Royal Icing Recipe

Shortbread cookies decorated with Royal Icing make a festive holiday dessert.

Looking for a fun Holiday activity? Use Royal Icing to make bakery-style decorated cookies from our pre-made U-bake Vanilla Shortbread dough.

Makes 3 1/2 cups icing

2 large egg whites, plus extra for thinning icing
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
Liquid or gel food coloring (find gels at kitchen or decorating shops)

In a medium mixing bowl or electric stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, lightly whisk the egg whites and lemon juice. Add 3 1/2 cups sifted confectioners sugar and beat well until smooth and glossy. It should pause slightly before it streams off the tip of the beater. Add more egg white or lemon juice if too thick, more sugar if too thin.

For quick and easy decorating, smooth on icing with the back of a spoon and add a dusting of colored sugar. Make sure cookies are cooled before decorating.

Make ahead note: Royal Icing can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Whisk before using or adding color.

HOW TO DECORATE SHORTBREAD COOKIES

To make colored icing
Divide icing among small bowls and stir in food coloring (gel color has the most vibrant color) a few drops at a time until desired color is reached.

Flooding cookies with Royal Icing
Transfer about 1/2 cup of icing to a resealable plastic bag and snip a small corner (or use a pastry sleeve fitted with No. 4 tip). You can also use a plastic squeeze bottle. Use this icing to pipe a thin border around the edge of each cookie. Thin additional icing (same color) and transfer to bags. Snip a corner and pipe a generous amount inside the border of each cookie. Using a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread the icing to cover the cookie.

For a sparkling effect, apply colored sugar to wet icing then tip the cookie to remove excess sugar. You can use coarser decorating sugar as well; apply and let the cookies sit for about 15 minutes before removing excess sugar. Let dry before adding piped borders, stripes or other decorations with additional royal icing.

For a marbleized look, flood cookie surface. Add stripes or dots in a second color, then drag a toothpick through.

How to test icing: Before you fill a pastry bag, test icing with a spoon; for detail work, it should pause slightly before it streams off the tip of a spoon. For covering the whole cookie, you’ll want it slightly thinner, which will cause it to stream off the spoon immediately.

Watch our Holiday Cookie Decorating Video for more ideas.

 Learn how to make and decorate Halloween cookies in this video.