The Best Royal Icing Ever
This royal icing recipe is perfect for decorating cookies—it’s smooth, glossy, dries hard, and holds vibrant colors beautifully.
- Prep Time: 15
- Total Time: 15
- Yield: Enough for 2-3 dozen cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No-Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 6–8 tablespoons warm water
- 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract (optional)
- Gel food coloring, as desired
Instructions
- Whisk warm water and meringue powder in a clean bowl until dissolved.
- Add cream of tartar and optional clear vanilla extract.
- Add confectioners’ sugar all at once to the bowl.
- Beat the mixture on low speed for 10 minutes until it is thick, smooth, and glossy.
- Divide the icing into separate bowls.
- Add gel food coloring as desired to each bowl.
- Thin the icing with small amounts of water to reach outlining or flooding consistency.
- Decorate completely cooled cookies with the icing.
- Allow the icing to dry for 6–8 hours or overnight before stacking or storing the cookies.
Notes
Always sift your confectioners’ sugar for the smoothest icing.
Beat the icing for the full 10 minutes to achieve peak thickness and gloss.
Use gel food coloring for vibrant colors without thinning the icing.
Add water slowly when thinning to avoid making the icing too runny.
Find it online: https://timelesscrumb.com/the-best-royal-icing-ever/