Decorating cookies is always super fun and thanks to my easy sugar cookie icing anyone can do it! There are no fancy ingredients and it takes no time at all to make plus you can make as many fun colors as your heart desires and create all kinds of fun designs.
During the holidays, in particular, I love to decorate sugar cookies. Using my tried and tested recipe they are not only crispy, buttery and delicious but they keep their shape wonderfully so you can use any fun cookie cutter you like, check out my Christmas stockings and snowflakes below!
But you don’t have to limit cookie decorating to Christmas, there’s always a holiday where you can have some baking fun such as Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, and even birthdays!
You might have seen sugar cookies being iced with a thicker border first, this can help stop the icing from running over the edges to create a neater look. It’s super easy to do you’ll just need to create two separate bowls of sugar cookie icing with different consistencies. For your border, make the icing much thicker so it holds it’s shape, and make the icing to fill your cookies a little thinner by adding in more milk (a little at a time). This is only if you want to be extremely precise so don’t worry about it too much!
What you need to make this recipe
Powdered sugar – This is the only type of sugar you can use to make this kind of icing so don’t try and substitute it for anything else.
Corn syrup – This is added to give the sugar cookie icing a beautiful shine, it makes them look extra pretty and impressive!
Milk – I use whole milk a little at a time until the right consistency is reached it also adds flavor!
Extract – I love to use either vanilla or almond extract to give the icing a wonderful flavor without overpowering the taste of your sugar cookies!
Food coloring – This is the fun part, you can choose any colors you like and add as much or as little until you reach your desired color. I find the gel food coloring works best so you don’t add in too much extra liquid.
How to make Sugar Cookie Icing
1. Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients apart from the milk and food coloring.
2. Next, add the milk in just a little at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
3. Use a whisk to stir the icing until there are no lumps left.
4. Add in food coloring and mix together until you reach your desired color.
Pro tips for this recipe
- Follow my very best sugar cookie recipe to bake your cookies in any shape you like, they hold their shape beautifully once baked.
- Make sure your sugar cookies are extra cold before icing, if they are warm the icing will just melt. I recommend placing the baked cookies in the fridge until they are extra cold.
- When you’re ready to decorate set out bowls full of your favorite sprinkles and different colors of icing to make it easy to decorate your cookies.
- Don’t worry about the sugar cookie icing in bowls there will be too much of it to harden. If a slight skin forms just give it a mix to break it back up!
- The icing can take up to 24 hours to set completely hard so try not to stack them on top of each other too soon.
- Once the icing has hardened you can stack them to take to parties or store them in cookie tins.
- Try not to add in too much extract or the flavor of the icing will overpower the sugar cookies, I find that 1/4 teaspoon is enough.
- To ice the cookies use squeeze bottles or cut a very small incision into a plastic piping bag. I find that squeeze bottles are much easier to use!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is sugar cookie icing the same as royal icing?
Although sugar cookie icing and royal icing can be used in the same way royal icing is made with egg whites or meringue powder which makes it set much harder than sugar cookie icing.
The thing is, royal icing is also much trickier to make and requires a lot of patience so if you just want to have some holiday baking fun and decorate cookies I recommend using this recipe every time!
Can you freeze iced sugar cookies?
Absolutely, iced sugar cookies freeze really well just make sure that the icing is completely hard first. Freeze them in bags or airtight containers then thaw at room temperature or in the fridge before serving.
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If you’ve tried this Recipe then don’t forget to leave a rating and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Sugar Cookie Icing
Ingredients
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract
- food coloring
Instructions
- Sift sugar then mix in the corn syrup and extract.
- Add milk 1 tsp at a time until desired consistency is reached.
- Add food coloring a little at a time until you reach your desired color.
Notes
- Follow my very best sugar cookie recipe to bake your cookies in any shape you like, they hold their shape beautifully once baked.
- Make sure your sugar cookies are extra cold before icing, if they are warm the icing will just melt. I recommend placing the baked cookies in the fridge until they are extra cold.
- When you're ready to decorate set out bowls full of your favorite sprinkles and different colors of icing to make it easy to decorate your cookies.
- Don't worry about the sugar cookie icing in bowls there will be too much of it to harden. If a slight skin forms just give it a mix to break it back up!
- The icing can take up to 24 hours to set completely hard so try not to stack them on top of each other too soon.
- Once the icing has hardened you can stack them to take to parties or store them in cookie tins.
- Try not to add in too much extract or the flavor of the icing will overpower the sugar cookies, I find that 1/4 teaspoon is enough.
- To ice the cookies use squeeze bottles or cut a very small incision into a plastic piping bag. I find that squeeze bottles are much easier to use!
- Nutritional information is for the whole batch of icing.
