Small Batch Royal Icing
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My very favorite Gingerbread House Icing – the perfect small batch Royal Icing recipe for decorating cookies or holding gingerbread houses together!
Use this small batch royal icing to hold together your gingerbread house. We used this recipe when we made our Rainbow Sprinkle Gingerbread House.
You can frost our Best Sugar Cookie Recipe EVER with royal icing or use our Christmas Cookie Frosting which is more like buttercream.
I call this recipe “Small Batch Royal Icing” because I often do not have use for a ton of Royal Icing so I make just enough to fill 2 large Wilton decorating bottles.
Small Batch Royal Icing Recipe
This icing dries very stiff and can be used for gingerbread houses and decorated cookies.
Ingredients
- 2 Cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons meringue powder
- 1/4 Cup warm water, plus more for thinning to flood consistency
- 1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla or almond extract
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer combine powdered sugar and meringue powder.
- Add the water and extract slowly. Beat at medium-high speed until stiff peaks form (about 5-7 minutes).
Did you make this recipe?Tag @katrinaskitchen on Instagram with the hashtag #katrinaskitchenrecipes
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42 Comments on “Small Batch Royal Icing”
It works really well for cookies, and I’ve used it a lot.
My son’s kindergarten teacher gave me this recipe to make for their class gingerbread house. He is in college now and I still come back to this recipe every year.!
This is my GO TO recipe ❤️
it was amazing
it was good
I have used this many times on cookies and it’s great.
This recipe was amazing! I used it for my first attempt flooding sugar cookies and it was perfection. I tried it with vanilla extract but cant wait to try with lemon or almond. Thank you!
Thanks for a small batch version with meringue powder.
I tried this today. It didn’t work at all. I finally threw it away and found a different recipe.
Thanks so much!
Can I use egg whites in lieu of merengue powder?
Yes, that would be fine!
Left a reply few minutes ago, about meringue powder shortening can I use that was a mistake, what can I use instead of meringue powder?
You will be using egg whites. When I use egg white in meringue I buy pasteurized eggs.
can I replace meringue powder and shortening for something else in the the frosting?
I don’t know what I’m doing wrong but apparently nothing because I followed the recipe exactly…consistency was perfect but it tastes horrible. Maybe I just don’t eat enough sweets because this was over the top sweet. Although I don’t know what I expected being that it’s almost entirely sugar. I’m sure it’s a wonderful result for those who are used to it.
It’s missing g butter or shortening ?
Hi. Can I just make my own meringue with egg whites in place of the meringue powder? How many egg whites would you estimate to make enough for this recipe? Also how much sugar would sweeten the meringue just enough to not over power the rest of the icing? Sorry so many questions. This will be my very first time attempting to make a homemade icing on my own.
How far in advance could you make this and how should I store it? I’m have a decorating party for the family kids on Christmas eve. Could I make that morning and store in the unopen decorating bottles?
Yes- keep it covered though (closed decorating bottle). I make mine days in advance actually.
Where can you buy maringue powder?
Thanks so much for your small batch icing recipe! I wondered if you had an opinion on pourable icing made with Karo syrup? It dries shiney & quite pretty, but is really hard to work with for finer detailing ….
On the royal icing, what type of colorant do you like to use?
Thanks again,
What could you use instead of mirangue powder could you just use a white of an egg
Thank you!
I actually halved this recipe because I needed a very small amount of icing, and it worked great. I got just enough icing to fill my piping bag, which was still more than enough …
I can’t believe how easy this recipe is to follow, and how “not scary” royal icing is if you thin it slowly and take it slow when decorating. I kept it thick and piped this time, but next I’ll try flooding. And I’ll do small batch 🙂
@Toni @Katrina – My icing is still soft after drying overnight (from 5 pm to 9 am). I’m going to leave it to dry for the rest of the day and see. I’m wondering if it is the humidity that is not allowing it to dry fully? It’s been unseasonably warm here in Toronto.
If you do not use it all will it keep for later use?
If you do not use all of it will it keep for later use?
Hello – My daughter and I tried this small batch icing recipe EXACTLY as written, but the icing never harden. It tastied great but I couldn’t try decorating any further than my bottom layer because it was still soft to the touch. Can you tell me what might have happend, or what I should look out for the next time I try it? Any helpful tidbits would be appreciated. Thanks 🙂
Hi Toni. I would love to troubleshoot on this with you. I have made this recipe many many times and it hardens enough to use as gingerbread house “glue” and for cookie to be stacked, shipped, etc. Can you tell me how long you waited? Any Royal Icing recipe typically takes overnight (24 hours) to harden completely.
This icing is really yummy! And, it really makes decorating feel so on-the-fly do-able when you can just make a small, very easy batch! Thank you so much for this recipe!!!
So glad you liked it! Thanks for stopping by.
What a great idea to make a small batch. I’ve never made/used royal icing before so I’m excited to try this!
I have never seen Meringue powder here where I live in South Africa, is there a substitute for that? Thank you 🙂
I’m sorry Nicolize I’m not familiar with a substitute available to you. You could possibly look for a recipe using egg whites?
It is so funny I found this post because I literally have 6 sugar cookies sitting in a ziploc waiting to be decorated because everytime I think about making royal icing to decorate them I think *ugh I don't need that much*. Such a great tip, and the reason it's great is I'm saying "Why didn't I think of that". 🙂
It's funny but I've always wanted to learn to make royal icing because I think frosted cookies like this are wonderful and remind me somehow of my childhood. Yours are perfect! Thanks for sharing the recipe and tips. I love making cut-out cookies but they are always naked.
Those are fantastic!
hi you were the only one that posted a recipe for a small amount of royal icing!! thanks this is terrific
I never make royal icing but this recipe sounds incredible! Should definitely give it a try. 🙂
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Hi Katrina! My goodness, now you have me wanting to decorate cookies today (instead of cupcakes!) I love royal icing, but like you, I often make too large of a batch. Thank you for sharing with me. And thank you for the kind words on my blog! I'm glad we found each other in this blog world!
I haven't worked with royal icing in so long! I need to get back into it.
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I always make way too much too even after cutting regular recipes down. This is great. I've also never thought to really flavor it outside of with a tough of clear vanilla.
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Thanks for the recipe. I have always wondered what recipe people use for RI. I haven't made it in years, it scares me for some unknown reason.