Don’t be intimidated by royal icing. You can get your cookies to look like they came straight from the bakery by using a simple piping and glazing technique, coupled with a bit of patience. Here’s how to do it!
What you’ll need:
- Prepared Royal Icing
- Baked cookies, completely cooled
- Piping bag (multiple, if using more than one color)
- Squeeze bottle
- Teaspoon
- Small offset metal spatula
How to:
1. First, prepare your royal icing as directed
here. Scoop some frosting in a piping bag fitted with a small round writing tip—this will be used for piping borders on the cookies. Thin some of the reserved royal icing with water, one teaspoon at a time, until it is the consistency of cream—this will be used for flooding and glazing the cookies later.
2. Once you’ve watered the reserved icing down to a creamy consistency, pour it into the squeeze bottle.
4. Time to start decorating! The first step is to border the cookies. Do this by using the piping bag filled with icing. Squeeze the bag firmly and steadily to create your icing border, working counter-clockwise at the very edge of each cookie. Release pressure on the piping bag to cut off the flow of icing and complete the border. Allow the borders to set completely, 30 to 60 minutes, before filling in your outline (also known as flooding!).
5. After the borders of your cookies have set, you can start filling with glaze. To do this, carefully flood the inside of the borders with the thinned royal icing in the squeeze bottle.
6. Using a small metal spatula, gently smooth any air bubbles or gaps until each cookie is completely glazed. Let the cookies stand for three minutes before adding any additional decorations like sprinkles or candies. Allow them to dry completely before storing.
Expert tips:
- Royal icing dries quickly when exposed to air. Completely cover royal icing you aren’t using in bowls with plastic wrap while you’re decorating.
- If you wish to color your icing before piping and flooding, note that liquid food coloring is difficult to control and may make the icing too runny. Many bakers prefer to use food-coloring paste instead!
- Never piped a border with royal icing before? Practice the technique on waxed paper before starting on the cookies.
Ingredients
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4 1/2cups powdered sugar
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1/3cup plus 5 to 10 teaspoons warm water (105°F to 115°F)
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3tablespoons meringue powder
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1teaspoon vanilla
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1/2teaspoon cream of tartar
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Betty Crocker™ gel food color(s), if desired
Directions
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1In large bowl, beat powdered sugar, 1/3 cup warm water, the meringue powder, vanilla and cream of tartar with electric mixer on low speed until mixed. Beat on high speed 7 to 10 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally, until very stiff. Tint with food color(s).
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2Spoon 1/2 cup icing into small decorating bag fitted with small round writing tip; twist bag to keep closed. Keep remaining icing covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying out; set aside.
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3To pipe outlines or borders: Squeeze decorating bag firmly and steadily working counterclockwise to create an icing border. Release pressure on decorating bag to cut off flow of icing and complete border. Allow borders to set completely, 30 to 60 minutes, before filling in outlines.
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4Uncover remaining icing, and add any icing from piping outlines into bowl; mix well. Stir in warm water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until icing is consistency of heavy cream. (Make sure icing is mixed well before adding next teaspoon of water so as not to add too much.) Pour thinned icing into squeeze bottle; screw on top. Keep squeeze bottle tip and any remaining icing covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying out while decorating.
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5To flood or glaze: Using squeeze bottle, fill inside with thinned icing. Use nozzle of squeeze bottle or small metal icing spatula to fill in all areas until completely covered. If decorating with sprinkles, let stand 1 to 2 minutes before adding, so the sprinkles adhere. Let stand about 3 hours or until completely dry. Outlines and floods 30 (3-inch) sugar cookie shapes. Cover and store any remaining icing.
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