Description
Here is my classic easy royal icing made with meringue powder. It’s easy to work with, sets quickly, and won’t break your teeth when it dries. It has the most delicious taste and texture and makes decorating sugar cookies fun and simple. Use this traditional royal icing recipe for both flooding and outlining your sugar cookies.
Ingredients
- 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted (I use and recommend Domino brand)
- 3 Tablespoons meringue powder (not plain egg white powder)
- 9–10 Tablespoons room temperature water
- optional for decorating: gel food coloring (I love this food coloring kit)
Instructions
- Watch the video of the icing above so you get an idea of what the final consistency should be.
- Pour confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, and 9 Tablespoons of water into a large bowl. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat icing ingredients together on high speed for 1.5 – 2 minutes. When lifting the whisk up off the icing, the icing should drizzle down and smooth out within 5-10 seconds. If it’s too thick, beat in more water 1 Tablespoon at a time. I usually need 10 Tablespoons but on particularly dry days, I use up to 12-14 Tablespoons. Keep in mind that the longer you beat the royal icing, the thicker it becomes. If your royal icing is too thin, just keep beating it to introduce more air OR you can add more sifted confectioners’ sugar.
- When applied to cookies or confections in a thin layer, icing completely dries in about 2 hours at room temperature. If icing consistency is too thin and runny, it will take longer to dry. If the icing is applied very thick on cookies, it will also take longer to dry. If you’re layering royal icing onto cookies for specific designs and need it to set quickly, place cookies in the refrigerator to help speed it up. See blog post above for make-ahead and freezing instructions.
Notes
- When you’re not working directly with the royal icing (for example, you are decorating cookies but you still have some icing left in the bowl that you intend to use next), place a damp paper towel directly on the surface of the royal icing. This prevents it from hardening.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer) | Meringue Powder | Americolor Soft Gel Paste Color Kit | Disposable or Reusable Piping Bags | Couplers | Wilton Tip #1 | Wilton Tip #2 | Wilton Tip #3 | Wilton Tip #4 | Wilton Tip #5 | Squeeze Bottle or Icing Bottle
- Optional Flavors: Feel free to add 1/2 teaspoon of your favorite flavored extract, such as lemon, orange, maple, peppermint, etc when you add the water. Taste after the icing comes together, then beat in more if desired. You can also use 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.