Easy Glaze Icing for Cookies

With only three main ingredients, this easy glaze icing for cookies comes together in under three minutes. Eggless, simple icing recipe dries firm with a shiny, smooth finish and a soft bite.

GLAZE ICING STEP BY STEP

This decorating icing comes together quickly; you can use a spoon, whisk, handheld, or stand mixer to combine the ingredients. It is important to keep the icing covered, as it will start to crust, though not as quickly as royal icing.

INGREDIENTS

• Powdered Sugar
• Corn Syrup or Glucose Syrup
• Water or Milk
• Extracts – I like to use Vanilla, almond, and lemon
• White Gel Food Coloring – to avoid translucency – recommended
• Salt

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GLAZE ICING AND ROYAL ICING

• Glaze Icing – doesn’t contain egg whites, dries to a smooth, shiny finish, and has a softer bite than royal icing.
• Royal Icing – has egg whites, and glaze icing doesn’t. Royal icing dries harder than glaze.

HOW TO FLAVOR ICING

• To flavor icing, you can use:
• Alcohol-based extracts
• Oil-based flavorings
• Baking emulsions
• If you don’t have any flavorings on hand, you can substitute some of the water in the recipe for freshly squeezed and strained lemon juice.

• My Go-To Flavor Combination
• I like to use a combination of 3 flavors – Vanilla, Lemon, and Almond.
• But that’s just my personal preference. You can use any flavor you prefer.
• Tip for Bright White Icing
• If you want your icing to be pure white, it’s better to use clear vanilla flavoring (via Baking Bites)
• Or use a tiny amount of purple or violet color. They help neutralize the yellowish tone of icing made with pure vanilla extract.

To make the glaze, pour all the ingredients into a bowl (steps 1-6).

• Mixing Glaze Icing: By Hand or Mixer
• This easy glaze icing can be mixed by hand.
• Make sure you don’t turn up the speed to a high setting, or you’ll incorporate too many air bubbles into the icing.
• Mix it at low speed until well combined, about 2 minutes.
• When using a stand mixer, use a paddle attachment.

ICING CONSISTENCY

• Control Icing Consistency
• Glaze icing straight from the mixer is thick, but not as sturdy as royal icing, and it’s not suitable for making piped flowers like roses.
• Flood Consistency
• To make icing suitable for flooding cookies, I add water to it to thin it down as needed.
• Add only a few drops of water at a time so the icing doesn’t get too runny.
• If your icing is too runny, add a little more sifted powdered sugar to thicken it.
• I like to keep the icing for flooding and outlining cookies above 10-second consistency, around 10-15-second consistency.
• Piping Consistency
• To add extra details on top of the flooded layer, wait until it’s fully dry, then use a thicker icing.

STORING GLAZE ICING

• Glaze icing keeps well at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
• Cover it with a food wrap and close the lid.

DECORATING COOKIES USING GLAZE ICING

• Prepare the icing.
• Thin the icing with a few drops of water as needed, and thin it to about 10-15-second consistency or flood consistency that works for you.
  • I like to keep the flood icing above 10 seconds; anything below is too runny for me.
• Divide the icing into bowls and color it with gel food colors.
• Pour icing into piping bags.

• To decorate, I used a simple marbling wet-on-wet decorating technique.
• You can use the same consistency for flooding and for piping details on top of dry icing or use thicker icing for more dimension.

STORING AND PACKAGING COOKIES DECORATED WITH GLAZE ICING

• How long does it take for the glaze to dry?
• Before you can store or package cookies icing has to dry.
• Allow the 1st layer of icing to dry for 12 to 24 hours before adding more details, like stenciling with icing and packaging the cookies.

GLAZE ICING FOR COOKIES SUCCESS TIPS

MORE COOKIE DECORATING IDEAS

• Simple Decorated Heart Cookies
• Purple Marbled Cookies
• Simple Christmas Decorated Cookies
• Simple Ice Cream Cone Cookies via The Bearfoot Baker