This easy royal icing is made with just two ingredients and will look beautiful on your cookies. 

Most cookie icing recipes include either egg whites or meringue powder. I’m not a fan of raw eggs in my food and I don’t always have meringue powder on hand.

So, my go to royal icing recipe for sugar cookies is really simple. It’s a mixture of confectioner’s sugar and either water or milk depending on my mood. THAT IS IT. 

Use this cookie icing on these snowflake shaped cookies, snowman cookies or any of your favorite cut out cookies.

So, why do so most royal icing recipes include egg whites? 

Well, the egg whites do get your royal icing to really harden and hold. If I were using royal icing to put together a gingerbread house, I probably would want an icing  “glue” that was hard and sturdy.

For my cookies, I prefer to leave it out. I don’t know about you but I don’t like biting into icing so hard it’s going to break my teeth. This royal icing still dries and hardens to the touch but it's soft when you bite into it.

Combine this icing with my tender sugar cookie dough and you will have one perfect cookie. You can also try it out on my cookies and cream sugar cookie dough if you are looking for an alternative flavor.

There is one small catch. If you plan to pack the cookies or store them for later, you will need to let them dry overnight after decorating. The thicker your decoration, the longer it will take to dry. The addition of too much food dye can also make it take longer.

To give you an idea, this unfinished train sugar cookie was iced around 3pm and at around 10am the next day, I checked on it. It was dry to the touch and gentle pressure with my finger did not mess up my icing.

I would be okay packing it up in a plastic bag as seen on my confetti cookie bars or storing it in an airtight container between layers of parchment. If I had added more decoration, I might have waited a full 24 hours. 

How to Make Easy Cookie Icing

I fully admit that I use the laziest way possible to make my icing. I don’t even sift my sugar. It takes a bit more mixing on my part to get rid of sugar clumps so if you are into sifting, by all means sift your sugar first. 

Next, take a fork, NOT a whisk, and add either water or milk a teaspoon at a time. Start mixing and stop adding liquid when you get the right consistency. Be sure to mix in all the sugar and scrape it off the side of the bowl too. 

Tips for Making Royal Icing:

• The amounts in the recipe are just a guideline for a loose icing. For stiffer icing add more confectioners sugar and stir. For a looser icing, add more liquid and stir. 
• Add a teaspoon of lemon juice or vanilla extract for flavor. (Vanilla extract may add a very slight tint and make your icing less white.) 
• Add drops of food coloring gel to get different colored icing.
• Other recipes include corn syrup for adding shine and a more fluid consistency. If you want to try it, add a teaspoon and test first.