The Best Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe for Decorating

Updated: August 22, 2025 / By: Cassie Johnston / This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy

Closeup view of a cut out sugar cookie shaped like a christmas tree topped with green icing and sprinkles.

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featured review

Five yellow stars in a row

"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!

In this post:

Cookies shaped like evergreen trees sit next to a bowl of green frosting. One cookie has some green icing on it already.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Cassie Johnston (a light skinned brunette woman with glasses and a red streak in her hair) smiles toward the camera with a wall of photo frames behind her

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.

featured review

Five yellow stars in a row

"The only sugar cookie frosting I will ever use from now on! Perfect taste, perfect texture. Easily stackable and tastes great. 

- DEV -

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.

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.

3

Decorate your sugar cookies

Squeeze, spread, or dip the icing onto your fully cooled rolled sugar cookies. My favorite method is to use a squeeze bottle-perfect for kids and adults alike. If you'd like to use sprinkles, add them before the icing dries.

4

Let the icing dry

The icing will harden to soft, but stackable glaze within 2-3 hours of sitting out at room temperature.

SuGar Cookie Icing protips

  • Let the cookies cool completely before icing. If not, the icing will run everywhere. 
  • Thicker icing is easier to work with. Start with thicker icing at first, and then thin it out if needed.
  • Squeeze bottles are the easiest way to decorate with the whole family. Make a few bottles of a few different colors and go to town!
  • Go corn-syrup free! For sugar cookie icing without corn syrup, replace the corn syrup with honey. The decorated cookies will not be stackable, but the iced cookies will be delicious and corn syrup-free!
  • Change the color: No matter if you're making Halloween sugar cookies, Easter sugar cookies, Valentine's Day sugar cookies, or Christmas sugar cookies, you can make the perfect icing!

featured review

Five yellow stars in a row

"Wish I found this recipe earlier in my life-it's awesome! Thank you for helping make my cookies look professional without being a professional!"

- CHRISTY -

WATCH Me Make Iced Sugar cookies

📖 Recipe

Decorated Christmas tree sugar cookies with green frosting and sprinkles rest on a white background.

Easy Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe

This is the best icing recipe for decorating sugar cookies. It's easy to make, and dries into a nice and smooth finish. Plus, there's an option without corn syrup!
(This is our favorite cut out cookie recipe!)
4.46 from 861 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Desserts
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Additional Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 18 minutes
Servings: 72 cookies' worth
Calories: 14kcal
Author: Cassie Johnston

Equipment

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

  • Combine powdered sugar, two tablespoons milk, corn syrup or honey, and vanilla extract, adding more milk until icing reaches desired consistency. For piping and spreading, you're looking for a thicker icing. For dipping cookies, you'll want something a little bit thinner.
  • Pipe, spread, or dip onto baked cookies. If you'd like to use sprinkles, apply them before the icing dries.

Video

Youtube 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.
  • Make sure the cookies are completely cooled before frosting.
  • Looking for a sugar cookie recipe to use this icing on? This cut-out cookie recipe is our go-to, fan-favorite recipe.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 14kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 0.01g | Fat: 0.01g | Saturated Fat: 0.01g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.003g | Cholesterol: 0.1mg | Sodium: 0.4mg | Potassium: 1mg | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 0.002mg
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Frequently Asked Questions about FROSTING SUGAR COOKIES

Our cut out sugar cookie recipe has tons of 5-star reviews for a reason! The cookies keep their shape in the oven and have a delicious rich, buttery flavor. It's a keeper!

There are really three kinds of sugar cookie icing you'll see out there in the baking world. All three have their benefits:

  • Royal icing: This is the hard icing that you see people using to make intricate decorations on cookies (or gingerbread houses). While this icing makes for beautiful cookies, I honestly find the flavor to be...not great. So I tend to not use royal icing for my Christmas cookies (or cookies for any occasion, really).
  • Buttercream frosting: You'll see this kind of fluffy, thick, buttery frosting more frequently on soft-baked Lofthouse style sugar cookies. It's delicious on these cookies, but it does tend to be tricky to stack on a cookie tray or pack in a gift tin.
  • Powdered sugar glaze: The sugar cookie icing we're showing here and the one I use most frequently is a simple powdered sugar glaze. The resulting iced sugar cookies dry solid enough to stack on a cookie tray, but soft enough to bite into without chipping a tooth (I'm looking at you, royal icing). It's easy to color, easy to flavor, and easy to work with.  This sugar cookie icing will harden in 2-3 hours at room temperature (or even faster if you chill the cookies). 

The right consistency is the icing that is easy to work with for you, depending on your icing method. It might take a bit of trial and error, but once you get the exact right tablespoons of milk, you'll always know it for future cookie batches. You can always add more milk to make it thinner or more powdered sugar to thicken it back up.

Here are some tips depending on your icing method:

  • If you are dipping the cookies: You'll want a thinner icing that easily coats the cookies.
  • If you're piping the icing on: Piping bags tend to warm up in your hand pretty quickly, so we recommend erring on the side of thicker icing-knowing it'll thin out as it warms.
  • If you're using a squeeze bottle (our favorite way to decorate cookies with kids!): Go for a frosting that is just thin enough to easily go through the nozzle without free-flowing.
  • If you are spreading the icing on the cookies: You'll want a pretty thick icing for spreading.

I normally make my frosting thick enough that it will stay on top of the cookie, but still thin enough that it will self-settle and dry with a smooth, bump-free top. It's really the fool-proof way to frost cookies.

For the home baker, there are a few good methods for icing your sugar cookies without getting too complicated:

  • Squeeze. If you're decorating with kids (or, ahem, inebriated adults-it makes a fun holiday party activity), squeeze bottles are the way to go! You could also using piping bags if you're feeling fancy.
  • Spread. I typically just spread icing on my sugar cookies using a popsicle stick or a proper icing spatula. You could most definitely pipe this frosting on if that's your (piping) bag, but I'll stick to my lazy girl popsicle stick method for now, thank you very much.
  • Dip. You can also dip your sugar cookies in the icing. Just make the icing thin enough to be dippable, then grab a cookie and barely dip the top in a bowl of the icing. Make sure to do this over parchment paper or wax paper-it gets messy!

On its own, this is a clean white icing. It makes a beautiful surface for all sorts of sprinkles and decorations. But if you want to add some color to the frosting itself, both liquid and gel food coloring work well in this sugar cookie icing. Gel food coloring will give your icing more vibrant and bold colors, but it does stain. If you're decorating with kids, we recommend sticking with liquid food coloring. If you want multiple different colors of icing, divide the batch into smaller bowls to be colored.

You can make this same sugar cookie icing with honey, but it does not dry to the same soft-but-stackable texture-it stays pretty soft.

Once the frosting has hardened, I stack them between layers of parchment paper in a glass food storage, airtight container and leave them on the counter for up to a week. 

I've tried it before, and while the taste is fine, this particular icing recipe tends to crack and lose its luster in the freezer. Our sugar cookie icing recipe is so easy to mix up, it will take you no time to frost the cookies once they are out of the freezer!

Want to save this recipe?

I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!

Cassie Johnston

Cassie is a Certified Holistic Nutritionist (AFPA, 2017) and Certified Health Coach (AFPA, 2017), cookbook author, and all-around food lover. She grew up cooking dinner with her parents every evening, and her passion for home cooking has been strong ever since. Cassie is the author of two published cookbooks—Cooking with Greek Yogurt (W.W. Norton, 2013) and Chia, Quinoa, Kale, Oh My! (W.W. Norton, 2014) and dozens of recipes published in major magazines and newspapers. Cassie has been sharing her award-winning recipes on Wholefully since 2010. She loves dark chocolate, homegrown tomatoes, motorsports, and anything that sparkles. She lives in Indiana with her family on a small homestead.

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4.46 from 861 votes (850 ratings without comment)

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246 Comments

  1. Hello Cassie
    This looks perfect! Can I ask about making the icing in advance... I am assuming it hardens in the bowl some. Can I give it a stir to soften again when ready to decorate?

    Reply

    1. Hi, Allie! We recommend making this shortly before decorating because it will dry pretty firm. Happy decorating!

      Reply

  2. How can I get a copy of the icing on my phone and I need to get a cup a copy of the icing that you made for these cookies

    Reply

    1. Hi, Sylvia! The icing recipe should come up on your phone if you search for "Wholefully sugar cookie icing recipe." That should get you to the webpage and it should open up like any other site. Then you can scroll down or use the Jump to Recipe button to be taken right to the recipe. We hope this helps!

      Reply

  4. Help help! Where is the cookie recipe?? I can only find the icing recipe on this page. What am I missing?

    PS. I love your stuff and I really want to make these cookies.

    Reply

  5. Hello! I'm noticing that most comments are from several years ago so I'm wondering if the post has changed.. but a friend recommended this recipe for the cookies and icing and I'm not finding the sugar cookie recipe on this post, only the icing recipe. I thought it might just be my phone but I'm not seeing it in this blog post on my computer either.. It was a little busy with ads so I even scrolled the whole thing several times.. the cookies are highly recommended by a friend so I'm hoping to find the recipe and I have two little ones excited to make some sugar cookies ASAP! Help! 🙂

    Reply

    1. We split the icing and the cookies into two separate posts and they weren't linking up properly before. It should be fixed now! But here's the direct link to the cookies: Easy Frosted Sugar Cookies. Happy Baking, Kristen! =)

      Reply

  6. What happened to the cookie recipe? We love these and are getting ready to make for our annual decorating gathering, but only the icing recipe is showing on the page. Help!

    Reply

    1. We gave the cookie recipe its own post here ---> Easy Frosted Sugar Cookies. They weren't linking up properly after we split them, but they should be now! Thanks for including us in your annual decorating gathering! Happy Baking, Natalie! =)

      Reply

  7. Wait, am I losing it? I can see the icing recipe just fine, but where is the cookie recipe? I’ve been using it for years but don’t have it written down! 😩 Save me, please!!

    Reply

    1. Totally not losing it! We gave the cookies and the icing their own posts and they weren't linking up properly before. It should be fixed now! Here's the direct link to the cookies: Easy Frosted Sugar Cookies. Happy Baking, Maggie! =)

      Reply

      1. Omygoodness, thank you! I’m going to make sure I write it down this time AND save the new link. I was legit distressed haha
        Your recipe is the best!!

        Reply

        1. You're so welcome! Thank YOU so much for the wonderful compliment! We're so glad you love the cookies =)

          Reply

  8. Silly question...I only see the recipe for the icing. Is the recipe for the cookies here too? It's been a long week so maybe I overlooked it! These look divine and I'd love to try them!

    Reply

    1. You didn't overlook it! We just split the recipes into two posts and they weren't linking up properly. It should be fixed now, but here's the direct link to the cookies: Easy Frosted Sugar Cookies. Happy Baking, Katie! =)

      Reply

  9. I cannot find your Perfect Sugar Cookie recipe on your site - wholefully.com/cut-out-sugar-cookies-iced.
    I can only find the icing recipe!!!!
    Where is the cookie recipe?????

    Reply

    1. We just split the recipes into two posts and they weren't linking up properly. Sorry about that! It's fixed now - but here's the direct link to the cookie recipe: Easy Frosted Sugar Cookies. Happy Baking, Judy! =)

      Reply

  11. Hi..did you ever half this recipe? Only baking for a few people and I really don't want to be tempted with extra dough in my freezer. Thanks!

    Reply

    1. Hi, Judy! We usually recommend that folks make the whole recipe and keep half of the dough in the freezer since it freezes so well! But since you're specifically trying to avoid extra cookie dough in the freezer (and we want to help you have the perfect amount of cookies!), we don't see why cutting the recipe in half should give you any problems. Let us know how it turns out!

      Also, in case you come back and wonder where the cookie recipe is—you can find it here: Easy Frosted Sugar Cookies. We split the cookies and icing into two separate posts. Happy Baking! =)

      Reply

    1. Absolutely, Patricia! Since anise oil is such a strong flavor, you might want to start by using 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon of anise oil, then adjusting that ratio until you find your perfect balance of flavors. Let us know how they turn out! Happy baking!

      Reply

      1. HELP!!!! I can’t find the cookie recipe! I use this every year and have never written it down (which i now very much regret) can anyone help save Christmas???

        Reply

        1. It's here! It's here! ---> Easy Frosted Sugar Cookies Now go save Christmas! Happy Baking, Chelsey =)

          Reply

  13. Cassie, I just stumbled on this site because I'm looking for a cookie icing that will let me stack cookies without them smudging. And here you are! So glad I found you!

    Reply

  15. If I freeze the dough for a week, will the baking powder still be active when I bake cookies later?

    Reply

  16. I use almond flavoring all the time on the frosting of these cookies. I use vanilla for the cookie. Everyone loves these cookies. When I make a double batch they are gone quickly!!

    Reply

  18. Perfect, perfect. This cookie dough is easy to work with, tastes great. I go all vanilla, but the honey in the frosting is the clincher. I don’t like the brittle texture and cardboardy sweetness of royal icing, and so the fact that this icing is very workable and dries to a luscious tasting, stackable, shiny finish makes it ideal for me.

    Reply

    1. You could maybe try corn syrup? That's a typical frosting ingredient that I'd think would serve the same function as the honey here.

      Reply