Our homemade Sugar Cookie Icing hardens to a smooth, firm, and glossy finish, making decorating a breeze—even for beginners! Just follow my simple steps below for a perfect recipe, whether you’re preparing for a holiday party or a fun family bake-off. With this icing, your cookies will truly shine.
Homemade Sugar Cookie Icing That Hardens
Our easy Sugar Cookie Icing recipe is a great way to give your cookies a colorful upgrade! It’s sweet and firm but still soft enough to bite into.
When it comes to icing sugar cookies, you need to make sure it has the right consistency, is easy to work with, tastes delicious and dries into a hard shell that you can stack without them smudging or sticking together. Guess what? This sugar cookie frosting has got it all!
While I love royal icing for decorating cookies with detailed, intricate designs, sometimes I want something a little less fussy, with a smooth, simple finish. This sugar cookie frosting that hardens is perfect for piping and flooding – spread it on my Fourth of July sugar cookies, color it for holidays for your Christmas cookies, or use it as a kids’ craft for your favorite Christmas cut out sugar cookie recipe.
Sugar Cookie Icing Ingredients
- Powdered sugar: Also known as confectioners’ sugar and icing sugar. Open up a new bag so you know it is fresh with no lumps. Do not use granulated white sugar.
- Light corn syrup: The corn syrup helps the icing set up a little faster and gives it that beautiful shine.
- Clear vanilla flavoring: I recommend using a clear vanilla extract to create a pure white icing. If you’re not concerned about it or are coloring the icing, feel free to use pure vanilla extract instead. You can also substitute any other flavor you like. We love peppermint, orange and lemon extracts.
- Almond extract: I love almond extract. This just adds a touch of richness to the flavoring. You can use all vanilla if you prefer.
- Milk: Milk is used to thin the icing. I recommend whole milk or 2%
- Gel food coloring (optional): It is very important only to use gel food color, as liquid food coloring will dilute the icing and will not set properly. Pick your favorite colors for different colors of icing and use as much or as little to get your desired color.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Sugar Cookie Icing
- Make The Icing Mixture: Stir together the powdered sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, almond extract, and milk until no lumps are visible (I like to use a whisk).
- Color: Divide the icing between 4 bowls (or however many colors you want to make) and add drops of food coloring to each.
- Decorate Your Desserts: Pipe the icing onto the cooled cookies and allow them to sit for 12 – 24 hours to set and harden fully.
How to Fill Piping Bags for Iced Sugar Cookies
To avoid making a mess and having air bubbles in your piping bag, place the empty piping bag, tip side down, into an empty water glass. Then, fold the edges of the bag over the top of the glass. The wide opening makes it easy to fill your piping bag.
Push the frosting into the bag with a spatula until it is 2/3 full, and twist the top to close up. The pressure should push out any air bubbles in your piping bag and ensure all of your frosting is neat and tidy in the bag.
How to Decorate Sugar Cookies
When it’s time to decorate, I find it best to outline the border of each cookie with icing, then “flood” the inside area of the cookie with more icing. Use a toothpick to push the icing around so the cookie’s surface is entirely covered. If you spot any small bubbles, use the toothpick to pop them.
Is Royal Icing the Same as Sugar Cookie Icing?
While they are similar, royal icing has meringue powder or egg whites in it, which will make it set harder than sugar cookie icing. I find that sugar cookie icing is way easier to make.
Serving Suggestions
There are so many ways to ice sugar cookies and create custom cookies to fit your theme or occasion. Have fun using contrasting colors to make stripes, polka dots, pretty patterns, and playful swirls.
Serve With A Sip: Iced sugar cookies pair perfectly with hot cocoa, tea, or coffee.
Set Up A Cookie Decorating Station: Serve sugar cookies as a fun, edible activity where guests can decorate cookies as they like. Provide various colored icings, sprinkles, and other toppings and then eat them for dessert.
Prepare As Party Favors: Pack decorated sugar cookies in cellophane bags with a ribbon. They make charming personalized party favors for events like birthdays, weddings, or showers.
Tips & Variations
- Leave the Lumps: If your powdered sugar has any lumps, sift it first.
- Getting the Perfect Consistency: Do not overbeat when mixing your frosting. This will incorporate too much air, and your texture will not be right. Also, if you find that your frosting is too thick, add a touch more milk until you get the right consistency.
- Make More: This icing recipe can very easily be doubled.
- Cool Your Cookies: Make sure your cookies are completely cooled before you decorate them.
- Pick Your Piping Tool: Instead of the piping bags, you can use squeeze bottles or quart-size Ziploc bags with the end cut off.
- Customize Your Colors: Customize your homemade icing with whatever food coloring matches the holiday, season, or occasion.
- Decorate Your Dessert: For extra colorful cookies, feel free to add sprinkles, sanding sugar, or candy pieces. Just make sure to add them immediately after you frost your cookies. The sugar cookie icing dries quickly!
Proper Storage
Any leftover icing can be stored in an airtight container or individual bags in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Before using, allow the icing to come to room temperature.
How To Make Sugar Cookie Icing In Advance
You can easily make this icing ahead of time and ice your cookies later. Prepare as directed, then store in the fridge in an airtight container. Let it come to room temperature before decorating. If it has thickened too much, you may also need to add a little more milk and corn syrup.
How To store iced sugar cookies
Fully dried iced sugar cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. If stacking them, it’s best to put sheets of parchment paper between the layers.
How To Freeze Iced Sugar Cookies
Iced cookies can be frozen! Make sure the icing has fully dried before placing your finished sugar cookies in an airtight container or freezer bag. Freeze for up to three months.
Our Favorite Cookie Recipes
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Sugar Cookie Icing That Hardens
Video
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon clear vanilla flavoring
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- Gel food color (optional)
Instructions
- Using a medium size mixing bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, corn syrup, clear vanilla, almond extract and milk. Stir until no lumps are visible.2¼ cups powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, ½ teaspoon clear vanilla flavoring, ½ teaspoon almond extract, 2-3 tablespoons milk
- Evenly divide the icing between 4 small bowls. Add 3 – 5 drops of the desired gel food color to the icing.Gel food color (optional)
- When you are ready to decorate your cookies, pour the icing into individual quart size ziploc bags or piping bags. Allow the iced cookies to sit for 12 – 24 hours to fully set and harden.
Jenn’s Notes
- This icing recipe can very easily be doubled.
- It is very important to only use gel food color for the icing because it does not add extra liquid to the icing (even a small amount of extra liquid can change the consistency).
- If adding sprinkles to your cookies, make sure to add them immediately after you frost your cookies. The sugar cookie icing dries quickly!
could I use something else in place of the milk, to make it shelf stable for cottage food laws?
could this be made with just vanilla extract? i worry about nut allergies with the almond extract.
I haven’t tried that, but I cannot see why it would make a difference. The almond extract just adds a nice richness.
The recipe does not tell how and when to incorporate raw Jello for the collors
Hi Babs – there actually isn’t any Jello in this recipe. We use gel food coloring.