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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

Pat Nordenberg - January 12, 2023

What does the corn syrup do for the RI recipe.

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The Cookie Countess replied:
Corn syrup adds shine to the icing and will help soften the bite of the cookie.

Susan - December 13, 2022

how many cups are there in 2 lbs confectioners sugar? I have a 5-lb bag. And do you measure before or after sifting?

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The Cookie Countess replied:
Hi Susan, The usual 32-ounce package (2 pounds) of powdered sugar has about 7½ cups of powdered sugar. You don’t need to sift the confectioners’ sugar at all for this recipe.

Diane McKnight - December 5, 2022

This is the best royal icing! Added a touch more lemon juice to cut the sweet a little more! Yummy!!
Thanks so much!

Saraiy - December 2, 2022

Can i use this royal icing to glaze the baked do nut?
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The Cookie Countess replied:
Definitely!

Brandy Whitaker - December 1, 2022

I had this recipe bookmarked but haven’t made any in a few months. I remember it calling for butter extract. Am I mixing it up with another recipe or was that removed for a specific reason? I also don’t remember it saying to switch to the paddle attachment. Will the recipe come out the same using the whisk the whole time?
Thanks!
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The Cookie Countess replied:
No, you’re correct! We subbed out the Buttery Goodness in this recipe because we’ve been unable to stock it recently and are unsure when it will be back. We also recently corrected it to include the step where you switch to the paddle attachment, which had been just left out mistakenly before.

Kristina - November 14, 2022

In your royal icing recipe, do we switch to the paddle attachment before we add the sugar?
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The Cookie Countess replied:
Hi Kristina! We just fixed the recipe to include that information, sorry about that! You switch to the paddle attatchment when you begin mixing in the powdered sugar.

Kim - November 11, 2022

When I use small icing tips, #1, 1.5, 2, they always clogs up on me and I have to stick a straight pin in the tip. I feel the consistency of my icing is good. Very annoying and time consuming. Any ideas on how to avoid this scenario?

Karen - December 2, 2022

I recently purchased some cream cheese emulsion from you. If you were wanting a cream cheese royal icing, how would you alter the above royal icing recipe? And would you still use the lemon juice? Appreciate your guidance.
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The Cookie Countess replied:
Hi Karen! We actually just posted a Cream Cheese Royal Icing Recipe on the blog earlier this week. If you go to recipes it should pop up! 😊

Beth - October 27, 2022

Can royal icing be frozen?
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The Cookie Countess replied:
Hi Beth I recommend you read our blog post about it. It explains how and when to do it correctly. https://www.thecookiecountess.com/blogs/recipes-and-tutorials/how-to-freeze-cookies?pos=1&_sid=227eb09fa&ss=r -Wil

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