I’m so excited to share my simple royal icing recipe that uses meringue powder instead of raw egg whites.
Once you learn this easy recipe, you will be able to use it for holiday and party cookies as well as many other homemade treats. You’re going to have so much fun!
This recipe creates soft, smooth icing that looks professional. If you are new to royal icing, give yourself a couple of sessions to get comfortable with the craft. It becomes easy and intuitive as you develop a feel for the icing.
Related: This recipe pairs perfectly with our Cutout Sugar Cookies.
Royal Icing Ingredients:
- Powdered sugar (also called confectioners’ sugar)
- Meringue powder
- 2 lemons
- Gel food coloring (optional)
When I initially learned to make royal icing, I used the raw egg method for years. Over time, I began to prefer the meringue powder method because it’s easy to keep on hand and some people have an aversion to using raw eggs.
This recipe makes perfect royal icing in minutes!
Why You’ll Love the Royal Icing:
- This is a traditional royal icing recipe that you can use to make professional looking decorated cookies. It’s also simple enough to be enjoyed by children. I always save my extra icing bottles and some cookies to let my kids enjoy before I clean it all up.
- This recipe can be using for both outlining and piping. By adding just a few extra drops of lemon juice, you can reduce the thickness of this icing.
- You can whip this recipe up in five minutes!
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Helpful Tools:
- Icing bottles. I strongly prefer using bottles instead of bags for royal icing. It’s less messy, and the icing stays good for hours so you can decorate as you bake.
- Toothpicks. You’ll need this to help remove bubbles and spread icing with more detail.
- Sprinkles. If you haven’t started an epic sprinkles collection, this is your sign to do so.
- Food coloring pens. I use my black pen to add fine details. It’s best to wait overnight before adding pen details.
How to Make Royal Icing:
- Pour four cups of powdered sugar into your stand mixer bowl.
- Add 3 tablespoons of meringue powder.
- Add the juice of 1 lemon.
- Mix your ingredients on medium to high speed until the icing looks smooth and shiny, and peaks begin to form. You will want thicker icing for outlining, so remember you can always make your icing thinner with a few more drops of lemon juice or water.
- Optional: Add food coloring. I like to fill a small bowl with white icing and mix it fully in the bowl before transferring it to a bottle for use.
- Once you are done outlining, add a few more drops of lemon juice to your bottle and mix with a long spoon to create thinner icing for flooding the inside of your cookie design.
- Allow the icing to cure fully between colors or you may have some bleeding between colors.
These are all cookies I have decorated with royal icing over the past few years. This recipe is perfect for holidays, birthdays, and any type of celebration.
More Dessert Ideas:
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Get the Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
- 2 lemons
- gel food coloring (optional)
Instructions
- Pour 4 cups of powdered sugar into your stand mixer bowl.
- Add 3 tablespoons of meringue powder.
- Add the juice of 1 lemon.
- Mix your ingredients on medium to high speed until the icing looks smooth and shiny peaks begin to form. You will want thicker icing for outlining, so remember you can always make your icing thinner with a few more drops of lemon juice or water.
- Optional: Add food coloring. I like to fill a small bowl with white icing and mix it fully in the bowl before transferring it to a bottle for use.
- Once you are done outlining, add a few more drops of lemon juice to your bottle and mix with a long spoon to create thinner icing for flooding the inside of your cookie design.
- Allow icing to cure fully between colors or you may have some bleeding between colors.
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.