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Royal Icing and Flood Icing can turn regular sugar cookies into little works of art! Smooth, royal icing and flood icing are actually simple to make and decorate with too.
Featured with this recipe
- The Right Tools (and Ingredients) for the Job
- Royal Icing
- Flood Icing
- How to Get the Perfect Consistency for Royal Icing
- The 3 main consistencies for royal icing:
- Royal Icing with Meringue Powder
- What To Do if Your Icing is Too Thick
- How to Decorate Cookies with Royal Icing and Flood Icing
- Royal Icing and Cake
- More Frosting and Icing Recipes
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Recipes with Royal Icing
- Royal Icing Recipe
Have you ever wondered how professional “cookiers” get that smooth, perfect icing on cookies? It’s like little works of art on every cookie. They are gorgeous and look really complicated. But here’s a secret: they aren’t complicated at all. In fact, this smooth royal icing and flood icing recipe is simple to make and easy to use. It’s perfect for decorating any kind of cut out cookies.
The Right Tools (and Ingredients) for the Job
Before making the frosting, set yourself up for success by getting the right ingredients and tools. Here are some of my favorite products, tips, and suggestions:
- Powdered Sugar (aka confectioners’ sugar) – this will be the bulk of your icing. You MUST sift the powdered sugar if you want to have the perfect consistency.
- Meringue Powder – We use Genie’s Dream Premium Blend and it is perfect.
- Food Coloring – Don’t use the grocery store stuff. It will mess up your consistency. Get a good food coloring from the craft store or from Amazon.
- Piping Bags – We like these small disposables ones.
Royal Icing
Royal icing is a mixture of powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water. The trick is getting the consistency just right. It hardens quickly and creates a smooth, matte finish stiff icing that is perfect for those beautifully cut-out decorated sugar cookies. Royal icing is best for outlining designs or for adding a raised texture to the cookie. It gives the icing that 3D effect. It dries really hard so it’s not the best for decorating the entire cookie. That’s what the flood icing is for.
Flood Icing
Once you’ve outlined your cookies with your royal icing outline, you’ll fill in your designs with “flood” icing. Flood icing is basically just a watered-down royal icing (watered down in consistency, not flavor). It gives your cookies that beautiful, smooth layer of texture. I like to use a toothpick to pop and smooth air bubbles while I am flooding my cookies. A toothpick can also help encourage the flood icing to go where you want it to go.
How to Get the Perfect Consistency for Royal Icing
Before knowing what the perfect consistency is, you need to ask yourself “What am I using this for”? Are you making sugar cookies? Gingerbread houses? Flowers for a wedding cake? Are you doing detailed work or are you flooding? Or both? Here’s a quick guide for the 3 main royal icing consistencies as well as their uses:
The 3 main consistencies for royal icing:
- Piping (on the left in the image above) – Piping is very stiff and gets very hard after drying. This kind of consistency is great for using as mortar on gingerbread houses. It is also good for making transfers (which means making an icing design like a flower and transferring it to a cake or cookie after drying). To get this consistency you want to have stiff peaks that don’t flop over when you pull it up.
- Outline (in the middle in the image above) – The outline consistency is for, well, outlining. This will hold in your flood icing but won’t get too hard like the piping consistency. You can easily bite into it and it won’t be crunchy. It is great for sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies. To get this consistency you want to have a soft peak that gently flops over when pulled up, but not so soft that it absorbs back into the rest of the icing. You want it to still hold its form.
- Flood (on the right in the image above) – This is that beautiful, glossy, “fill” icing. It will flood in the areas that you have outlined. It is perfect for sugar cookies. For this flooding consistency, you want the icing to absorb back into itself in 3-4 seconds after pulling it up. It should make a thick puddle and then keep its shape.
Royal Icing with Meringue Powder
In this easy royal icing recipe we use meringue powder. Some people use egg whites, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Especially for this recipe. Using raw eggs and raw egg whites can make this recipe inconsistent and increase the risk of salmonella. I promise, this recipe is perfect as-is, no need for substitutes. Meringue powder (not to be confused with egg white powder) is the only way to go. That being said, our very favorite meringue powder is this Genie’s Dream Premium Blend Meringue Powder. It has great consistency and flavor. We can’t guarantee any other meringue powder will turn out quite as good!
What To Do if Your Icing is Too Thick
If it’s not the right consistency for your liking, stir in a tiny bit of water, a LITTLE at a time (you can always add more but you can’t take it away). My favorite tip for getting just the right amount of water is to use a spray bottle. I know it sounds weird but a little water goes a long way. A few little spritz’s with a spray bottle can help you avoid a big headache!
How to Decorate Cookies with Royal Icing and Flood Icing
You can decorate sugar cookies like a pro– it’s easier than it looks! Place the icing in a plastic piping bag, snip off the tip, and outline the cookies. You can also use a reusable piping bag with a very small piping tip. Fill in the outlines on the cookies with the flood icing and then use a toothpick to fill in any little gaps. Add sprinkles for more dimension and design. Be creative and have fun!
PRO TIP: When piping the outline, lift the tip of the piping bag so it isn’t directly touching the cookie. You want it lifted away from the cookie so the icing lays down gently onto the cookie rather than going directly from the tip of the bag onto the cookie. This will give you smoother, prettier lines and more control over where the icing goes.
Royal Icing and Cake
Royal icing serves a great purpose and is very beautiful, but not on a cake. At least not in large quantities. The only time you may want royal icing on a cake is if you make flowers or other decorations and transfer them to the cake after they harden. Even then, they really aren’t meant to be eaten, they are more for decoration. You can also use royal icing as a “glue” if you are wanting to attach the icing flowers or other embellishments onto the cake.
More Frosting and Icing Recipes
Different cookies and confectionaries use different kinds of icing and frosting. This royal icing recipe is great for intricately decorating cookies, but depending on that you are making, you may be better off with a recipe meant for spreading or piping in larger quantities (such as on cakes and cupcakes). Find the one that is perfect for you and your next recipe:
Frequently Asked Questions
For projects like gingerbread houses or panoramic eggs, you’ll want to let the icing dry overnight. But if you’re just wanting to decorate with layers on cookies, let it dry for at leas an hour in between.
While fresh royal icing is best to use for cookies, you can store this for up to a week in the refrigerator. But it must be covered with a damp towel to avoid drying out and hardening. Meringue powder royal icing can last up to a month if kept refrigerated. Putting icing in the freezer isn’t recommended, but putting finished cookies in the freezer in an airtight container AFTER the icing has set is totally fine.
Absolutely! Almond extract, vanilla extract, or coconut extracts are all delicious ways to flavor up royal icing. The meringue powder we use (see above) is already flavored so we typically don’t need to flavor it any more. If you do want to flavor your icing, just make sure to use CLEAR extracts so you don’t mess up the white color. Also, be really careful adding those extra liquids because even a little bit will change the consistency.
Recipes with Royal Icing
Royal Icing
Video
Ingredients
- 2 pounds powdered sugar sifted
- 5 tablespoons Genie's Dream Premium Meringue Powder
- 2/3 cup water plus more for flood icing
- gel food coloring (see notes above)
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can use a large bowl and a hand mixer. Mix on low speed with a whisk attachment until ingredients are combined (enough that the powdered sugar won't fly everywhere).
- Turn up the speed to med/high and mix for 5 min or until very thick, shiny, stiff and white. You want the peaks of the icing to stand straight up without flopping over at all.
- If you want to make several different colors, divide the icing into several different bowls and beat in the food coloring by hand with a rubber spatula.
- Once you get the correct consitencies for piping (see notes above), place icing in piping bags and start decorating!
- After icing your cookies, allow cookies to harden at room temperature for at least 12 hours before storing.
To Make Flood Icing:
- Once you have used all of the royal icing you plan on using (or have set aside the amount of royal icing you need) add about a little of water at a time to the royal icing that you would like to make into flood icing, stirring constantly, until you get the right consistency.
- You want to be able to pull up a spoonful of icing and have it drip back down into the bowl and combine with the rest of the icing within just a few seconds. You don't want to have it lay on top of the remaining icing for long, you also don't want it to absorb immediately. That means it is too thin. There is a fine line here, which is why you only want to add a little bit of water at a time so you don't overdo it.
Directions are easy to follow
Great so far, easy to understand. Let’s hope it goes well.
Hi, can regular meringue powder be used? I don’t have the brand you list in the recipe.
Yes, you can use any brand of merengue powder!
Do you have a suggestion for a dye-free gel icing? I SO want to make vibrant Christmas cookies, but I’d rather do it without the chemical dyes.
I haven’t used a dye free gel coloring, but I have seen Kroger brand ones that use natural dyes. I have also seen some at Target that were Watkins brand but used natural dye. Let us know if you find a good one!
I tried my hand at this icing yesterday and I think it was a success! It was very tasty. My only concern is that I left the cookies over night to set and the icing is still wet. Did I add too much water? Is there any other tips to help with the drying? I’m completely new to baking but I think letting them set out would make the cookies stale quicker.
It does sound like the icing was a little too wet. Do you live in a wet or humid climate? That can also affect the drying. If they are not dry after 24 hours, they are unlikely to dry at all.
Can you store leftover icing ? If so how ?
While fresh royal icing is best to use for cookies, you can store this for up to a week in the refrigerator. But it must be covered with a damp towel to avoid drying out and hardening. Meringue powder royal icing can last up to a month if kept refrigerated. Putting icing in the freezer isn’t recommended but putting finished cookies AFTER the icing has set is totally fine.
What if I accidentally add too much Merangue Powder? Will it ruin the frosting or make it too hard? How do I fix it?
I haven’t tested this, but I would try adding more water if the frosting is too stiff!
Super simple! I stopped beating the mix when I got to glossy with floppy peaks, like a homemade marshmallow texture before it sets. I also mixed my egg white powder and powdered sugar together first, then added the milk. Otherwise my egg white powder gets sooo clumpy.
I cannot seem to get the frosting to get stiff. the peaks keeep falling over. Any suggestions?
You might need to add a little more powdered sugar!
Looks like fun I am going to try to make tea cup and tea pot cookies for a bridal shower. ( practice first)
I made the flood icing and it worked pretty well! The only down side about is is that is takes a FULL night to dry. I would definitely try this again though!
I love the heart cookie cutter! Where did you get it? Thank you for the very good descriptions on how to get the different types. Very informative!
We got it from Etsy! Here is the link to the listing: https://www.etsy.com/listing/488362592/heart-3-cookie-cutter?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=kaleidacuts+cookie+cutters&ref=sr_gallery-1-22&organic_search_click=1
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