I seem to have the right consistency (like honey on a hot day), and it dries to a nice matte finish.  But every one of my cookies have this wavy-like finish to them...it's driving me nuts and i cannot seem to find anyone that has fallen into my similar situation on the web.  Maybe it's recipe? maybe it's vanilla extract? Maybe the cookie (baked and refrigerated for a day or two)? Help please...

i'm gonna guess that the icing is too wet and needs to be beaten more so it holds up or use less liquid or both

but imo it's not the cookie, not the vanilla--unless you're putting in the vanilla after it's beaten

idk --honey on a hot day is kinda loose...i'd tighten it up a tad maybe idk maybe that's perfect if it's beaten enough--i don't think it should be that pourable--but i'm not really a cookie guru so just some thoughts on the subject

if i used 'honey on a hot day' thickness i'd use a very small tip so i would have a very thin layer --

Hi, I'm really new to the forums, but I had the same problem with my icing. I use a toothpick to evenly distribute the icing after I flood the cookie and then shake the cookie so the icing settles better. Royal icing is sometimes a pain in the butt. I live in Ohio so its really humid here lately and sometimes that will affect how my icing dries. I don't know if it helps, but give it a try!

thank you!  I think Im gonna try a different recipe today!  the one i use is the polar opposite from the famous sweet sugar bell....in which it doesn't use real lemon juice....heck, maybe that is my 'sinking' issue!  I'll update with a new pic soon.  

any others have suggestions as to why this may have happened? 

reminder....the icing did dry solid. 

me again -- do you add cream of tartar? that will help hold it up -- you can add it to any recipe won't hurt nothing--but if you are using meringue powder it's already in there--be sure to beat it enough -- 

best to you

Looking at those cookies I'd say your mixture did have too much liquid in - it still dries, but as more of the icing is liquid, more volume evaporates away during drying, so the icing sinks down.  It's happened to me before - the consistency you want shouldn't immediately smooth itself out to a flat surface, but should do so after several seconds.  You want to be using less liquid in your royal icing rather than mixing it more though, as if you overbeat the royal icing you incorporate bubbles into your mixture, which can pop and form craters in your icing.  Can't see any craters in your picture though so I don't think you had a problem with air bubbles in that batch

Hope that helps!

that's true you don't want to ever beat air into it but you want to mix/beat it long enough so the eggs are wound out enough to hold it allup

imo this is the best RI recipe  http://cakecentral.com/a/antonia74-royal-icing

overbeating & too much liquid......agreed.

you guys are gems!! thank you!  I hope I succeed with the next batch! 

AHow do you prevent overbeating when you need to take the perfectly beaten icing and add color and water to thin it?

you keep the speed of the mixer lower-- you can let the mixer run for a long time or at least enough time to stretch out the whites but you don't want it running real fast --once your icing amount increases you know your egg whites are doing their thing and you can stop the mixer and test for whatever thickness you need--i just add water if i need it and stir it in at this point--

ASo for example...once im done mixing on low speed...do i then separate the icing in their individual bowls for coloring and thinning (10/20 sec icing). Or, is it thinned out in the big batch before the coloring???

Thanks~!

A[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3240363/width/200/height/400[/IMG] well the icing is as smooth as can be! Yay! Thanks for everyones tips!! I ended up following the recipe on the back of the chefmasters meringue container.