Cookie decorating doesn’t have to be fussy to look bakery-pretty. This sugar cookie icing takes 4 ingredients (powdered sugar, water, a little corn syrup, and vanilla) and about five minutes to stir together. It sets up smooth and shiny, and it’s easy enough to hand the kids a piping bag and let them go for it. Grab your favorite cut-out cookies and let’s get decorating.
In This Article
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Amy’s Notes
If you’ve ever stood in the store staring at those little tubes of icing, put them back. This homemade version takes five minutes, costs pennies, and dries smooth and shiny on perfect cut-out sugar cookies. Here’s why I keep coming back to it:
- Quick and simple: You only need 3 or 4 everyday ingredients, and it comes together in minutes without any fuss.
- Versatile flavors: Keep it classic with vanilla, or switch things up with a splash of homemade lemon curd filling flavor or rich almond extract.
- Customizable texture: Add a tiny bit of corn syrup if you want to make it ahead and keep it pliable, or skip it for a super fast dry time.
- Easy decorating: You do not need fancy tools. Just spoon it into a basic baggie and snip the corner, or use simple piping bags.
Need something to decorate? Browse our easy Christmas cookie recipes.
What is the Difference Between Royal Icing and Standard Cookie Icing?
Royal icing is made with powdered sugar and egg whites or meringue powder, and it dries completely hard and matte. It is the best choice when you want intricate piped lines or stacked designs that need to hold an edge. Standard cookie icing, on the other hand, is a simple blend of powdered sugar, water, and a touch of corn syrup. It dries smooth with a lovely sheen while staying a bit softer underneath, making it faster to mix up and much easier to bite into.
Key Recipe Ingredients
- Confectioner’s Sugar: Also known as powdered sugar, it is the sugar of choice, as it dissolves quickly and provides a smooth consistency.
- Water: We use water in lieu of milk, as this keeps the icing dairy-free and able to be kept in your pantry at moderate room temperature.
- Light Corn Syrup: We’ve made icings with and without corn syrup, and have found that corn syrup allows you to make icing ahead of time, as it keeps the icing pliable when in an airtight container or sealed piping bag. However, if you’re using the icing immediately and want a super fast dry-time, you can go without corn syrup.
- Optional Extracts: This is the fun part! You can actually keep your icing stark white and plain-flavored by using just a bit of water instead of extracts. Otherwise, feel free to experiment with a touch of vanilla, almond, lemon, or peppermint extracts. Our personal favorite is almond extract.
- Optional Gel Coloring: It’s highly recommended you use gel food coloring, as it thicker and contains less water to interfere with the texture of icing.
Substitutions and Variations
- Extracts: Use 1/4 teaspoon vanilla plus 1/4 teaspoon almond extract for a bakery-style flavor.
- Peppermint: A drop or two of peppermint extract is so fun for Christmas cookies.
- Milk instead of water: Makes a slightly creamier icing, but it’s no longer dairy-free.
- Need a hard set for stacking or shipping? Go with royal icing made with meringue powder.
- Lemon icing: Swap some of the water for fresh lemon juice and drizzle it over Soft Lemon Cookies.
- If you love baking fun treats for celebrations, check out these easy soft gingerbread cookies for more holiday baking inspiration.
Step-by-Step Recipe Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the confectioner’s sugar, water, corn syrup, and your extract of choice. Use a small hand whisk to mix everything together until smooth. If it feels too thick, add a tiny splash of water until it reaches a honey-like consistency.
- If you are adding color, stir in one or two drops of gel food coloring at a time until you hit the exact shade you want.
- Transfer the mixture into piping bags with the corner snipped off. Drizzle over your cookies or outline; let the outline set 5 to 10 minutes before filling in. Add sprinkles immediately before the surface sets.
→ For full list of ingredients and instructions, see recipe card below.
How to Prep Ahead
- Make ahead storage: With corn syrup added, keep icing in an airtight container or sealed piping bag at room temperature for up to 1 week.
- Fixing consistency: If it thickens while it sits, stir in water 1/2 tablespoon at a time.
- Storage: Once iced cookies are fully dry (overnight is best), store them airtight at room temperature, or freeze up to 1 month.
Sugar Cookie Icing
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups confectioner's sugar
- 4-5 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons light corn syrup see note
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract, see note
Optional: gel food coloring
Instructions
- In a bowl, add confectioner's sugar, 4 TB water, corn syrup, and extract. Use a small hand whisk to mix well. If it's too thick to mix, add 1/2 tablespoon water at a time, until mixture is a consistency similar to honey.
- If using, stir in 1-2 drops of gel food coloring at a time until desired tint is achieved. Color will darken a bit as it dries.
- Spoon icing into these easy piping bags, or use Ziploc bags with a tiny hole cut out of the corner tip. Drizzle icing over cookies, or outline the cookies first and let the outline set for 5-10 minutes. Then, fill in the centers of the outlined cookies. If you're topping icing with sprinkles, do so immediately, before icing dries.
Notes
- Corn syrup is useful if you’re making the icing ahead of time and would like it to stay soft and pliable in the pantry. Keep icing in an airtight container for several days at moderate room temperature.
- If you’d like to omit corn syrup, use the icing immediately, as it will dry out easier. Icing without corn syrup will dry super fast on piped cookies, which can be a benefit.
- For super white, plain-sugar flavored icing, replace extract with water.
- We love using almond extract in place of vanilla extract! Or use 1/4 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp almond extracts for the perfect combination. You can try lemon or peppermint extracts, too.
- If icing is too thick, add 1 tsp water at a time to thin it out. If icing it too thin, add 1 TB confectioner’s sugar at a time until it’s thickened.
- Set cookies on a sheet of wax paper, for easy icing cleanup.
- Substitutions: Swap vanilla for almond extract, or use 1/4 teaspoon of each. Lemon or peppermint extract works too. For pure white icing, use water in place of extract.
- Prep Ahead: Make with corn syrup and keep in a sealed piping bag or airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
- Storage: Once iced cookies are fully dry, store airtight at room temperature or freeze up to 1 month.
- Serve alongside these classic soft sugar cookies.
- This recipe is part of our easy cookie collection.
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Corn syrup is an optional ingredient that helps the icing to keep pliable and soft until ready to use. Adding a bit of corn syrup allows the icing to keep for up to a week in the pantry, in an airtight container or sealed piping bag. That said, you can omit corn syrup if you will be using the icing immediately. Without corn syrup, the icing dries super fast once piped onto cookies.
It’s really easy to fix icing that’s either too thick or thin. If icing turns out too thick, simply add 1/2 tablespoon of water at a time, stirring, until it reaches the right consistency. If icing is too thin, add 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time, stirring, until it thickens up.
You can definitely make icing well in advance. If doing so, we recommend using the corn syrup indicated, as it will allow icing to keep nicely when stored airtight at moderate room temperature.
Happily, yes, you can freeze iced cookies in an airtight container for up to a month; they’ll still taste wonderfully fresh once defrosted.
You are in luck because this recipe uses water instead of milk, meaning it is naturally dairy-free right out of the gate without sacrificing any smoothness.
Stick with gel food coloring instead of liquid drops. Gel is concentrated, so you only need a tiny drop, and it will not water down your gorgeous icing.
More to Cook and Eat
- Classic Soft Sugar Cookies – The ultimate melt-in-your-mouth cookie base for all your decorating projects.
- Easy Gingerbread Cookies – Warmly spiced and sturdy enough for all kinds of fun holiday icing designs.
- Double Chocolate Cookies – Rich, decadent, and impossible to eat just one.
- Lemon Blueberry Cake – A bright, fresh treat that brings serious bakery vibes right to your kitchen.
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