This is my go-to royal icing recipe using meringue powder! It comes together in minutes, actually tastes good, and makes cookie decorating an absolute breeze. It’s super versatile and can be colored and flavored to your heart’s desire.
Use this royal icing to decorate my cut-out sugar cookies or matcha cookies!
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❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s versatile. Use any gel food coloring to dye it the shade you wish, or flavor it with different extracts or powders!
- It makes cookie decorating a breeze. For flooding consistency, simply add more water! If it’s too thin, keep whipping and try adding more powdered sugar. However, I like to do a hybrid consistency, which I note in the recipe card below.
Looking for more easy recipes? Try out my matcha ganache.
Ingredients
To make meringue powder royal icing, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Make sure to use meringue powder, which is very different than egg white powder! Meringue powder contains additives that help create consistent, stable icing.
- Powdered sugar provides sweetness and helps control how thin or thick you want your icing to be.
- I like using gel food coloring because it is much more potent than liquid food coloring. You only need a little to go a long way!
For the full list of ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card below.
💡Icing Tips and Flavoring Ideas
- For thinner royal icing, add water.
- For thicker royal icing, whip it longer or add more powdered sugar!
- Feel free to use different extracts or powders, such as vanilla extract, almond extract, matcha powder, etc.
How to Make Royal Icing using Meringue Powder
Step 1: In a large bowl, whip meringue powder and water on medium speed until very frothy, about 2-3 minutes.
Step 2: Gradually add powdered sugar while mixing on medium low. Once all of the sugar is incorporated, add flavoring and salt. Whip on medium speed until thickened, about 3-4 minutes. If it’s too thin, try whipping longer or mixing in extra powdered sugar.
Step 3: Feel free to split royal icing into different bowls and dye it using gel food coloring. If leaving icing in bowl for a while, lightly cover it with a damp paper towel to prevent the icing from hardening. Here, I am piping outlines on my cookies before flooding. If you want to avoid obvious border lines, use a much finer tip than I am!
Step 4: Flood and decorate cookies as you wish! Depending on the humidity and your environment, royal icing can take 8-24 hours to completely dry. I like to leave my cookies uncovered on a wire rack on my counter.
For full instructions, see the recipe card below.
😋 More Recipes You’ll Love
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Thank you so much! -Bianca ❤️
📖 Recipe & Video
Royal Icing With Meringue Powder
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Equipment
- hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment
- large bowl or bowl of stand mixer
- Piping bags for decorating
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons (36 g) meringue powder I also love the brand LorAnn!
- ½ cup (118.29 g) water room temperature, plus more as needed
- 4 cups (480 g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) vanilla extract or ¼-½ teaspoon almond, mint, etc. you can also add lemon juice or zest!
- pinch fine sea salt
- gel food coloring
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add 4 tablespoons meringue powder and ½ cup water. Mix on medium speed until very frothy, about 2-3 minutes.
- While mixing on medium-low, gradually add 4 cups powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is fully incorporated, add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and pinch fine sea salt.
- Whip on medium high for about 3-4 minutes until thickened and white. If the consistency is too thick for your liking, add a few drops of water at a time. If it is too thin, try whipping the mixture longer or adding in more powdered sugar.Note: For a royal icing consistency perfect for both lining and flooding, drag your whisk through the icing. It should smooth back into an even surface within 15–20 seconds.
- If you’re coloring your icing, divide it into separate bowls. Work with one color at a time, covering the remaining bowls with damp paper towels to prevent the icing from drying out.**As dyed royal icing dries, the color does deepen a few shades darker. So if you're going for pastels, go a bit lighter than you normally would. Stir in gel food coloring until combined.
- To minimize air bubbles in your decorated cookies, let icing rest in the bowl for about 15 minutes, so any trapped air can rise to the surface. Pop bubbles with a toothpick.
- Transfer icing to piping bags and enjoy!
