Easy Royal Icing Recipe (2024)

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My easy royal icing recipe is perfect for cookies, treats, and more! The best part is that it’s egg-free and uses ingredients you probably already have on hand.

When my daughter had her first birthday, I was kind of sad that I didn’t know how to make a beautiful cake for her like my mom used to make for me. So, I ended up taking Wilton classes at my local Michael’s store with my best friend. We took every single class that they offered and then found a few more non-Wilton classes at a local cake store. I love learning how to make all those beautiful flowers and have a huge book of recipes and ideas from those classes, but I was tired of always relying on pre-made products to make my icing. I knew there had to be a better way.

I found a from scratch royal icing recipe that was just egg whites and powdered sugar…easy enough! However, with my egg allergy I knew I needed something that I could use on cookies and and treats that I could eat so I set out to make a royal icing that was egg-free. I’ve seen some bloggers call their royal icing egg-free, but it still calls for meringue powder (which is made from egg whites by the way).

I have only used my recipe for decorating cookies and other treats and have not attempted to create any flowers with it yet. So, use it for cookies, treats, or even gingerbread houses.

Royal Icing Tips

-use super clean utensils, tips, and bags. Any grease (like leftover from a buttercream frosting) will breakdown the icing

-keep the icing covered at all times so it doesn’t harden before you use it (cover the bowl and tips with plastic wrap)

Watch How Easy It Is To Make Royal Icing

Easy Royal Icing Recipe

Yield: 2 cups

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

This easy Royal Icing recipe has no eggs and will yield about 2 cups of icing. It's perfect for icing cookies or building gingerbread houses.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tbls milk (almond, rice, soy, cow)
2 tsps light corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract

Instructions

Add confectioner's sugar, milk, corn syrup, and vanilla to a clean bowl. Blend with a handheld mixer until it is mostly lump free, about 45 seconds - 1 minute.
If it's too thick, add water by the drop (a little goes a long way). If it's too thin, add more confectioner's sugar.
Note: Royal Icing should somewhat hold it shape for a count of 10. This will make a perfect consistency for cookies and gingerbread house decorating. (Ex. Scoop up some icing with a spoon and let it drizzle into the bowl. You should be able to see where you drizzled the icing for a count of 10...if it combines too quickly with the other icing it will spread out too much when decorating.)

Notes

To decorate cookies: Royal Icing should somewhat hold it shape for a count of 10. This will make a perfect consistency for cookies and gingerbread house decorating. (Ex. Scoop up some icing with a spoon and let it drizzle into the bowl. You should be able to see where you drizzled the icing for a count of 10...if it combines too quickly with the other icing it will spread out too much when decorating.)

To build gingerbread houses: Royal Icing should be extremely thick and completely hold it's shape.