Easy Royal Icing
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With millions of page views and more than one hundred 5-star reviews since 2020, this easy royal icing recipe has been so many people’s solution to making royal icing without meringue powder. My trusted easy royal icing recipe for sugar cookies will totally change the way you think about royal icing. It comes together super quick and you don’t even need a mixer! Best of all, this is royal icing is made without meringue powder.
Many years ago, when I started learning how to bake from scratch, I began with a cake decorating class.
It was in that class I learned how to, first and foremost, decorate a cake with simple buttercream, but it’s also where my baking skills blossomed and I learned many more crucial skills surrounding cake decorating.
Believe it or not, I brought a cake I made from a box to my second cake decorating class. But by the third class, I had tried my hand at doing it from scratch, and I believe that’s where my passion for baking was born.
It was my science away from science, when science was still my full time job, and it was interesting, fun, therapeutic, and something that made me really proud.
When I started taking the second set of classes which covered decorating cakes a little more in depth, I learned all about traditional royal icing, which in the grand scheme of cake decorating is fairly simple, but to a beginner can be a little intimidating.
WHAT IS TRADITIONAL ROYAL ICING?
Traditional royal icing consists of powdered sugar, water, and meringue powder, which is simply an egg white substitute made primarily of dehydrated egg whites and stabilizers.
It can be finicky and hard to navigate at first, and it requires the use of a mixer. It is absolutely perfect for piping intricate royal icing flowers and other components to cakes and cupcakes, but when I started working with cut-out sugar cookies, I didn’t love the extra work that went into traditional royal icing.
“We made this to decorate shortbread Christmas cookies this year. We divided it into three bowls & colored it. Super simple, worked great, and tasted good.”
Melissa, reader
Though cut-out sugar cookies aren’t all that difficult, they can take up some time between rolling, baking, cooling, and drying (I prefer to decorate day-old cookies, personally).
I longed for a simple and easy cookie icing that was made without meringue powder and didn’t require me to get out my mixer again.
Did you also know that the enemy of traditional royal icing is grease? So ensuring all of your equipment is completely spotless is one more thing to think about and prepare for. Not into it for my cookies.
And thus my easy royal icing recipe was born!
Once I made myself this easy recipe for decorating my sugar cookies, I’ve never looked back.
And I’m sharing all my tips and tricks with you here so that you, too, can have the best icing to decorate your next batch of sugar cookies.
This is also a great gingerbread house icing recipe that’s easy and can involve the kiddos. AND! It’s an easy Christmas cookie icing which means more time for baking and less time for standing over the mixer.
Gingerbread house photo courtesy of Renee of Kudos Kitchen By Renee
INGREDIENTS FOR THIS EASY ROYAL ICING RECIPE
You only need a few ingredients for this recipe, and you may already have them all on hand.
For this quick royal icing, you will need:
• light corn syrup
• powdered sugar
• vanilla extract
• warm water (hardly an “ingredient!”)
Because this royal icing is made with corn syrup, it’s not ideal for piping flowers and intricate pieces to adorn your cakes and cupcakes. But it is an ideal royal icing recipe for cookies because it outlines and floods (fills in) quite easily with just a simple addition of water.
HOW TO MAKE EASY ROYAL ICING
If you haven’t already seen the video floating around on this post, the video shows you exactly how to make this royal icing. It really is as simple as stirring together the ingredients, but there is one teeny tiny catch…
You’ll need to test the viscosity of the icing before it’s ready to use.
Now, don’t let that terminology scare you. This simply means you’re going to stir your royal icing up, drip some of it right back into the bowl, and then count to see how long it takes the drip to dissipate.
I aim for 12 seconds. Which I think is perfect for making a general outline that will seamlessly blend with your flood (the icing you use to fill in).
You can see in the video that I like to make a sort of squiggle so I can see a large area of dissipating icing.
If you’re looking for more of a traditional outline royal icing that you want to allow to dry before you fill it in, aim for 14-15 seconds. This is also the viscosity you’d want for piping details on top of already dried icing.
I will, however, warn you that at the 14-15 second range, it becomes quite difficult to press through a piping tip, and I find it works best to keep a warm compress or cup of warm water close by to loosen up the corn syrup as needed, especially in colder weather.
The best part about this icing is that since you don’t need a mixer, if the viscosity is wrong, dump it back into the bowl, add more water to thin it out or more powdered sugar to thicken it up. No big.
See? Easy!
“The icing was so easy to make thanks for the recipe. I have always been so scared to try it but you made it simple so thanks for that.”
Sheri, reader
WHAT ARE THE BEST TOOLS FOR PIPING ROYAL ICING?
When it comes to actually using this royal icing, I tend to use decorating bottles for my flood icing, but I always run the risk of the icing getting low and an air bubble blasting through the tip and ruining my hard work. So sad!!
I find it best to use piping bags, either disposable or reusable, fitted with Wilton tips #2 or #3.
You can also use larger tips like a 1A if you’re using it for something like a gingerbread house and you need a little more volume in your squeezes.
And, for coloring royal icing (and any icing or frosting, really), I always always always recommend gel colors. My favorite are AmeriColor and they are seriously the best.
(AmeriColor gel colors pictured here with ingredients to make my rainbow cake)
They won’t water down the icing you worked so hard to get juuuust to the right consistency, and the color selection is huge and gorgeous. Find them in a 12 pack or a 50 pack (the one I have!).
So there you have it. My super easy and quick royal icing that doesn’t require much work for you. It’s reliable, it’s stable, it actually tastes good, and it’s the perfect way to decorate any and all of your cookies, not just ones that you roll and cut out.
Truly, it is the best royal icing recipe I know that isn’t the traditional.
I’ve also used this royal icing to decorate things like bundt cakes, when I want to make a royal icing drip cake. The viscosity of this icing makes a gorgeous drip!
Beautiful royal icing drip cake courtesy of Lindsay from The Live-In Kitchen
I hope you’ll give my simple royal icing recipe a try and I can’t wait to see all your beautiful cookies!
Here’s a list of all of my roll-out/cut-out cookies this royal icing goes great with:
•easy cut-out sugar cookies
•funfetti cut-out sugar cookies (pictured above this list)
•spiced gingerbread cut-out cookies
•pumpkin spice cut-out sugar cookies
•peppermint cut-out cookies
•chocolate cut-out sugar cookies
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EASY ROYAL ICING RECIPE FAQS
More Favorites from Fresh April Flours
Easy Royal Icing Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 and ½ cup (180g) powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30mL) warm water
- ½ Tablespoon (10g) light corn syrup
- ⅛ teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
Instructions
- Place powdered sugar in a medium bowl and set aside.1 and ½ cup (180g) powdered sugar
- In a small bowl, combine warm water, light corn syrup, and extract. Stir until corn syrup is dissolved.2 Tablespoons (30mL) warm water, ½ Tablespoon (10g) light corn syrup, ⅛ teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
- Add sugar water to powdered sugar and stir until completely combined. Mixture will be thick. The consistency you're looking for is a slowly dripping icing that disappears into the bowl within about 12 seconds. Add water by drop if you think it's too thick. If it becomes too thin, add more powdered sugar by the teaspoon. Use immediately.
- If you need to wait to use your icing: cover tightly, and use2 within 1 day. You will need to stir it up again and possibly add more water before using. Re-test the consistency before using.
Video
Notes
- What do to with royal icing: this easy royal icing recipe is also perfect for gingerbread houses and royal icing drip cakes.
- Tools for decorating: I prefer to use decorating bottles for my flood icing, but I always run the risk of the icing getting low and an air bubble blasting through the tip and ruining my hard work. That said, I find it best to use piping bags, either disposable or reusable, fitted with Wilton tips #2 or #3. You can also use larger tips like a 1A if you’re using it for something like a gingerbread house and you need a little more volume in your squeezes.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
I made this icing last night to decorate our Christmas cookies. It turned out perfect. It’s my new go-to royal icing.
Thanks so much, Laura! I’m so glad you liked it.
I too am a self taught baker. I am 87 years old and taught myself by trial and error and Wilton cake books. For many years made wedding and birthday cakes for so many young couples in the town I used to live in. I now bake cookies for a local business ever week but today I am making ginger bread men for great grands and decorating them with your royal icing recipe which is same I have used for years. Don’t pay attention to rude people that perhaps are just learning . ,
Thank you for stopping by, Nita! Enjoy that time with your grands 🙂
Uuummm, weren’t all bakers “self taught” or taught by family, before schools popped up? What an ignorant comment. We wouldn’t have schools if it weren’t for self taught bakers becoming educators and professionals.
To Anita,
Amen, the best way to learn is by trial and error. When I was around my Mom or grandmothers I listened and learn that much more. I love baking and cooking, really great to bake for my grandkids!!! My 12-year-old granddaughter enjoys baking and is learning about cooking!! Her dad has her chopping onions when needed!!
Hello Lynn, My Grandson and I are about to try this recipe on our sugar cookies. We only have 56 cookies to apply this icing to. Lol I know I will have to make about three batches. We can’t wait to get started. I’ll let you know how they turned out.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Merry Christmas!!!! June
HA! Oh my goodness, I hope you take breaks for snacks, hahaha. Enjoy! Can’t wait to hear your report!
Used this to decorate my gingerbread men – it worked perfectly! Ignore the rude comments, people that are that nasty are obviously unhappy in life. Merry Christmas!
Thank you, Audrey! Merry Christmas!
This was perfect for our gingerbread houses and was so easy to make. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Sharon! Happy holidays!
Great recipe! I finally made royal icing successfully. This is so easy to make and tastes great. If you are making this with the sugar cookie cutout recipe, I would double or triple it so you have enough for all the cookies IF you’re covering all of the cookies. Bravo, FAF!
Thanks so much, Alice! I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Love this recipe! It was easy, we made multiple batches of different colors and each batch was great. I will definitely make it again and again 🙂
I’m so glad, Janette!
Wow, thank you for sharing this recipe!! I’ve made this twice for two different purposes: 1.) To glue graham crackers together to make a gingerbread house, 2.) To decorate Christmas cookies. It was a success each time! The recipe is so easy to make, made with ingredients that are easy to find.
Did you create this recipe yourself? If so, great job on the recipe development!! I don’t care if you’re self-taught or what not. If you know how to do something that I don’t, I’ll learn from you! I think creativity and innovation cannot be taught anyway. Aren’t some of the greatest musicians and artists we all know are self-taught?
Hi, Lufi! Thank you so much for your sweet comment. I’m not actually sure where I learned this recipe– it’s been a decade at least. I appreciate you stopping by and so glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Hi! Can I use this on my coco bombs to decorate? Is it ok to use on chocolate?
It should work just fine, yes!
The most wonderful Royal Icing Recipe I have found. It is perfect for those allergic to eggs and doesn’t have to be refrigerated. It tastes really good as well. If you find it is too thin, next time try adding water 1 tsp at a time. You’ll fix your problem. I did add a pinch of salt as well, to cut the sweetness. Perfection!
Thanks so much, Suzy! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Made this today, great easy yummy recipe! Looked beautiful on our cookies !
Awesome, Vicky!
Was PERFECT and also found out that sometimes I would not have light corn syrup. What would you use to substitute for the corn syrup(if there is any) Other than that AMAZING
I would not sub anything else for it.
SO I tried your recipe and it was good very good, I used it with many cookies and I love this because its so simple. I mean who here has meringue powder just lying around in their house?
Thanks so much, Ty!
Hi! Can this icing be frozen after the cookies are decorated? Thank you!
Can the icing itself be frozen or can the cookies with icing on them be frozen? I would not freeze the icing, but the cookies can be frozen!
This actually went really well! I had never made royal icing for sugar cookies. I generally hate making sugar cookies but it was actually fun. If you are blending multiple copies you just got to make sure you do it before t dries. But otherwise great!!
Thanks so much, Taz!
Worked great!
Perfect. But I’ll have to play around with it a little to get my decorating skills up.
Thanks so much, Sam! Good luck!
Pardon my French, but f*cking perfect recipe.
BAHA! My fav review of all time. Thank you, Michelle!
I felt the exact same way! This is the version I’ve been searching for. No matter how thick or thin the consistency for whatever application I tried, (practicing my piping decoration skills) it was leaps and bounds better than the egg white kind. And I have no idea what meringue powder is, much less where to find it. Quick, easy, and already in my pantry. Perfection.
It’s baffling to me some of the comments on here though. Some people genuinely just like to hear themselves speak or online is the only way they can get a rise out of someone because the people in their actual personal lives quit listening years ago. It’s an icing recipe… not the cure for cancer.
It is truly bananas, isn’t it, Kimberly?
Thank you for your helpful and thoughtful review. I appreciate you!
Awesome recipe. Love that the icing isn’t too sweet and it doesn’t get super hard on the biscuit the next day.
So glad you like it, Sherylee!