This is the best sugar cookie icing that is easy to make with 4 ingredients in 5 minutes. It’s sweet, creamy, simple to use and quickly hardens when decorating sugar cookies.
I use this quick drying cookie icing to decorate Christmas sugar cookies but it can also be used for iced oatmeal cookies and gingerbread man cookies, too!
Table of Contents
Easy Sugar Cookie Icing
This easy sugar cookie icing recipe is my favorite for decorating sugar cookies. I love to use Christmas-shaped cookie cutters, festive sprinkles and different colors of homemade cookie icing. So fun for both beginner bakers, kids and novice bakers, too!
It’s simple, hardens quickly, has a glossy look and tastes delicious. It’s basically an easier version of royal icing without the added egg whites or meringue powder. Plus, it works for all types of cookies too, such as butter cookies and shortbread cookies, too.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Quick and easy. With only 4 ingredients in just 5 minutes, it’s the best icing for sugar cookies. It’s similar to powdered sugar icing but with corn syrup for added shine.
- Icing that hardens. Unlike classic buttercream frosting, this icing is glossy and hardens quickly but is not crunchy, so your Christmas cookies are stackable.
Recipe Ingredients
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Powdered sugar: This is how the icing gets it’s sweet flavor. I don’t usually sift my powdered sugar, but you can if yours is super lumpy.
- Light corn syrup: This gives it a nice gloss and keeps the icing from losing it’s shine after it dries.
- Milk: You don’t need a lot…just enough for it to thin out the consistency a little.
- Vanilla extract: I love adding in vanilla for a boost of extra flavor. You could always switch up the flavoring and use almond or lemon extract.
- Food coloring (optional): Use liquid, powder or gel food coloring. Gel food coloring will give you the most vibrant results.
How to Make Sugar Cookie Icing
Before getting started, bake my Valentine’s Day sugar cookie recipe or your favorite recipe then let them cool completely before adding the icing.
- Add. Add ingredients to a small bowl.
- Combine. Using a spoon, whisk or fork, stir together the ingredients until smooth and glossy.
- Color. If desired, tint with gel food coloring of choice.
- Frost. Spread on cookies using a knife, spoon or frosting bag or bottle.
Icing Sugar Cookies
You can dip the cookies into the icing or use a frosting bag or bottle. You could also use a knife or spoon. Here are a few popular methods:
- Fully iced cookies: Fill one bag that has a smaller hole for outlining the cookie and the other piping bag with a large hole for ‘flooding’ (filling in) the cookie. Outline first then fill the cookie with icing!
- Outlined cookies: Only use the piping bag with the smaller hole to outline the cookies. This looks great with ornaments or Christmas tree shaped cookies.
- Piping cookies: For fancy, intricate designs use only the smaller piping tip to do unique designs.
Icing Tips
- Consistency. For the outer edge, the icing consistency should be thicker, like toothpaste. Then when filling the center, add 1/2 teaspoon more milk at a time to reach the right consistency, similar to honey.
- Extra decorations. If adding sprinkles, make sure to add them immediately after you frost your cookies. The icing dries quickly!
- Holiday parties. It’s the perfect homemade sugar cookie icing for decorating at a holiday cookie exchange and holds sprinkles and sanding sugar very nicely.
- Keep them shiny. It helps to dry the cookies in front of a heater fan to keep the icing shiny.
- Make ahead instructions. Easily make this icing ahead of time to frost your cookies later. Prepare, then store in the fridge an airtight container. Let it come to room temperature before using (about 30 minutes), add more milk or corn syrup to thin if needed.
Storing and Freezing Cookies with Icing
- Store: The best thing about using cookie icing that dries quickly is that you can easily stack and store your cookies. Once it dries completely (usually takes around 30 to 60 minutes), add a piece of parchment in between each cookie and then store in a covered container for up to 3 days.
- Freeze: The cookies will also stay fresh in the freezer for up to 3 months. Store in freezer safe bag and thaw overnight in the refrigerator or on the counter for a few hours.
Need more ideas for a Christmas dessert board! Make a batch of sugar cookie bars topped with a festive eggnog frosting or try these sugar cookie truffles!
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Sugar Cookie Icing
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 ½ Tablespoons light corn syrup
- 2 Tablespoons milk (more as needed)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (can also use almond extract)
Optional: food coloring
Instructions
- Combine. Whisk together 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 1/2 Tablespoons corn syrup, 2 Tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla in a bowl. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and glossy. It should be thick if you are using it as a piping. Add a 1/2 teaspoon more milk at a time to make a thinner filling consistency. Tint the icing with food color, if desired.
- Ice cookies. Spread onto the cookies using a knife, spoon or frosting bag or bottle.
- Decorate. Decorate cookies as desired. Allow icing to harden before storing.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Recipe FAQs
The main ingredients are powdered sugar, milk and corn syrup. You can also add vanilla or other flavorings.
Frosting such as a classic buttercream is typically made with the addition of butter to make it thick and creamy with a richer taste.
This cookie icing does not contain butter and has a drippier consistency from the corn syrup and milk, which makes it ideal for decorating sugar cookies.
Royal icing is a popular choice, but I love this cookie icing because you don’t need meringue powder. It’s much easier to use. If I want a soft frosting and don’t need to stack the cookies, I’ll go for a cream cheese frosting.
It usually takes about 30 minutes to an hour for this sugar cookie icing to set completely.
You can speed up the process by placing the cookies in front of a heater fan to dry. This will help keep the icing extra shiny too.
Categorized as: 5 Ingredients Or Less, American, Christmas, Desserts, Frosting, Gluten-Free, Kid-Friendly, No-Bake, Nut-Free, Toppings, Vegetarian
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
Just made, love it so far! How long does the icing take to harden?
Should take around 30-60 minutes to harden.
Best cookie icing recipe I’ve ever used. It was perfect and colorful and shiny. Thank you for sharing it.
I’m so happy to hear! Thank you for your comment Claudia! :)
Great consistency! Easy to use and set really well!
I have used a recipe similar to this for years, and have loved it! When my children were young, they so enjoyed spreading it with knives on the baked cookies. This year, for the first time, I thought I would try decorating with my bags and tips, so I gave it a try. I noticed in your photos of the bags filled with icing that there aren’t any tips in them. Do you recommend using the bags tipless? Just wondered if that might be easier. Could you please include more info on doing this if using decorator bags?! Thanks!
Hi Cathy! I love using my tips when using a thicker frosting, but I prefer to just just use the bags or a squeeze bottle when using icing!
Ok, thanks! I think it would’ve been a lot easier not to have to deal with the tips and couplers, and also the added clean-up! Next time we’ll just cut a small tip off of the decorator bag. Years ago, I used to use baggies for the kids to decorate with, but I have found that the Wilton decorator bags are much sturdier! I will also be researching tipless decorator bags!
Perfect reciepe
Could I substitute with coconut milk. I want to make it but my husband is super lactose intolerant. Or maybe I will just test it out, and see how it goes with coconut milk.
I haven’t tried that substitute before. Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try. :)
We loved this icing! Thank you!!
Does the icing require refrigeration?/Do the cookies need refrigerated once they are iced? Will the icing harden enough to stack cookies on a serving tray?
I don’t refrigerate them but you certainly could. Yes after a few hours you should be able to stack them :)
Loved using this over royal icing however my cookies looked beautiful and shiny before they dried and after drying over night became cloudy and dull. Any tips?
Hi Monica! It helps to dry the cookies in front of a heater fan to keep the icing shiny.
Great recipe! do you have a good recipe for sugar cookies to go with this?
I love using this sugar cookie recipe with this icing: https://www.iheartnaptime.net/christmas-sugar-cookies/
Love this cooking icing. How long does this icing last?
It should last a couple weeks!
These icing for cookies turned out amazing!! Kept their shape beautiful and tasted great!
My kids and I were just starting to make our baking list. This frosting looks perfect for our designs. Thanks for the tips about consistency too.
Love this! Great icing recipe. Cookies are perfectly iced every time!
Can almond milk be used in the sugar cookie icing recipe? This seems easy to make but I am lactose intolerant.
Hi Trina! I’ve never tried but I think that should work fine, let us know if you try it :)
Is it 1 cup + 1/2 tbsp of syrup
or 1.5 tbsp of syrup? (It seems very little to me)
Hi Jaz! It is just 1.5 TB of corn syrup!
Wondering if this icing recipe would work on putting together a gingerbread house. I am looking for a replacement for meringue powder, due to a child’s allergy. You did mention it dries hard, so have you ever used it to “glue” a house together? Thanks so much!
Hi Darlene! I haven’t use this recipe for gluing a gingerbread house together so I’m not sure how well it would work. It does dry hard, but I’m not sure if it would be strong enough to hold the house up. Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try!
Is there a way that I could make this chocolate? I’m decorating bear cookies for my daughter’s shower and prefer chocolate icing over a bunch of food coloring. I was thinking maybe I could remove a quarter of a cup of powdered sugar and use the same amount of cocoa to replace it. Then, I would be able to us less food gel to dye it. I am by no means a seasoned decorator, so your opinion would help! Thanks so much!
I haven’t tried adapting this to a chocolate recipe before, but I think that would work well! :)