Easy, Eggless Royal Icing (for Sugar Cookies!)

Making your own royal icing for sugar cookies is not only easy to do, but also much more cost-effective than buying it in stores.

This stuff works like a charm, leaving your once bare treats with an inviting, glossy glow. The flavor is delish so you

won’t have to worry about your creations looking better than they taste. Sometimes you really can have it all.

The original recipe I found calls for almond extract, but I substituted vanilla in the event some of the bridal shower guests may be allergic to nuts. Also, most royal icings I researched contained raw egg, which definitely wasn’t something I was comfortable experimenting with. I wanted everyone to leave the party with a sugar rush, not salmonella.

Lastly, I chose to steer clear of anything involving the use of shortening, mainly because just looking at it makes me feel fat. Fortunately, what I’m going to share with you is actually listed as a healthier version, using low-fat milk and not even a touch of butter. Not a bad deal!

The first step here is to combine water and sugar over the stove to form a simple syrup. The large quantity it makes is for the option to change the consistency of your icing (kind of a just in case type deal), but it definitely made way more than I needed–I only used a few tablespoons worth. So, you can always utilize the remaining simple syrup to prepare a cocktail (like a mojito!) so it goes towards a good cause.

Once you coat your sugar cookies in this yummy royal icing, feel free to decorate as you please! Pull up your kitchen chair, cover your table with edible gems and pearls, and get ready to create a sweet masterpiece.

Ingredients:

Coats 30 cookies

Sugar cookies (get recipe here!)

1 1/4 cups white sugar

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water

2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon low-fat milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 dashes assorted natural food coloring (optional–I didn’t use it here)

For embellishments:

Edible pearls

Purple cupcake gems

Blue decorating sugar

Blue, yellow and purple writing icing (or coordinating food coloring)

Jumbo pink heart sprinkles

Small pink heart sprinkles

Instructions:

Combine white sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, simmering until dissolved and a sugar syrup is created, about 5 minutes.

Stir together confectioner’s sugar and milk in a small bowl until smooth.

Beat in vanilla extract and 2 teaspoons of sugar syrup until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more sugar syrup. If icing is ready, make a mojito instead.

If desired, this would be the time to pour your icing into separate bowls and add food colorings to each to shade of choice. I left mine white and used other colorful tubes of writing icing I had in my cabinet for accents.

I started with the bride cookies, which were first coated in royal icing and then while wet, immediately pushed into a bowl of white non-perils for the dress.

I used purple writing icing for the belt (you can also color your royal icing), and added purple glittery cupcake gems to make it stand out.

For the cake-shaped cookies, I pressed down two jumbo heart-shaped sprinkles on top while the royal icing was still wet.

Once it dried, I piped lines across the cookies where the cake layers are supposed to be.

I then gently pushed each cookie into a plate of edible pearls that stuck onto the piped lines of icing.

I personalized the heart using purple writing icing, and added a small pearl to daintily dot the ‘i’ in her name. I then finished it off with two smaller heart sprinkles that coordinated with the cakes.

Lastly, the rings were first coated with the royal icing, and once they dried, I used bright yellow and blue writing icings to outline the band and diamond. I made dots inside the gem part and pushed that part of the cookie into blue glitter to make it bling! For another variation using candy buttons (!) check out my diamond ring sugar cookies on CT Style News 8!

Of course, you can have fun making various shapes and creations for any occasion or holiday that suites you! Eat and enjoy these when someone you love ties the knot!