Even if you aren't vegan, you'll love this Easy Vegan Royal Icing Recipe. It would be perfect for all of your Christmas cookies.
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Traditional royal icing recipes use raw egg whites. My nephew has a severe egg allergy, so we are always very careful about what ingredients we use in recipes during the holiday season.
Different vegan icing recipes call for a can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans or aquafaba. Other icing recipes use meringue powder for an egg white substitute. However, I love this vegan royal icing recipe that uses just 4 simple ingredients I already have in my pantry.
💭 Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some questions (and answers!) readers often ask about this simple vegan royal icing recipe.
Traditional royal icing is made of powdered sugar, eggs whites, and flavoring. Coloring the icing is optional.
Most icing is soft and creamy, but royal icing dries hard which makes it perfect for decorating.
Vegan royal icing lasts about 1 week in the refrigerator.
🧂 Ingredients
- powdered sugar
- light corn syrup or agave nectar
- water or plant-based milk
- vanilla extract or almond extract
This is meant to be a brief overview of our easy royal icing recipe. For step-by-step instructions and a full printable recipe card with ingredients, please scroll down to the teal box below or Jump to Recipe.
🔪Instructions
- Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. (You can also use a hand mixer for this recipe).
- Next, add the water, corn syrup, and extract. Mix until it forms a smooth paste.
- Add a few extra drops of water until the icing becomes the right consistency you need for piping and decorating.
Equipment
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- Stand Mixer OR hand-held electric mixer
- Measuring Spoons and Dry Measuring Cups
- piping bag / pastry bag or icing bottles
- other piping / decorating tools (optional)
⭐ Tips
✔️Your first step should always be to sift the powdered sugar before mixing to remove any clumps. This will help create smooth icing.
✔️If you are using almond extract, be sure to use only ¼ teaspoon - a little bit goes a long way when it comes to almond extract!
✔️The consistency of the icing depends on how much liquid you add. For thinner icing, add more liquid.
✔️As with regular royal icing, you can use food coloring to mix up your icing. I love this set of gel food coloring because it doesn't add liquid so it doesn't change the desired consistency you worked so hard to achieve! However, double-check that you are using vegan food coloring if you have egg allergies.
📖 Variations
We recommend that you try our eggless royal icing recipe for the first time just as it is written for the best results, because that is how the recipe has been tested.
However, the next time you make it, you might consider one of these different ways of making this great recipe.
- Use fresh lemon juice in place of the water or plant-based milk, and lemon zest instead of any extract. You can also do this with an orange.
🍴 Serving Suggestions
This easy recipe for royal icing is so versatile because depending on different consistencies, you can use it so many different ways!
Icing with a thick consistency is great for gingerbread houses and other 'construction' when you need two cookies to stick together.
Flood consistency is great for icing large areas of cookies, while a slightly stiffer texture is great for intricate details.
Then, when you add in different colors too, the sky is the limit!
😋 Similar Recipes
Next time, try one of these tasty recipes:
- Best Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe - this recipe is classic and delicious.
- Chocolate Toffee Chip Frosting - the perfect frosting for chocolate cupcakes!
- Perfect Buttercream Frosting - if you're new to homemade frosting, start here.
- Strawberry Mascarpone Frosting - rich, decadent and easy to make!
📋 Vegan Royal Icing
Not ready to make our easy eggless royal icing recipe yet? Don’t forget to pin the recipe for later! When you do make it, please be sure to tag me on Instagram @jugglingactmama or #jugglingactmama – I’d love to see your pictures! And finally, if you get a chance, please comment and leave me a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below!
Vegan Royal Icing
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Equipment
- OR
- piping bag / pastry bag or icing bottles
Ingredients
- 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup or agave nectar
- 2 tablespoons water or plant-based milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract OR ¼ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. (You can also use a hand mixer for this recipe).
- Next, add the water, corn syrup, and extract. Mix at a low speed until it forms a smooth paste.
- Add a few extra drops of water until the icing becomes the right thickness you need for piping and decorating.
For best results, be sure to check our Tips and FAQs above with important tips and questions that can help your delicious recipe come out perfectly.
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Maria says
hi we don't have corn syrup in my country what else can I use.
Ang Paris says
Hi Maria, I haven't tried it before so I can't say for sure if it would work but you could try agave nectar or pure maple syrup.
The other thing you could do is use 1 cup granulated sugar with 1/4 cup of warm water, but again, I haven't tested that in this recipe.
Good luck! I'd love to know how it works out.