How to Make Royal Icing with Egg Whites

By using pasteurized eggs, you can safely make royal icing with egg whites for your cookies without using hard-to-find meringue powder.

It seems that every holiday has me making and decorating a batch (or two, or three…) of sugar cookies. And I hate decorating cookies. I think it’s my complete inability to work slowly and patiently with a pastry bag that I end up with lackluster frosted sugar cookies.

But, since the kids don’t mind what they look like and they only care what they taste like, it’s all good.

So it’s rather odd for me to be writing a post about royal icing when I am clearly not worthy of it. But this post is not about how to come up with those fine, perfectly decorated sugar cookies.

This post is about royal icing and the number of ways you can  make it. And please don’t judge me on my mediocre decorating skills and lopsided circles. Okay?

Why you should try this recipe

We decorate a lot of cookies in my house. It is a tradition we do every Christmas, no matter how old the kids get. My daughter and I especially love decorating cookies all year long and try to get better at it with every batch of cookie we ice.

Royal icing is the basic icing you see on many confectionaries from cookies to simple cakes. In its simplest form, it is a whole lot of powdered sugar with a little bit of water. Meringue powder is typically added to give the icing more structure and to harden it once it is dry.

During the holidays, the stores always seem to run out of meringue powder because, well, we are all decorating cookies! The great thing about this recipe, is that you don’t need meringue powder.

You can make royal icing using egg whites.

The key is to use pasteurized egg whites, so you don’t get sick from eating uncooked egg whites. You can find pasteurized eggs as a whole egg or just use the cartons of pasteurized egg whites.

You can flavor this icing with whatever flavors you want. You can also dye this icing recipe and make a rainbow of colors.

Either way, you end up with a terrific and easy egg white royal icing that is perfect for any cookie you decorate, for any holiday.

See my Egg White Royal Icing Web Story for a quick visual guide to making this recipe.

Ingredients you need

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• Pasteurized egg whites: You can use pasteurized whole eggs and separate the egg whites, or you can use those cartons of pasteurized liquid egg whites. I have done both. Remember, the egg whites should be pasteurized to prevent the spread of salmonella poisoning. Remember this is a substitution for meringue powder.
• Cream of tartar: An acid is needed to stabilize the egg whites. This can be done with lemon juice, vinegar or cream of tartar. I prefer cream of tartar as it doesn’t add unwanted flavor to the icing.
• Powdered sugar: Also known as confectioner’s sugar. Do not get it confused with caster or granulated sugar.
• Food coloring: You can leave it plain for white icing or add food coloring to color it whatever color you want. I prefer using Wilton’s concentrated food dyes because very little goes a long way and it doesn’t water down your icing.
• Water: If your icing is too thick, you might need to thin it out with some water. Use very little at a time or it will get too runny.

Step-by-step directions

1. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together cream of tartar and egg whites. Pour this into a large mixing bowl with the powdered sugar.

2. Whisk mixture until smooth and in the consistency you desire. If too watery, add more powdered sugar. If too thick, drizzle in a little water.

3. Add food coloring, if you are using it.

4. Transfer to piping bags or plastic squeeze bottles if you are ready to start decorating or store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Is this only for classic sugar cookies?

Heck no! Although vanilla sugar cookies are always a crowd favorite and the first cookie you think about when it comes to decorating cookies, I use royal icing for lots of different cookies.

I’ve mentioned my cream cheese based sugar cookie recipe. I also have a chocolate roll out cookie recipe that I ice with this egg white royal icing. And of course, my olive oil gingerbread cookies are always screaming to be decorated, too! You can also make decorated shortbread cookies!

You can use this icing to decorate any cookie you want, whether it’s homemade or store bought. It’s perfect for the holidays and any other celebrations you can dream of. It’s even perfect to decorate simple Oreos, like my Raisin Spider Oreos!

If you ever tried piping cookies, you’ve probably battled with the wrong icing consistency. Too runny, and the icing spills down the sides of the cookies. Too stiff and you can barely squeeze it out of the bag. Which is the best icing for piping? Well, it depend.

Horrible answer, right? For outlining and fine details, a stiffer royal icing is best. This means less water and more powdered sugar. To fill in a big open space on a cookie, it is best to outline it and flood it with a runnier icing – one with more water.

This particular egg white royal icing recipes makes a medium consistency icing. You can outline it, but it isn’t super stiff so might run down the sides if you pipe to close to the edges. Feel free to add more water or powdered sugar to the recipe to get the desired consistencies you are looking for.

Sweetopia has written a fabulous post where you can learn more about the different icing consistencies whether your a novice baker or a seasoned cookie designer.

Recipe tips and FAQs

When it comes to adding the flavor to your icing, the options are endless! You can easily replace the water in icing with juices like lemon, orange, apple, cranberry – any of these add color and flavor to your icing. Remember a little liquid goes a long way in making royal icing.

But, juices only go so far in flavor. Other flavor options are oils and extracts, and the choices here are endless too. I have used rosewater in my royal icing for a floral component.

You can also use crushed dried rose petals (yes you can eat rose petals) or use grated zest from lemons, limes, oranges or grapefruit for extra flavor.

You can use this egg white icing the same way you would regular icing and pipe complicated designs with it using any variety of piping tips. I am not very talented with the piping bag, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be!

The key to piping success is controlling the icing. Thicker icing is needed for the outline, which means you add less liquid to the mix. To fill up the cookie and flood it with icing, you want a more fluid icing.

Here’s a great tutorial from a real from Sweet Ambs, a super talented baker, that tells you the differences in royal icing consistencies. She has beautiful tutorials and videos of her icing creations.

PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback.

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