Sugar Cookie Icing

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How to make the easiest Sugar Cookie Icing that’s both delicious and easy to use! Use this recipe to decorate your buttery and delicious sugar cookies for any occasion whether it’s Christmas, Thanksgiving or just to have some baking fun!

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 with this icing recipe. 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. The powdered sugar dissolves instantly to produce a fluid and smooth icing that is thick enough to pipe. Using a granulated sugar will turn into a sandy, gritty mess.

Corn syrup – this is added to give the sugar cookie icing a beautiful shine and soft bite once the icing dries. It makes them look extra pretty and impressive! I have tested substitutes for the corn syrup, and glucose syrup, golden syrup, and honey all work, though honey adds flavor and a slightly amber color.

Milk – I use whole milk, starting with a little at a time until the right consistency is reached. It also adds a slightly creamy flavor! For a non-dairy option, use non-dairy milk or replace the milk with lemon juice, orange juice, or water.

Extract – I love to use either vanilla extract 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. The first batch I tested, I didn’t sift the sugar and it had tiny lumps throughout the icing that took hours to dissolve. This might seem like an extra step you can skip, but don’t! Powdered sugar naturally clumps in the package and sifting breaks them all apart so the sugar dissolves easily and your icing is smooth.

2. Next, add the milk in just a little at a time until you reach your desired consistency. I start with 1 tablespoon, then add a little splash (half a teaspoon or so) at a time so I can control how thin the icing gets. Then add in your flavoring.

3. Use a whisk to stir the icing until there are no lumps left. Check the consistency and whisk in more milk if needed.

4. Add in food coloring and mix together until you reach your desired color. Gel food coloring is highly concentrated and will add the richest color with the least amount of food color needed. I recently tested the dropper bottles of liquid food coloring, and they worked well, too, but they will thin your icing slightly. Add a little sprinkle of powdered sugar, if needed, to thicken the icing back up.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you’ve tried this sugar cookie icing 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!