Favorite Cookie Icing

Royal usually isn't good because some recipes leave out the flavorings. It is good if you add some of your favorite extracts. Toba's Glace is very good also...just a different consistancy. I am a royal icing fan. Most cookie icings are very similar...it's all about the extracts you use. IMHO.

I, too, am a RI fan and i also add various different extracts for different flavors.
Many here use glace` but for me it's difficult to get the right consistency and it also takes a longer time to dry.

On another note.....no cookie icing has every been finger licking good. But combined with extracts and the cookie...the end result should be YUM.

I love Antonia74's royal icing recipe. It's fine on it's own, but you can easily add any flavored extract you want (I've tried lemon, almond, vanilla, peppermint, maple, caramel, chocolate, raspberry, etc.).

It dries hard enough to stack after 12-24 hours, but on the cookie it is NOT rock hard. It's not a "break your teeth on it" RI that I think of when I think of Royal icing used for gingerbread houses....

Another CCer shared this recipe a while back, and I love it!! It dries hard enough that you can stack the cookies, but stays soft underneath so that the cookie's pleasant to bite into. It tastes great, too!

Mix 3 cups sifted powdered sugar, 3 Tbsp. milk and 3 Tbsp. light corn syrup. Add 15 drops of Brite White, then whatever color you want the icing to be. This is just about the right consistency for outlining the cookies, then add a little more corn syrup for flooding consistency.

Antonia's Icing on here is a fantastic recipe. It's all I use.

I do add extracts to it also.

If you make it right it is not hard at all and has such a nice texture combined with NFSC. You get icing with every bite!

I also use Antonia's Icing, I add vanilla and almond extracts, I love it and so does my family

Michele Fosters fondant - love it, tastes good, easy to make, easy to use.

There are several good recipes, and everyone likes them for different reasons, I am all about it looking good, but it has to taste good too, so my favorite is a variation of Toba Garret's Glace icing. I use it almost exclusively. I do like Antonia's modified Royal icing if I'm going to use royal though. Then there's rolled BC , I've only tried it once and I had problems with the recipe I used being greasy, I will have to try a different recipe, because using rolled BC is a wonderful way to decorate large quantities in a somewhat timely manner

Toba's Glace:

1lb 10X Confectioners Sugar (sifted) Sifted after measurement!
3 oz . milk (warmed)
3 oz light corn syrup (with vanilla flavor added if you can find it)
* 20 drops white food coloring (Americolor Brite White or Wilton White White)

In a mixing bowl, thoroughly mix the powdered sugar and the milk first.
The icing should be very soft and have a heavy-cream texture before you add the corn syrup.
Add the corn syrup all at once and mix just until combined.
Mix in the white food coloring.
Divide into several bowls/cups
Color each as desired
Cover with plastic wrap to prevent drying and let rest, your colors will deepen with time and this allows a lot of air bubbles to escape ( I usually mix up my icing first, then it has plenty of time to rest while I get the cookies made)

*20 drops is just a general number I find works, a little more or less and you shouldnt have a problem. The added white keeps the icing from developing spots or a cloudy appearance when dry.

Outline Glace:
**If you need a thicker consistency for outline,
4 oz Glace icing
6-8 Tbsp 10X Confectioners Sugar
Mix until combined, the icing should be pretty stiff, if its not stiff enough, add additional PS until you have a medium stiff consistency.
Also if you need it a little thinner add CS a tiny bit at a time.


With Glace I only use bottles to outline and flood. Best of luck! Andrea

I love and only use Antonia74's RI. Her MP has vanilla in it, whereas ours in the U.S. does not. Therefore, I add all-natural flavorings that I found - Lime, Orange, Cherry, Lemon, Coconut, Clear Vanilla ( Whoo Hoo! An all-natural clear vanilla!.. excuse the enthusiasm) and Pumpkin Pie Spice that I just paired with a Spice Cookie for Thanksgiving. More flavors to try, but I get rave reviews and I really love the workabiltiy of Antonia's recipe. I do mix mine to creamy and thick, not fluffy, but that (other than the flavorings) is the only change I make to it.

I also use and love Antonia's recipe. It is just amazing!!

Tracy - your spice cookies sound awesome with the pumpkin pie spice flavor.