Easy Royal Icing Recipe for Decorating Cookies + Tips for Storing! (2024)

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November 16, 2020 by Victoria 2 Comments

Learn how to make royal icing for decorating cookies! This royal icing recipe is made without meringue powder or corn syrup, and created a shining, long lasting royal icing! You'll also learn how to store royal icing, and how long royal icing is good for!

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Decorating cookies has always been this mysterious thing to me. I would spend hours watching Facebook and Instagram videos of people seemingly effortless in their cookie decorating perfection, but it never turned out that way when I would try!

Instead, I would stick with a little piped on icing and some homemade colored sugar on top. It worked for a while!

But when I started making my own cookie cutters, I knew it was time to bump up my skills!

Turns out, I just wasn't making my royal icing thick enough! Once I nailed the royal icing recipe, the rest came easily!

I learned those simple buy life-changing tips in this revolutionary online cookie decorating class! I can't recommend it enough, it's amazing!!

How to Make Royal Icing without Meringue Powder or Corn Syrup

Since we have so many chickens, and get about 20 eggs a day from them, learning how to make royal icing with meringue powder just didn't make any sense for us.

So instead, I developed a great recipe that works with egg whites by weight but still produces a shiny stiff royal icing that is perfect for decorating cookies!

Step One:

Separate 6 eggs into 2 bowls. Weigh the whites until you have 3oz. Try not to go over by too much, remove any extra and discard.

Set aside the yolks and use for lemon curd or homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream!

Step Two:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, with a whisk attachment, mix the whites with 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract (we use homemade vanilla and the white icing was still very white) until frothy, don't mix too long!

Step Three:

Slowly add in 2 pounds of powdered sugar and mix until well combined. Turn mixer up to high speed and mix until stiff peaks form, 5-7 minutes.

You don't want to overbeat, so check it often for peaks!

Note: The mix will be VERY thick after adding the powdered sugar - that's normal. Just turn the mixer up and let it do its thing!

Step Four:

Remove whisk from icing and cover bowl with 3 layers of wet paper towels (not dripping wet, but soaked and rung out). This will keep the icing from drying out while you are mixing your colors.

Working with 1/2 - 1 cup of icing at a time, and keep the wet paper towels covering the mixing bowl, add coloring to the desired color. Add water to reach the right consistency, then fill a piping bag and DO NOT cut the end until all your colors are ready!

These are the royal icing piping bags I really like the best! They have texture on the inside that really grabs the icing so you can make the most of your batch!

How Thick Should Royal Icing Be for Decorating Cookies?

This is something that really surprised me: royal icing is made in three different consistencies, depending on how you will be using it!

Outline Consistency

This thickness of royal icing is used for outlining a section that will be filled with a solid color. It helps hold in the very loose icing called "flood" icing and creates crisp lines.

Outline consistency should be like toothpaste, but not be as thick as putty. Add water 1/4 teaspoon at a time and mix well until you reach the right thickness.

Detail Consistency

Between outline and flood you will find "detail" icing. This is to add details on top of flood icing, is thinner than outline icing, but holds it shape, unlike flood icing.

Detail icing is more like thick yogurt and when you lift the spoon out of the icing, it should fall easily in a straight line, and not sink bake into the bowl of icing, but hold its shape on top.

Flood Consistency

This is going to be the thinnest of all the royal icings and is used to fill in solid color sections. You will make the MOST of this type of icing, because it will fill the most area of a cookie.

This texture should be closer to honey, and when you lift the spoon out of the icing, should fall back into the icing and settle into a smooth surface within 15-30 seconds.

Be careful not to add too much water, working with a few drops at a time and checking the texture frequently!

PRO TIP: As you mix the colors and fill your bags, mark each bag with an O, D, or F so you know which bag is which consistency. This comes in handy when you are making all 3 consistencies in the same color!

How Many Colors of Royal Icing Do You Need?

Depending on the cookie design you are making, you may need quite a few colors!

For these 3 SpaceX rocket designs, I used the following colors and textures:

White: Outline, Flood
Gray: Outline, Flood
Black: Outline, Flood
Red: Detail
Blue: Detail
Yellow: Detail

So that's 9 bags of icing for these cookies!

😍🚀 Grab the SpaceX Rocket Cookie Cutters here!

Take some time to think about your design, the colors and textures you will need, and make them all before starting your project!

Any unused icing from the batch you can place in a piping bag, tie up the end, and freeze it until you need more icing!

How to Store Royal Icing

If you are making a lot of cookies over a few days, you can keep the icing bags in the fridge.

Pinch the ends to push the icing out of the tip, then fold the end over and place a clothes pin (or bag clip) on the end.

When you are ready to use the icing again, take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature before starting to pipe it again. Test the icing on a paper towel before trying it on a cookie!

Storing Royal Icing in the Freezer

If you have a lot of left over icing, prep the bags in the same way as described above, then place them in a freezer ziploc bag, and freeze for up to 6 months.

To thaw, just place the icing on the counter and allow it to come to room temperature.

You may need to massage the bags a few times to make sure the center of the icing is reaching the right temperature as well.

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Homemade Royal Icing Recipe

Learn how to make easy royal icing without meringue powder and without corn syrup! Perfect for decorating cookies!

4.45 from 9 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Easy Royal Icing, Homemade Royal Icing, Royal Icing, Royal Icing Recipe, Royal Icing Without Meringue Powder

Prep Time: 12 minutes minutes

Total Time: 12 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 cups

Cost: $5

Ingredients

3 oz egg whites
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 pounds powdered sugar

Instructions

Separate 6 eggs into 2 bowls. Weigh the whites until you have 3oz. Try not to go over by too much, remove any extra and discard.
Set aside the yolks and use for lemon curd or homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream!
In the bowl of an electric mixer, with a whisk attachment, mix the whites with 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract (we use homemade vanilla and the white icing was still very white) until frothy, don't mix too long!
Slowly add in 2 pounds of powdered sugar and mix until well combined. Turn mixer up to high speed and mix until stiff peaks form, 5-7 minutes.
You don't want to overbeat, so check it often for peaks!
Note: The mix will be VERY thick after adding the powdered sugar - that's normal. Just turn the mixer up and let it do its thing!
Remove whisk from icing and cover bowl with 3 layers of wet paper towels (not dripping wet, but soaked and rung out). This will keep the icing from drying out while you are mixing your colors.
Working with 1/2 - 1 cup of icing at a time, and keep the wet paper towels covering the mixing bowl, add coloring to the desired color. Add water to reach the right consistency, then fill a piping bag and DO NOT cut the end until all your colors are ready!

Notes

How to Store Royal Icing
If you are making a lot of cookies over a few days, you can keep the icing bags in the fridge.

Pinch the ends to push the icing out of the tip, then fold the end over and place a clothes pin (or bag clip) on the end.

Storing Royal Icing in the Freezer
If you have a lot of left over icing, prep the bags in the same way as described above, then place them in a freezer ziploc bag, and freeze for up to 6 months.