok to leave it out? And if I do, do I need to add a little more of anything else for consistency purposes? Thank You
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The Cookie Countess replied:
Hi M’Liss. The corn syrup gives the icing a little bit of a softer bite. Royal icing tends to dry very hard, so corn syrup in an icing recipe keeps you from breaking a tooth lol. That being said, you can leave it out if you prefer; some cookiers do prefer to not add it, which is fine. I would make the recipe as-is otherwise, and add a little more water as needed. Good luck!

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Miranda - November 14, 2023

I’ve tested recipes for 3 years and this was my favorite! FINALLY! Thank you so much for sharing!
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The Cookie Countess replied:
Yay! We love to hear that, Miranda! Happy decorating!

Mary - October 10, 2023

Can almond extract be used instead of vanilla for royal icing?
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The Cookie Countess replied:
Hi Mary! Sure, you can substitute almond for vanilla if you prefer that. Alternatively, you can simply add almond in addition to the vanilla for even more depth of flavor. Vanilla acts as a great backdrop for pretty much everything! 😊

Lissa Barrett - October 10, 2023

This icing tastes amazing, but I had a bit of trouble with mixing as the mixture was so thick my stand mixer was ‘hopping’! I followed the recipe exactly, watched the video
4 times before attempting! My DIL is the family cookie expert (but lives 11 hours away) and her advice was to add more water and I had to add at least another 1/2 cup of water. I am using ingredients I found locally as far as the meringue powder, butter & lemon extracts. Could this be the issue?
P.S. I have made the ‘standard’ royal icing many times with no issues, but doesn’t even come close to the flavor of your recipe!)
Thank you, in advance, for any advice!!
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The Cookie Countess replied:
Hi Lissa! Yes, when made according to the recipe, this icing will be very thick straight from the mixer (you can see how stiff it is at the end of the video at the top of this blog!). This is the perfect consistency for stenciling, detail work, flowers, etc. If you are using your icing to flood, you can definitely just add more water to get it to the right consistency for you. I personally like to follow the recipe until I’ve reached the nice white, fluffy look I know means my royal icing is “right” and then add water to get where I need it to be. I hope this helps!

Sarah - August 23, 2023

Is this Icing suitable for piping florals? I’ve only had icing be too stiff to pipe through a tip or the floral losses shape because the icing begins to spread a little
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The Cookie Countess replied:
Hi Sarah! Yes, you can use this recipe for piping florals. You can thicken pretty much any royal icing recipe by adding a little less water, or by adding a little more powdered sugar if you’ve already added too much water. It’s a fine line, for sure, but play around with it until you find what works for you! Good luck!

Rosemary - July 12, 2023

Hi I use your royal icing recipe with Genie’s Dream Meringue Powder and have amazing results. Last night I icing my cookies and let them dry over night and the icing is still damp. It didn’t harden like it normally does. What could have I done wrong? Thank you
———
The Cookie Countess replied:
Hi Rosemary! Royal Icing that has been mixed too long has a tendency to not dry properly, so it’s possible you might have just accidentally overmixed it. Alternatively, check the humidity in your decorating area; that could definitely be playing a part. Good luck!

Marie Swinton - June 30, 2023

If I wanted to cut the royal icing in half do I just divide all the ingredients by half?
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The Cookie Countess replied:
Yes, this recipe halves well 😊

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