Eggless Royal Icing Recipe

Royal Icing is a thick pipeable icing usually used to decorate sugar cookies or cut out shortbread. Traditionally it is made with egg whites or meringue powder, but this is eggless, fail-proof, easy recipe made without eggs. Learn how to make eggless royal icing with step by step pictures and video.

Eggless Royal Icing Recipe

I don't make royal icing for cakes or cookies unless I make my yearly Christmas cut-out cookies. Royal icing tends to get hard like a rock and taste so sweet which I don't prefer. But this recipe is a recipe which actually taste pretty good. The dash of lemon juice added gives a delicious taste to the icing.

Jump to:

• What is Royal Icing?
• About Eggless Royal Icing
• Ingredients
• Royal Icing Made with Egg Whites
• Step by Step Pictures
• Decorating Sugar Cookies Using Royal Icing
• Royal Icing for Sugar Cookies
• Expert Tips
• FAQ 
• Variations
• 📖 Recipe Card

This is a fool proof basic royal icing recipe. It sets beautiful on cookies and forms a nice thick glaze over it. Perfect for decorating your cutout cookies. The taste is just awesome, it is a little sweet and tart as well.

What is Royal Icing?

Royal icing is a thick glaze made with powdered sugar used to decorate cakes, cupcakes and cookies. You can pipe this over cookies or cakes, spread it or drizzle it over desserts. It looks pourable when mixed, as it sets it hardens and create a hard shell like layer over your desserts.

Traditionally royal icing is made with powdered sugar, egg whites or meringue powder. Flavourings, food colour are used as per requirements. Some of the most popular flavourings are peppermint, vanilla, lemon or citrus.

About Eggless Royal Icing

This royal icing is made powdered sugar also known as icing sugar or confectioner sugar. It also has cornstarch which acts as thickening and setting ingredient. I added some lemon juice and milk to balance the taste and consistency of the icing.

You can use this icing mainly for decorating cookies or cakes. I use them for decorating sugar cookies. The texture of the icing is pipeable and sets like a charm.

When making icing, make sure you make it thick and not thin unless you need it that way. Thick icing helps it easy to pipe, so take extra precaution when adding milk or lemon juice.

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Ingredients

Icing Sugar | Confectioner Sugar - icing sugar is the main ingredients used for making royal icing. You cannot substitute it with regular powdered sugar. Icing sugar helps with the texture.

Cornstarch  - since this recipe is eggles, cornstarch helps setting the icing also gives consistency.

Lemon Juice - lemon juice cuts the over sweetness of the icing and provides delicious taste.

Milk - Milk is used to adjust the consistency of the icing. Instead of milk, you can use water as well.

Food Colours - even though this is optional, you can add gel food colourings as needed to colour the icing.

Royal Icing Made with Egg Whites

Traditionally royal icing is made with powdered sugar, egg whites or meringue powder. Flavourings, food colour are used as per requirements. Egg whites used in royal icing helps it to set like a charm. If you are looking for royal icing with eggs, here is a simple recipe for you.

Ingredients for Royal Icing (with Egg whites)

• 1 ½ cup Confectioners Sugar
• 1 Egg whites
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice

How to Make it

Combine the egg whites and confectioners' sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl and whip with an electric mixer on medium speed until shiny, about 5 minutes. Add lemon juice and mix well till mixed.

Step by Step Pictures

1)Take powdered sugar in a bowl.

2)Add in cornstarch and mix it really well.

3)Add in lemon juice to taste.

4)Add in some milk. Add little milk at a time.

5)Mix until the milk is incorporated. If it looks too thick, you can add some more milk.

6)Mix well.

7)Now the icing looks thick.

8)Royal icing without egg is ready. You can use this to decorate cookies as you wish.

Decorating Sugar Cookies Using Royal Icing

For decorating sugar cookies. You can use a sandwich size ziploc bag for piping over the cookies. If you don't have ziploc cover you can easily make small make shift piping bag using parchment paper.

Use small piece of parchment paper, shape it into cone shape. Use a piece of cellophane tape to stick it together. Now you can pour the icing into the cone and seal it together.

When decorating, snip a small piece in the end of parchment paper piping bag and decorate the cookies using that.

Royal Icing for Sugar Cookies

Traditionally royal icing is made with egg whites, lemon juice and powdered sugar. But I made a eggless version for easy to use. I have a recipe for royal icing.

Take all the ingredients except milk in a bowl, slowly add milk and mix well to an icing. Now use this for your cookies. If you want thicker icing, use little less milk and if you want a thinner glaze add more milk and lemon juice.

Once the glaze is ready. Add pinch of food colourings into the glaze and mix. You can pour this into our make-shift parchment piping bag and use that to decorate the cookies.

Let the creativity in you bloom and decorate the cookies as you wish. Decorate the cookies with sprinkles, edible glitters, golden stars, pebbles whichever you like.

Enjoy

Expert Tips

• if your powdered sugar is lumpy, you can sieve it before mixing.
• Add milk slowly so the icing doesn't get too runny.
• You can add gel food colouring for texture.
• Lemon juice helps the icing stay white in colour and also gives a tangy taste. 

FAQ 

Can I skip cornstarch? 

Not necessarily recommended, but it helps to set the icing. 

Can I make this without milk? 

Yes, you can use water instead of milk. 

.Will the icing become hard? 

Yes, after some time it dries and becomes hard. 

Can I keep the icing for later? 

Yes, you can keep it in a box and cover it tight. 

Variations

Vanilla Icing: You can add vanilla essence to make the icing smell nice and have a different flavor. 

Choco icing: if you are a chocolate lover then, you can add cocoa powder to make a chocolate icing. 

Rainbow icing: If you have kids then, you can use different food colors to make rainbow icing. Fruity icing: You can add strawberry or orange flavor for fruity icing.

More Icing| Frosting Recipes

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