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Cinnamon roll with vanilla icing on a white plate

Perfect Vanilla Icing

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 42 reviews
  • Author: Sally
  • Prep Time: 2 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 minutes
  • Yield: 1 cup
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Mixing
  • Cuisine: American

Description

Vanilla icing is a baking staple! This recipe is perfect for cinnamon rolls, scones, muffins, cakes, and more.


Ingredients

  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted (sift after measuring)*
  • 23 Tablespoons milk or heavy cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • optional: pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. Whisk the confectioners’ sugar, 2 Tablespoons milk or heavy cream, and vanilla extract together. Add another Tablespoon of milk or heavy cream to thin out if necessary. For thicker icing, add a little more confectioners’ sugar.
  2. Taste, then add a pinch of salt if desired.
  3. If not using right away, cover and store icing in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Notes

  1. This amount of icing is perfect for 1 batch of cinnamon rolls, scones, muffins, 1 cake etc. For a larger batch, recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.
  2. Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Mini Whisk
  3. Confectioners’ Sugar: I use and recommend Domino brand confectioners’ sugar.
  4. Heavy cream yields a thicker, creamier icing. Milk yields a thinner icing. Half-and-half can also be used.
  5. Flavor: Feel free to add more vanilla extract or even the seeds scraped from 1/4 of a vanilla bean. For lemon or orange icing, replace the milk with fresh lemon or orange juice.