No Fail 3 Ingredient Royal Icing Recipe

I have always loved making special sweet treats for my kiddos over the years, especially for birthdays and classroom parties. I used to be really into making cupcakes, but in recent years I’ve started taking a greater interest in cookie decorating. I’ll be honest, it’s a lot easier in some ways and I feel you can be more creative in a precision type of way.

Finding an icing or frosting, whichever you prefer to call it (I will refer to it as icing), was a not-so easy task. I’ll be honest, i have tried out many different recipes and have concluded that my most favorite is this 3 ingredients royal icing. It’s very simple to make and doesn’t require any odd type ingredients (such as meringue) that can be more challenging to find at your local grocery store.

Lets talk about what you need to know about icing…

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Consistency

Icing for cookie decorating is all about CONSISTENCY

• If it’s too runny or liquidy it will run right off of your cookie and look sloppy.
• If it’s too thick or stiff, it will be lumpy and not smooth/level out once on the cookie.
• If it has too many air bubbles you will end up with splats (aka a tooting sound) when squeezing it out of your pastry bag making for a big hole or lump.
• Too many air bubbles also make little air bubbles all over your cookie, meaning you will have small holes or you have extra work to come back and pop them before the icing begins to set up (harden).

Cookie Recipe

The type of cookie you decorate will affect your icing appearance

I know this may sound like a given, but the type of cookie recipe you use will alter the way the icing looks on your cookie. When icing cookies you want a smooth, flat cookie. Lumpy, uneven cookies will look

My go-to recipes for sugar cookies are this one and for gingerbread cookies, this recipe. I

Stephanie Bruce

Stephanie—home cook, DIY addict, seasonal decor fanatic, and proud chicken wrangler living in a Victorian house that’s always a project. Whether I’m cooking with garden-fresh ingredients, herding mischievous chickens, or tackling another DIY, I’m here to share the fun (and chaos).