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    Home » Recipes » Cookies

    Easy Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

    Published on October 16, 2019 - Updated on January 12, 2023 by Chef Rodney - 1 Comment - This post may contain affiliate links.

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    royal icing
    This Easy to make Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing recipe is perfect for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas!
     
    Easy Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

    This is the perfect time of year to make Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I picked up some really cool Halloween cookie cutters recently and I was dying to give them a shot.

    Easy Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

    If you bake often, you already know how easy it is to make sugar cookies. It almost always consists of sugar, flour, butter, eggs, vanilla and sometimes a couple of other ingredients.

    sugar cookies royal icing

    This sugar cookie recipe is pretty simple to make but it does require the dough to be chilled for 3 to 4 hours before you can roll it out and cut your cookies. I'm just pointing this out so you can plan ahead. No instant gratification here!

    Easy Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

    I must warn you that I am not an artist. Decorating your cookies does require some skill. I recommend practicing before you decorate the final product. Since this cookie recipe makes a couple of dozen cookies I usually pick the one I like the least and practice my piping on it before doing the rest of them.

    Easy Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

    So many factors come into play for achieving the perfect-looking sugar cookie. The consistency of the Royal Icing, the piping, the flooding as well as the color of the icing. This is definitely one of those practice makes perfect type of recipes.

    Easy Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

    💭 Recipe Tip

    Make sure you sift the flour as indicated on the recipe card. If you don't sift the flour beforehand you will be using too much flour and will not achieve the proper consistency for these sugar cookies.

    sugar cookies royal icing

    For more of my great cookie recipes check out my Cookie Jar. Especially my Crunchy Coconut Crisp Cookies or Codi’s Favorite M&M Cookies. Yummy!

    For more great recipes with Meringue Powder, I suggest you check these recipes out:

    • Simple Royal Icing

    📋 What Ingredients do I need

    You will need the following ingredients to make this Sugar Cookie with Royal Icing recipe (see recipe card for quantities): Unsalted Butter, White Sugar, Eggs, Vanilla Extract, Salt, All Purpose Flour, Powdered Sugar, Meringue Powder, Water and Food Coloring Paste.

    🥣 How to Make Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

    In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add beaten egg. Add remaining ingredients.
    Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours.
    Preheat oven to 350°F
    Roll out dough on a floured surface to ¼ inch thick.
    Cut the dough with your favorite cookie cutters.
    Place cut cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
    Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are light-colored.

    🥣 How to Make Royal Icing

    In a mixing bowl, combine the first 3 ingredients and mix on medium speed for 5 minutes. You are looking for a consistency like honey or toothpaste.

    🥣 How to Decorate Sugar Cookies

    This is the hard part of this recipe. You will want to divide your white royal icing into separate containers, one for each color you will be using. Add the necessary amount of food coloring to each bowl to achieve the desired color.

    Use a #1 or #2 tip to outline each cookie with royal icing. Add a little bit of water to thin the icing out a bit. Fill the center of each cookie. Use a toothpick to smooth out any imperfections.

    sugar cookies royal icing

    Easy Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

    This Easy to make Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing recipe is perfect for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas!
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 10 mins
    Resting Time 4 hrs
    Course Cookies
    Cuisine American
    Servings 24 Cookies
    Calories 213 kcal

    Ingredients
     

    Cookie Ingredients

    • 1 Cup Unsalted Butter, softened
    • ⅔ Cup White Sugar
    • 1 Egg, beaten
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
    • ½ teaspoon Salt
    • 2 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour, sifted

    Royal Icing Ingredients

    • 1 lb Powdered Sugar
    • 3 tablespoon Meringue Powder
    • 6 tablespoon Water, Warm
    • Food Coloring Paste, Optional
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    Instructions
     

    Make the Cookies

    • In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add beaten egg. Add remaining ingredients.
    • Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours.
    • Preheat oven to 350°F
    • Roll out dough on a floured surface to ¼ inch thick.
    • Cut the dough with your favorite cookie cutters.
    • Place cut cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
    • Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are light-colored.

    Make the Royal Icing

    • In a mixing bowl, combine the first 3 ingredients and mix on medium speed for 5 minutes.
    • If desired, add food coloring to achieve the desired color while the icing is mixing.
    • For flooding, add water a little at a time until you achieve the consistency of heavy cream.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 213kcalCarbohydrates: 34gProtein: 2gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 53mgPotassium: 19mgFiber: 1gSugar: 24gVitamin A: 246IUCalcium: 5mgIron: 1mg

    Nutritional information provided for this recipe is based on 1 serving. This information is an estimate and may vary based on several factors. If nutritional information is important to you and your diet, please verify this recipe with a Registered Dietitian.

    Tried this Recipe?Leave a Comment below and share a picture on Instagram and tag @hot_rods_recipes and hashtag #hotrodsrecipes!

    More Cookie Recipes

    • Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
    • Old Fashioned Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
    • Chewy Chocolate Ginger Molasses Cookies
    • Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
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    Reader Interactions

    1 Comment

    1. Brandi

      October 20, 2019 at 11:01 am

      These are really good! You’re right, practicing with the frosting definitely helps.

      Reply

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