Royal Icing from Cookie Master Kelli Eldred

Take your cookie decorating to the next level with this amazing royal icing recipe! 

Who doesn't love making cookies? Especially sugar cookies. There's just something so wholesome about spending the day baking, rolling, and decorating cookies. I recently spent the day with my friend, Kelli Eldred. The girl's got some serious cookie decorating skills and she stopped by to share some of her cookie decorating tips and tricks with me. According to Kelli, one of the most important tricks is to have a great royal icing recipe. You can use a thicker icing to outline the cookie, and a thinner icing to "flood" (or fill in) the cookie. This recipe yields a very thick icing. Just use a little water to thin it to your desired consistency. This particular royal icing recipe is Kelli's favorite and I think there's a good chance that you'll love it, too.

There's one thing we still haven't mentioned - the cookies. You can either go with a traditional gluten-free sugar cookie recipe or with gingerbread cookies. Both roll and cut out beautifully and will provide the perfect base for your creations.

I can't wait to see your creations! Tag me @gfreefoodie to share your masterpieces! Follow Kelli on Instagram to see more of her cookies @kookiesbykellieldred

Kelli's favorite meringue powder is this one, and she always uses gel food coloring so it doesn't thin the icing.

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Royal Icing

Royal Icing will take your gluten-free sugar cookies to the next level.

Prep Time10 mins

Total Time10 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cookies, frosting, royal icing

Calories: 163kcal

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup meringue powder
• ½ cup warm water
• 2 teaspoon gluten free vanilla
• 2 lb powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Instructions

• Combine meringue powder, warm water and vanilla into a mixing bowl.
• Using your mixer's paddle attachment, slowly add powdered sugar.
• Add corn syrup, then continue to mix for three minutes on high. Your icing will start to turn white and have a fluffy look. DO NOT overmix.
• This will produce a very stiff icing. To thin, slowly add small amount of water until your icing reaches the desired consistency.

Notes

- for "Flooding Consistency" icing, slowly add water until the icing will move slightly and easily spread with a scribe tool or toothpick.

 

 - if you'd prefer a corn-free option, you can use golden syrup (available online and at specialty stores) and organic powdered sugar that is stabilized with tapioca scratch instead of cornstarch. If you make this change, start with ⅓ cup of water instead of ½ cup.

Nutrition

Calories: 163kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 44mg | Potassium: 37mg | Sugar: 38g | Calcium: 2mg | Iron: 1mg

Cookies by Kelli Eldred, Photos by James Collier