easy ROYAL ICING RECIPE with meringue powder for cookie decorating (2024)

This is the best, easiest, most perfect royal icing recipe for cookie decorating that I’ve been using for over twenty years.

You’ll find a video and tons of tips and tricks in the blog post, but scroll to the end for a printable recipe card.

royal icing recipe

I’ve been making this easy royal icing recipe for over twenty years with perfect results every time.

The recipe appeared in my first (now extinct) cookbook, Cookie Sensations, and of course in my second, Sugarlicious. It also appears on my collection of fun food recipes.

But making flawless royal icing is so important in cookie decorating, that it deserves to be featured in its own post. This recipe:

• dries well enough to handle, package, and even ship, but it’s not rock hard like traditional royal icing.
• tastes amazing
• has a perfect consistency that can be thinned or thickened for flooding and piping
• can be stored at room temperature for weeks
• decorated cookies may be frozen!

alternative to royal icing

If you’re looking for another fabulous icing for cookie decorating without egg whites, meringue powder, or corn syrup, check out my easy sugar cookie icing.

cookie decorating basics

Now that you have your royal icing recipe, don’t forget the cut-out sugar cookie recipe and basics for cookie decorating.

And if you want to learn how to decorate cookies like a pro in less than an hour of video how-tos (and with 27 pages of printables), be sure to check out my cookie decorating for beginners course at The Sugar Academy!

what is traditional royal icing?

Traditional royal icing is made by whipping together egg whites and confectioner’s sugar (called icing sugar outside of the U.S.). It dries very hard, so it is best used for cookie decorating and assembling gingerbread houses.

However, I much prefer to make royal icing with meringue powder, or dried egg whites mixed with a stabilizer (cream of tartar) and sometimes a bit of sweetener.

Meringue powder makes gorgeous royal icing without the use of raw eggs, so you can keep the icing stored at room temperature. Find meringue powder online, in craft stores, and sometimes in the baking aisle of the supermarket.

how is this icing recipe different?

This sugar cookie icing is similar to traditional royal icing, but I add just a touch of shortening and flavoring to make it taste delicious. Thus, it dries hard enough to handle and package when left overnight, but not rock hard, like traditional royal icing.

The consistency is thicker than is used for flooding, but you may thin this icing with water to make it the right consistency for flooding.

video how-to

how to make royal icing with meringue powder

you will need:

• 1/2 cup water
• 4 tablespoons meringue powder
• 7 to 8 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons Crisco vegetable shortening
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup

what to do:

In a large bowl with an electric hand mixer or in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a wire whip, place the water and meringue powder. Whip the mixture, starting on low and building up to high, until it’s very fluffy and peaks form. This make take a minute or two.

Gradually add about half the confectioner’s sugar and mix well. Add the vanilla, shortening, and light corn syrup and blend. Add the remaining sugar cup by cup, mixing well after each addition, until the consistency you like is achieved.

I like to make my royal icing on the thick side (so if you overturn a spoonful, it clings to the spoon and only slowly falls back into the bowl) because it’s much easier to thin icing later with water than it is to thicken with confectioner’s sugar.

You will make plenty of icing to decorate a batch of cookies, with leftover. Store in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a month. After decorating cookies, let the cookies dry very well, overnight at least, before packaging.

more cookie decorating links you’ll need

• bake perfect cut-out sugar cookies with this recipe
• find basic cookie decorating instructions
• everything you need to know about FOOD COLORING!

how long does it take royal icing to dry?

I let my cookies dry at room temperature overnight. They are then ready to handle, package in favor bags, and even stack to ship.

(For tips on shipping decorated cookies.)

However, I tend to make my icing a little thicker than many, so if you have thinner icing, or if you live in a humid climate, cookies may take two days to dry fully.

how long does royal icing last?

If you make your sugar cookie icing with meringue powder, the icing lasts in sealed container at room temperature for 3 to 4 weeks.

Decorated cookies will last about the same length of time, but for best results, I suggest baking and decorating cookies within a few days of serving or gifting, unless you freeze the cookies.

how do you freeze decorated cookies?

I get this question so frequently, especially from cookie decorators who are making a large number of cookies and need to freeze them.

To freeze decorated cookies, let them dry fully for one to two days at room temperature. At this step, you may package the cookies in favor bags with ribbon so after they thaw, they are ready to use (this is optional).

Place the cookies in a gallon size freezer-safe Ziploc bag in a single layer. Seal. Stack the bags of cookies, using a box for additional security in the freezer, and freeze.

Most importantly, to thaw the cookies, remove the bags from the freezer and let sit at room temperature. Allow to fully thaw before opening the bags to prevent condensation. This should only take 1 to 2 hours.

why are there spots on my royal icing?

I often hear from cookie decorators that after they decorate cookies, they see spots and discoloration the next day, or royal icing colors bleed into each other. I have not had this problem, but I have some ideas why this happens.

• humidity — Moisture in the air can be a culprit on the butter in cookies, so if you live in a humid climate, I suggest placing a low fan or dehumidifier near the cookies as they dry.
• too thin icing — While I love the gorgeous cookies with perfectly smooth, flooded icing, sigh, you risk splotches appearing in a few days. For me, I always err on the side of too thick when it comes to cookie icing. So you may see imperfections when I pipe and see the “lines” of icing, but no splotches or spots. The thin icing just lets the cookie moisture through more easily.
• stifling your drying cookies — Be sure to let cookies dry on the trays at room temperature without covering or putting in containers until they are totally dry (at least overnight). This way, you won’t trap humidity in with them.
• undercooked cookies — I love light, soft cookies, but as with the too thin icing, you should err on the side of baking a couple minutes longer. The softer cookies tend to lend moisture to your icing.

printable royal icing recipe

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