Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe for Decorating
This sugar cookie icing dries soft enough to bite but firm enough to stack. It's made from pantry staples in about 5 minutes. I've made it (literally!) hundreds of times, and it turns out perfect every single time.
The short story: this sugar cookie icing is a simple glaze of powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup, and extract whisked until smooth. This one dries in 2 to 3 hours to a finish that's soft to bite but firm enough to stack. For a corn syrup-free version, swap in honey. It works, but the icing stays stickier, so those cookies won't stack as well.
featured review
"This is absolutely the best sugar cookie icing recipe! I have used this recipe over and over to decorate cookies with fabulous results every time. Delicious and easy!"
- CAROLE -
This is the perfect icing recipe for decorating my cut out cookie recipe. It's creamy, sweet, and packed full of flavor, plus it ends up drying solid enough to pack the cookies in a tin but still soft enough to bite into. And it shines so bright and glossy in the light. It makes for some obnoxiously pretty cookies!
The best part of all? It takes just a couple minutes to whip up using ingredients you already probably have in your pantry. Let's make some frosting!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
This easy, peasy sugar cookie frosting recipe is going to be your go-to for every holiday!
I think the icing can make or break a good cut-out sugar cookie. Too hard and it feels like you're going to break a tooth. Too runny and it's a mess to eat. This recipe is right in between- it's the magical unicorn of sugar cookie icings!
Here's why you'll love this recipe:
- It comes together in minutes using ingredients you already have around. No fuss here! This icing comes together in a flash in a single bowl.
- It's dries hard enough to stack but still soft enough to enjoy. It's the magical unicorn of sugar cookie icings! Soft enough to be tender when you bite into it, but solid enough to make these cookies stackable.
- The flavor is up to you! For classic vanilla sugar cookies, stick to vanilla extract. But peppermint, coconut, and almond are all amazing options as well.
- Super duper extra pretty. Want shiny, smooth, and absolutely perfect looking sugar cookies? This icing will give them to you every time.
Step-by-Step how to MAKE SUGAR COOKIE ICING
1
Combine ingredients in bowl
Mix together powdered sugar (aka confectioner's sugar), milk, corn syrup or honey, and the extract of your choice until smooth. I really like almond extract, but you can flavor it however you like! Start with two tablespoons of milk and add more until the icing is thick enough to stay on top of the cookie but thin enough to settle and dry with a smooth, bump-free top.
A tip on the corn syrup-free icing: I've made it with honey tons of times, and it's delicious and beautiful, but it stays stickier than the corn syrup version, so save it for cookies you won't be stacking.
2
Add in food coloring
If using food coloring, whisk it into the icing until well-distributed. I recommend using gel food coloring if available. It gives you the boldest colors and doesn't water down the icing. But, be warned, it does stain like the dickens! If kids are helping, liquid food coloring may be the safer bet. If you want more than one color, divide the batch into smaller bowls before you add any.
3
Decorate your sugar cookies
Squeeze, spread, or dip the icing onto your fully cooled rolled sugar cookies. Wait until they're completely cool, because warm cookies make the icing run everywhere.
When kids are helping, a squeeze bottle is the way to go. When it's just me, I usually spread it with a popsicle stick. You can also dip the cookies if you thin the icing a little, just do it over parchment paper because it gets messy. If you'd like to use sprinkles, add them before the icing dries.
4
Let the icing dry
The icing will harden to a soft but stackable glaze within 2 to 3 hours of sitting out at room temperature. Once it's set, stack the cookies between layers of parchment paper in an airtight container and keep them on the counter for up to a week. Skip the freezer once they're iced. I've tried it, and this icing cracks and loses its shine. It's still tasty, just not pretty.
SuGar Cookie Icing protips
WATCH Me Make Iced Sugar cookies
📖 Recipe
Easy Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-4 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup or honey see notes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla, almond, peppermint, or coconut extract
- Food coloring
Instructions
- Mix the icing. Whisk together the powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, corn syrup or honey, and extract until smooth. Add more milk until the icing reaches the consistency you want. For piping and spreading, you want it thicker. For dipping, make it a little thinner.
- Color the icing. If using food coloring, whisk it in until well distributed. For more than one color, divide the icing into smaller bowls first.
- Decorate the cookies. Pipe, spread, or dip the icing onto completely cooled cookies. If you'd like sprinkles, add them before the icing dries.
- Let the icing dry. Let the cookies sit at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours, until the icing is set.
Video
Notes
- Using corn syrup in the cookie icing recipe will result in an icing that dries soft, but stackable. Using honey will result in a softer icing that should not be stacked because it stays sticky.
- Let the cookies cool completely before icing, or the icing will run.
- For dipping, make the icing thinner. For piping, thicker, since it loosens as it warms in your hand. For a squeeze bottle, just thin enough to flow through the tip without running freely. For spreading, quite thick.
- Gel food coloring gives bolder color and doesn't thin out the icing.
- The icing hardens in about 2 to 3 hours at room temperature.
- This icing doesn't keep well, since it's made to harden. Mix it when you're ready to decorate or keep it in an airtight container.
- Store iced cookies between layers of parchment paper in an airtight container on the counter for up to a week.
- Don't freeze the iced cookies. The icing cracks and loses its shine.
- Non-dairy milk works just fine in this recipe.
- Looking for a sugar cookie recipe to use this icing on? This cut-out cookie recipe is our go-to, fan-favorite recipe.
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions about FROSTING SUGAR COOKIES
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Just made these with my 2 year old daughter. We had so much fun and they were so easy to make. Thank You so much this recipe is a keeper! I will be making more of these throughout the holidays. Tweak: I l let the dough discs chill overnight to make it easier to roll out. Something I learned: Don't over mix the dough it will get very gooey lol. -found on pinterest
I wish the website would load in a timely manner.. I could not even see the recipe due to so many ads in the page...the page never loaded. I could only see this post comment section. Do you have a pinterest? or facebook?
can you tell me how long it takes for the frosting to dry and does it dry hard enough to use edible markers on?
Thanks 🙂
I'm assuming that frosting recipe is matched to the whole cookie recipe in terms of quantity ... have you had any success with storing the frosting, like in the fridge or freezer? I'm trying to bake off one of the "discs" of dough and frost them and then in the next several days (or even next week) use the other three discs, and it'd be great if the frosting could be saved and parceled out, too.
Also .... baked, frosted, and in tins, how long do these guys stay good for?
You can easily half or even quarter the frosting. It will stay in an airtight container for a day or so, but I wouldn't go any longer than that. The cookies last fine for a week or more.
These were AMAZING! I made a batch with vanilla extract and a batch with almond extract. They were a huge hit at my Christmas party! My favorite and the favorite of the guests were the ones with almond extract. DELICIOUS!!!
We made these over the holidays and they were a hit! Thanks for trumping my grandmother's recipe! 🙂
This is identical to "The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies" Recipe on allrecipes.com, but for the amount of extract (1.5 teaspoons vs. 1.). I've made those cookies and they are incredible. Are your recipes original or adapted from other chefs' recipes?
Hi Erinn! I've been making this sugar cookie recipe long before I had a blog, and quite honestly, I forgot the original source because I just have it jotted down on a slip of paper in my recipe book. Thank you for figuring it out! I'll adapt the recipe to reflect the original source.
And if you poke around, you'll notice the vast majority of my recipes are original creations, and the ones I do adapt from other folks are clearly identified as so. Thanks for reading!
Made a 1/2 batch. These were perfect! This recipe is a keeper.
I’m thinking of making 1/2 recipe. Did you cut all the ingredients exactly in 1/2? Thank you.
I made the dough yesterday and baked and decorated these tonight. I did have to use quite a bit of flour to roll out the dough. It was worth it though. They are delicious and the icing is gorgeous! Thanks!
Just whipped up my dough. Will bake and decorate later. Gonna make gifts for my family. Hoping they turn out as beautiful as yours!
These look amazing! Although, I tried to make them and after 2.5 hours in the fridge by the time I rolled them out and got cookie cutters in them (5 mins MAX!) they were so soft they were unuseable. I had to ball up and roll in sugar as the frosting... Any suggestions?? I'm so confused!
Hmmm! No idea. Could the spot you were rolling been really warm? Like near your oven?
Can the dough be refrigerated and then baked later? I literally just finished baking over 15 dozen cookies and really don't want to bake them tonight.
Sure!
I'm making these tonight with my kids. How long does it take for the icing to dry? I know my kids will want to eat some so I'm trying to see how long they will need to wait. I've never made cookies and icing like this so this is new to me lol
No need to wait! They can dig in while they're still wet. But they'll dry within about an hour. 🙂
We made these tonight and they were PERFECT! Your recipes are awesome, as always!
I can not wait to try out these cookies and the icing. Sugar cookies decorated by kiddos has been a holiday tradition my whole life. As an adult I've been on the search for the perfect recipe...for cookies and glaze...for years...(I switched to glaze a few years back, my mom was horrified at 1st lol. The kids can't pile it on though, so I don't end up with 6" frosted cookies that don't stack, and were sickening to eat!)
Made these yesterday, and they were perfect!! I only wish I'd followed your advice and made a full batch!!
I ALWAYS put almond extract in my frosting for sugar cookies. SOOO good that way! It's nice to see someone else who agrees.
I am insanely picky when it comes to cut-out cookies because they're either too sweet, too dry, or too just blah. These look perfect and I can understand why this is your go-to recipe!
Are you kidding? They are PERFECT. Beautiful. I am in awe. 🙂
I don't think I've ever seen an icing recipe with honey in it! Your cookies look divine--will definatly be making these in the next couple of weeks!
The honey is in place of corn syrup you see in most frosting recipes—helps it stay shiny!
This cookie thing is going to be a problem. 😉
I'm going to make these today! Would you match the icing flavour with the cookie flavour? I was thinking of doing almond, so should I also use almond extract in the icing?
You can do that if you want it to be nice and almond-y, or you can just keep the cookies as vanilla. Vanilla is a nice subtle undertone for the other extracts. 🙂
I wasn't sure if that'd be overkill, so I used almond for dough, vanilla for icing. So this doesn't answer your question and I'm sorry. But at least I know that using that combo was great.
AGGGGGGHHHHHHH Why do people leave comments about a recipe that they have not tried yet. It is not helpful. Please try it first then comment.