Quick and Easy Royal Icing Recipe

Recipe:
1 lb (453 g) powdered sugar (about 4 cups)
1/4 cup (60 ml) water (plus more for thinning)
1 tsp (1.2 ml) vanilla extract

**Meringue Powder Substitute: replace with 3 ounces (89ml) of egg whites.

I've been making royal icing a long time and I have learned over the years that there is no need to make royal icing more complicated than necessary! It is actually very easy to make and can take less than 10 minutes! In this video I show you how I make my royal icing and how to create stiff, piping, and flood consistency icing for all your cookie decorating projects!

RECIPES

DECORATING SUPPLIES

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Disclosure: Some of the included links are affiliate links which mean if you purchase the product I get a small commission. However, I never include products I haven’t tried and tested myself!

[mrg]

First time making cookies with royal icing. Thank god i found this video with your royal icing recipe. Hallelujah.

[loubrooks]

I've watched other videos and was still confused... THANK YOU!!! This was so easy to understand and follow. YAY!!!

[incognitogirl]

Me: "oh wow, this looks so easy!"
Also me: drops measuring cup while pouring in water and just *destroys* the icing.
Also also me: stares in dismay

[Evans]

That was extremely helpful! I attempted my first try at making royal icing and I gave up because I couldn't get it right. After watching your video, I know exactly what my problem was. I didn't know I still needed to water down the icing to get an outline consistency. Mine was too stiff and so was my flooding icing. I loved how you went into detail about flooding icing consistency. I'm looking forward to giving it another try. Thanks so much for your video.

[judichristopher]

I am blown away...
This is an EXCELLENT Video... and it is short and sweet.
Thank YOU so much for sharing this great video.
This is the FIRST and ONLY video that I have seen that shows "3" stages of Icing...
WOW... I love this video.

[sarahmora]

I followed your directions for my first time making royal icing! I was stressssed but it worked out in the end. 😄 I will never make another cookie icing recipe. Your recipe is the best!

[consumerdebtchitchat]

There is a special place in heaven for you making this video. Thank you!!!

[gayanipramodapeiris]

I am so glad I came through this video. Working with icing has been a huge fear for me. I tend to mess up everytime I worked with icing. But your video saved me. This is the best explanation I came across so far and the recipe worked perfectly ❤️ you helped me fulfil my dream of trying out icing on a cookie. Thank you so much ❄️☃️

[dnrtme]

Best I have seen demonstrating various consistencies AND filling those piping bags!

[rachelsime]

I actually found that super helpful I like that you used comparisons that anyone can relate to IE the tooth paste consistency that helped me understand so much better

[Anna-ghgm]

You are SUCH a great teacher. Thanks for posting.

[sarahthomas]

Thank you for sharing this video. I'm not that experienced with decorating sugar cookies but I want to do some golf themed ones for my bday party on Friday. I'm going to try this.

[mariarugolo]

I think I finally understand royal icing consistency!! Thank you so much. Happy to subscribe, like, follow, share & save!

[SugarSugarCreek]

Omg thank you!!! Air bubbles were making me insane!!!! I was whipping my meringue powder with the water so no wonder! I think I'll use my hand mixer too as opposed to the kitchenaid and see if that helps

[Miss_Dani_DWhit]

Thank you so much for sharing this.
This is bu far most simple video I've seen on creating real icing. I'm making No. 4 and Princess Crown cookies for my God Daughter's Birthday 🎂

[wm]

I had been mixing the meringue powder with water before adding the sugar, and I'm always have problems with the bubbles. Thank you so much for this recipe it completely changed and made my life easier 😊

[kealohamaffey]

I used this video 2 christmases ago, but couldn’t find it this past year. I ended up baking the cookies and not icing them, but I was determined to find it before my daughters’ birthday party this weekend. Only took 2 hours on Pinterest and a last resort to YouTube! 🤪 I’m ecstatic.

[chocolatensunshine]

This video has one of the best explanations! Clear and easy to understand. Thank you!

[kateanderson]

I have followed other professional decorators for years, ordered their products & have messaged them when I was stuck with my icing consistencies. None have been able to explain this as simply & effectively as you. (Some even laughed at my failed attempts. 🙄) THANK YOU for this video!!

[beatrizmorales]

Great recipe 🤭🫶 congratulations and thank you 🙏