Recipes

Want to make cookies so pretty they could be in a bakery? Royal icing is your answer! We have a basic recipe, plus lots of tips and instructions for making beautiful decorated sugar cookies for Christmas, birthdays, or other celebrations.

You know those fancy pants cookies that look like they’ve been decorated by Pinterest fairies? The ones that are impossibly pretty to look at and you (almost) feel guilty about eating them?
Yeah, those cookies are decorated with royal icing!
And I’m here to tell you that even YOU can make gorgeous cookies that will impress your family, friends, coworkers, and complete strangers on the Internet. Here’s how to make the best royal icing for decorating your cookies.

WHAT IS ROYAL ICING?
Royal icing is a decorative hard white icing made with egg whites, powdered sugar, and some flavoring and coloring. That’s it. It’s super easy to make, but there are some pretty specific things you need to know about making it and using it.
THE BEST EGG WHITES TO USE
There are three basic ways to make royal icing:
Using raw egg whites
Using egg white powder
Using meringue powder
Traditional royal icing used regular raw egg whites as an ingredient, but that’s not recommended nowadays because of the potential for salmonella and other pathogens that might occur in raw eggs.
But pasteurized raw egg whites are readily available in almost all grocery stores, and that’s the ingredient that I use in this recipe. Just look for a carton of them near where you buy the eggs. The cartons look like a quart or pint of half-and-half, but they’re actually egg whites. These egg whites have been heated to the point of killing off any bacteria, but not enough to have cooked the eggs, and they are safe to use for making royal icing.

WHAT ABOUT EGG WHITE POWDER OR MERINGUE POWDER?
Egg white powder and meringue powder can both be found in specialty stores or online. You can substitute the egg whites in this recipe with:
Egg white powder: Follow the instructions on the package to create the equivalent of three egg whites. Make sure to let the powder fully hydrate by beating it together for five minutes. Proceed with this recipe as written.
Meringue powder: Meringue powder is actually comprised of powdered egg whites plus sugar and a stabilizer like cornstarch. Combine three tablespoons of meringue powder and five tablespoons of warm water. Beat together for about five minutes to fully hydrate the powder, then proceed with this recipe as written.
HOW TO MAKE BRILLIANT WHITE ICING
The base color of royal icing after you make it is white. But this white color might be more of an eggshell beige white than a stark brilliant white. This is because pure vanilla extract is dark brown and will tinge the final icing.
Normally this isn’t an issue, but if you want to make bright, stark white icing, do the following:
Use clear vanilla extract, or use a different clear extract for flavoring (like peppermint or lemon).
Make sure to also use conventional powdered sugar. Organic powdered sugar is often made with evaporated cane sugar, which has impurities left in it, and this results in a slightly beige color. Conventional powdered sugar has been processed in such a way that it is white in color.
Finally, you can actually buy a professional White or Bright White food coloring. This will help brighten up the icing! The white food coloring is also a great way to make true white buttercream frosting, which is often a slight off-white because of the butter in it.

HOW TO COLOR ROYAL ICING
My preferred method to color royal icing is professional grade gel food coloring. It is an intense coloring agent in gel form and doesn’t dilute the icing much. One or two drops is often all you need to get the vivid color.
Unfortunately most grocery stores don’t carry gel food coloring, but you can find it easily at craft stores like Michael’s as well as online.
A lot of well stocked grocery stores will carry Betty Crocker gel colorant, which doesn’t thin down the icing as much as liquid food coloring. But the Betty Crocker gel colorant isn’t as intense as the professional grade coloring, so you do need to use more of it. To get the same amount of vivid color that I want, I’ve noticed that I have to use a lot of the Betty Crocker gel, which does thin my icing down a bit. So keep that mind.
Yes, you can use the regular liquid food coloring in royal icing, but keep in mind that you often need to use a lot of it to get the same intense color. So make sure the icing is thick before adding the coloring, and you may want to test the icing after adding the coloring.
One thing to note, royal icing frostings tend to darken slightly after they dry. So keep that in mind. The darkening will depend on the type of food coloring you use and what color you use. If this is a concern, you can make the royal icing the day before, and then let it sit overnight in the fridge. The icing color will deepen and give a better sense of what the final product will look like.

ARTIFICIAL VS. NATURAL COLORANTS
Most natural colorants won’t work in baked goods, as the high heat will break down the coloring agents. But this isn’t an issue with royal icing! There are a number of natural based food colorings on the market now. Keep in mind the colors might not be as vivid as the artificial based ones (I find the colors are more pastel). The natural-based colors also tend to fade after a few days, so make sure to serve the cookies right away!
EQUIPMENT NEEDED FOR ROYAL ICING
There’s no way around the fact that you need some special equipment for decorating cookies. That said, most of the equipment is easy to find online or at a well-stocked grocery store (look in the section where you would find sprinkles and colored sugars). That said, almost all of the equipment is relatively cheap and easy to store!
Piping Tips: Round piping tips come in a variety of sizes, ranging from #1 on up. The larger the number, the larger the hole. I usually go with a #4 tip for super basic shapes like a circle or a square and a #3 tip for most other shapes. I might opt for a #2 if I’m doing more intricate work, or a #1 if I really want to get detailed.
Coupler: A coupler is a plastic screw that allows you to change the tips. If you think you’ll be changing tips in the icing process, use a coupler
Piping Bags: I like to use clear plastic disposable bags, because then I can see the exact color I’m using.

PIPING VS. FLOODING ROYAL ICING
There are many ways to decorate royal icing. The two main ways to use it are piping and flooding, both of which are dependent on the thickness of the icing. For piping, you want a thicker icing, and with flooding, you want a thinner icing.
Piping is exactly what it sounds like: You are piping the icing from a pastry bag onto the cookie into a thin line. This is for “drawing” a decoration or outlining a large area that you will cover with icing. You want a slightly thicker icing for this technique, for more control.
Flooding is also as descriptive as it sounds. This technique involves filling a piped area with a thinner icing, covering it with a flat color.
Think of it like a coloring book: First you outline the area that you want the color (with piping), then you color in the area completely (with flooding).
Since it’s difficult to get the exact same tint of color frosting between two batches, starting with one colored frosting and dividing it in half is recommended.
There are more advanced techniques on decorating, as well. Check them out HERE.
TIP: If you are new to royal icing, I highly recommend first baking up and decorating large cookies (instead of smaller cookies or delicately-shaped cookies). The bigger the surface, the less “detail” work that you need to do. You can get a feel for how the icing works on larger surfaces, and you’ll be way more satisfied with the outcome.

THE BEST CONSISTENCY FOR PIPING ROYAL ICING
Royal icing piping consistency should be thick enough that it holds its shape when you pipe it out of an icing bag, but not so thick that it doesn’t adhere to the cookie itself or break as you pipe it. I’ve heard different comparisons in terms of consistency, but “toothpaste” is usually what I am aiming for. Don’t worry, it sounds like a narrow window but there’s some leeway with it!
The recipe below should give you a decent piping consistency for royal icing. When you pull the whisk or beater up from the mixer, as the icing falls to the bowl, you should still be able to see the strings of icing on the surface for a good eight to 10 seconds before it melts back into the pool of icing. If it’s longer than that, you should thin the icing down with a little water (try one teaspoon at a time) and if it’s too thin, sift in one tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time.
Keep in mind that if you add food coloring to the icing, depending on what type of food coloring, you will be thinning down the icing with it. So thicker is always desired at first.
Once the icing is at the right thickness, pour half of the icing into a piping bag fitted with a small round tip or a coupler.
TIP! The easiest way to fill a piping bag is to place it in a pint glass, then invert the top of the bag over the sides of the glass, creating a “cuff”. Then pour the icing in, about 1/3 full, and then pull up the sides of the bag and twist and seal it shut with a twist tie. This prevents the icing from back-flowing and getting all over your hands.
THE BEST CONSISTENCY FOR FLOODING ROYAL ICING
Transfer the other half of your colored royal icing into in a bowl. Thin the icing in the bowl down to flooding consistency. Here’s how:
Add some water to the icing, a teaspoon at a time, until you get a consistency of glue, something that slowly flows.
Spoon some icing up and then allow it to drizzle down onto the icing in the bowl. The drizzle should stay on top and then melt back into the surface after two or three seconds. If it immediately disappears, your icing is too thin.

HOW TO PIPE ROYAL ICING
If you’ve never used royal icing before, practices makes perfect! I always pipe a little bit of icing onto a piece of parchment paper and do swirls and lines to make sure I get the feel of the icing, the pressure I need to pipe, and to get the movements down again.
You’ll find that if you work slightly above the surface and think of the icing as a “string” that is falling from the piping bag, you have less shakes and the icing will look more organic. The closer you are to the surface, the more control you have, but also the more wobbles will show up! As you get more experienced, you’ll find yourself naturally moving up and down for more or less control and flow.
Pipe the design you want on the paper, or just jump ahead and pipe it on the cookie itself!
HOW TO FLOOD WITH ROYAL ICING
Start by pipping the outline of the area that you want to fill, or “flood,” with icing. This outline acts as a barrier or wall to the icing. Then fill in the area with the thinner flooding icing.
A lot of folks use squeeze tubes and bottles for flooding the icing, but I tend to throw caution to the wind and just spoon my icing up! Yep, I carefully spoon some icing into that area, then use the spoon tip to push the icing around carefully. Once most of the area is done, I’ll use a toothpick and push and pull the icing to fill the corners.
But if you are more particular or are looking to fill in detailed areas, I definitely recommend a squeeze bottle.

BASIC DECORATING IDEAS
There are tons of royal icing techniques you can explore, but even with simple piping and flooding, you can do a whole range of decorations. Here are a few ideas:
Outline intricate designs and patterns with piping.
Flood whole areas of the cookie, then add sprinkles or small candies on top.
Flood whole areas of the cookie, let it dry, then draw on them with food coloring markers, available at craft shops.
Outline patterns and fill in part of the pattern with flooding. Think checkerboards or argyle patterns.
LOOKING FOR MORE IDEAS? 6 Ways to Decorate Cookies with Royal Icing
CAN YOU STORE ROYAL ICING?
Royal icing immediately starts to dry and get crusty when exposed to air. The thicker the icing, the faster it dries! I immediately cover any bowl with plastic wrap or place the icing in an airtight container to prevent it from drying out.
Royal icing will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks, so you can make the royal icing ahead of time! Just keep all royal icing in airtight containers. If you have royal icing already in a piping bag, just place the bag in a zip-top freezer bag. Some folks even place a toothpick in the piping tip before placing it in the zip-top bag to try and seal the icing more.

HOW TO STORE DECORATED COOKIES
Cookies decorated with royal icing need to dry completely before being stored. I like to allot at least a two hour period for drying. It also helps to have a gentle fan blowing over the cookies to make sure the icing is completely hard. But you can also leave the cookies out overnight on the countertop or kitchen table to make sure they are completely dry.
Once dry, place them in an airtight container with a piece of parchment or wax paper between layers. They should keep at room temperature for up to five days.
I don’t recommend freezing cookies with royal icing. The colors tend to bleed into the cookie when they thaw out because of condensation.
TRY ROYAL ICING ON THESE COOKIES! LEGGI TUTTO

Ready to take your cookies to the next level with royal icing? Go beyond basic piping and flooding, and explore these advanced techniques for making bakery-worthy decorated cookies. Try flocking, layering, adding candies, and more!

Once you start decorating cookies with royal icing, it gets super addictive! And I’m not just talking eating all those pretty cookies. You can do a ton of decorating using just the technique of piping and flooding, but here are a few more techniques that you can use to create beautiful and unique cookies.
WHAT IS ROYAL ICING?
Royal icing is a decorative hard white icing made with egg whites, powdered sugar, and some flavoring and coloring used to decorate cookies.
If you’ve never worked with royal icing before, check out our recipe for step-by-step instructions on how to make it as well as basic piping and flooding techniques:

PIPING
Piping is a basic technique used in conjunction with flooding, but you can also create intricate outlines and patterns just using the piping technique. Pick a smaller round tip (#1 or #2) if you want to do detailed work. Or work with a basic #3 tip if you are looking to do more organic shapes.
Consider making patterns as well as outlines and drawings using piping. Checkerboards, concentric circles or shapes, or even just simple “drawings” on a cookie have an elegance all their own.

FLOODING
Flooding means covering larger areas of a cookie with icing. Start by piping an outline with icing, then flood the area with a thinner icing. The outline serves as a barrier to hold in the “flooded” area.
You can pipe and flood in the same color to create a solid color area, or you can use different colors. Do this if you want to create a watercolor bleeding effect from the edge of the area to the center.
Also consider piping a pattern (like checkerboard or diamonds) on to a cookie, then use the flooding icing to fill in every other square to make a more graphic look. You can also draw a picture and use flooding to fill in the spaces.

BLEEDING
Bleeding is when you add an additional colored icing on top of a still-wet flooded area. Instead of having a crisp sharp line, your colors will bleed into each other and look more organic.
You can use bleeding to create some beautiful effects. Pipe and flood an area with one color, then immediately pipe another color over that area:
If you pipe a line of color, you can then use a toothpick to drag the color back and forth to create a chevron pattern.
If you pipe dots onto the wet flood area, you can use a toothpick to draw “hearts” by dragging the toothpick through the icing dot in one direction.
Pipe different colors right next to each other to get a dramatic watercolor, marbled, or swirled effect. Draw lines back and forth by dragging a toothpick through the icing to move the colors around.

FLOCKING
Flocking involves sprinkling sparkling or sanding sugar over the piped icing or flooded areas. The icing acts like “glue” and the sugar sticks to it. This results in a sparkling line or pattern.
Just place the cookie on a shallow baking pan or plate with a rim. Pipe the pattern that you want on the cookie, then immediately sprinkle the cookie all over with the sugar. Let the icing set for about a minute or two before picking up the cookie and shaking any loose sugar back into the pan or plate.
You can also flock flooded areas by shaking sparkling sugar over the top of a flooded area. If the flood icing is very thin, let the cookie sit with the sugar on top to dry a bit before picking it up and shaking off the loose sugar. Usually this only takes five to 10 minutes or so, but it depends on the thickness of your icing and humidity in your kitchen. Test it first by lifting up the cookie and tilting it. If you see the icing start to move, set it back down quickly and let it dry longer.
I recommend getting sparkling sugar, which has larger crystals and creates a more dramatic look. It comes in a variety of colors. Look for it in the baking aisle of your grocery store, at a craft stores, or online. But you can also use regular granulated sugar.
A variant of flocking is to sprinkle non-pareils, sprinkles, or jimmies over the piped icing and then shake the sprinkles off. You can create fun and whimsical looks with rainbow sprinkles!
You can pour the leftover sugar back into the sugar container and reuse it. A funnel comes in handy if you have a small container of sugar and want to pour the leftovers back into it.

ADDING CANDIES, PEARL BALLS, AND DRAGÉES
You can also use the icing as a “glue” to attach candies, pearl balls, and dragées, which are silver candy balls. Just add a dot of icing to the cookie, and then place the candy. You might want to use tweezers if the dragée or candy is very small or especially delicate. Or just sprinkle them over a flooded area while it’s still wet.
Here are a few suggestions for other edible items to add to your royal icing decorated cookie:
Edible flowers, candied or fresh (if fresh, eat the cookie within 24 hours)
Small candies like mini M&Ms, cinnamon red hots, or Nerds
Silver dragées or colored candied pearls
Non pareils, sprinkles, or jimmies
Swedish pearl sugar
If you start looking online and at craft or party supply shops, you’ll find that sprinkles, jimmies, non-pareils, and colored sugars come in all sizes and shapes. You’ll find everything from stars to large balls to snowflake shapes to confetti sprinkles all in a myriad of shapes and colors.
LAYERING
You can combine all the techniques above as well as layer the techniques! Just allow the royal icing to completely dry between layers. I usually allot at least two hours under a gentle fan to make sure the first layer is dry before piping and adding an additional layer.
You can also just let the cookies dry and set overnight before adding more decorations to them.
One of my favorite combinations is to flood a cookie shape completely with one color, then let it dry and add a flocked, piped decoration in a contrasting color on top. The sparkling sugar with the piping on the contrasting color background really pops, and the piping of the frosting gives the flock a dimension.

OTHER WAYS TO DECORATE ROYAL ICING COOKIES
Try any of these other techniques:
Edible color markers are available at craft shops and are an easy way to decorate cookies. Just pipe and flood a large area with white or light pastel colored icing, let dry completely, then go crazy with the color markers!
Edible luster dust is also available at craft shops. Luster dust is exactly what is sounds like, edible glitter in dust form. Mix a little bit of vodka (a couple of drops at first) with some luster dust and then paint it onto your cookie in the areas where you want it to sparkle!
Edible gold or silver leaf is also available if you want an extra special touch! Just wait for the icing to be completely dry before adding any metal leaf to your cookie.
HOW TO STORE THE FINAL COOKIES
Once you’re done decorating the cookies, let them dry completely before storing them in an airtight container. Layer them between sheets of parchment or wax paper. Store them at room temperature on your counter or kitchen table for up to five days.
Have fun, and remember that your imagination is your only limit when it comes to decorating with royal icing!
TRY DECORATING THESE COOKIES! LEGGI TUTTO