This is a tutorial for how I apply my glaze icing to sugar cookies. Looking for the best Cutout Sugar Cookie Recipe? I’ve got you covered!
Sugar Cookie Glaze Icing
To make my special version of royal icing (glaze icing) these are the ingredients I use. (recipe below as well)
1 cup powder sugar (confectioners sugar)
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 drop lemon juice (can be fresh)
Why do I use Lemon Juice? The acidity helps create a better tasting glaze! You don’t actually taste the lemon AT ALL… it is purely used to counter all the sweet, sweet sugar!
This will outline and fill approximately one dozen cookies in one color.
And here are the supplies.
bowl
spoon
sifter
measuring cups
pastry bags
tips & coupler set
rubber band
You can find most of these at your grocery store, however, the coupler set and disposable pastry bags can be found at Michaels and Walmart.
Place one cup of powder sugar in sifter. Try not to skip this step! Lumps in icing are hard to fix.
Add one tablespoon milk, one tablespoon corn syrup, and one drop lemon juice.
Mix everything together. This looks pretty dry still, so I am going to add a little more milk, about a teaspoon at a time.
Much better. Still pretty thick but perfect for outlining.
Now, remember these guys? You want to take the large piece in the coupler set and insert it into the bag. Really get it as far into the tip of the bag as you can without stretching the bag.
Place bag into a tall glass.
Pour icing into the bag. When it is filled about half way just give your bag a twist, then put a rubber band on it so no icing can spill out the end.
Now put this bowl in the sink and rinse it out! Dried icing is a PAIN to clean up. 🙂
Next, we are going to cut off the tip of the bag. Just cut straight across.
Place your decorating tip on the bag, then place the ring of the coupler set on top of the decorating tip. Tightly screw it on and you are all set!
Before you start icing your cookie, just get a piece of wax paper or use a cookie sheet and practice using your icing bag. Practice making lines… dots… learning the texture and consistency of your icing and how it looks.
Then just start at any corner, apply light pressure to the bag, and begin slowly moving your tip down the side of your cookie.
(sorry about the poor quality of these shots… it was REALLY hard to take a picture while icing!)
It’s ok to have a little slack in your line… let the icing flow a bit!
Just make your way around the cookie. If you make a wobbly line or have a ‘break’ in the line just wipe off the cookies and start over. Easy!
Next, you are going to want to ‘spill’ or ‘flood’ your cookie. So I made another batch of icing, the same way as before, only this time I added more milk to get a runnier consistency.
Once combined, run your spoon along the bottom of the bowl. You will want to be able to see the bottom of the bowl for at least a few seconds. If ten seconds pass and you can still see the bottom of the bowl you will need to add a little more milk.
Now grab another bag. Since I am just using this icing to flood the cookies, I am not going to use a coupler or decorating tip.
Just fill up the bag, twist it, and wrap a rubber band around the top. Then cut off the tip.
When I flood I generally run a ribbon of icing around the edges then fill in the center a bit. If you flood your cookie completely, as in, have no dry space, there will be too much icing and it will overflow.
Now we will go back in and smooth everything out.
Just grab a toothpick and start moving the icing into the corners. Make sure you cover all the dry cookie!
There will most likely be bubbles. Pop those suckers!
Just use your toothpick. There! All gone.
And here is the ‘finished’ cookie. I have finished in quotations because now is when I normally start decorating!
Hope that answers any questions you may have about glaze icing!
I often quadruple this recipe and then divide up the mixture and add food color. When I am outlining and filling cookies I will make a lot of one color with the “thicker” version of the icing, then add more milk to thin the icing down for filling.
Glaze Icing
Ingredients
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1 drop lemon juice, fresh or bottled
Instructions
- Place one cup of confectioners' sugar in a sifter. Try not to skip this step! Lumps in icing are hard to fix.
- Add one tablespoon milk, one tablespoon corn syrup, and one drop lemon juice.
- Mix everything together. If it looks too dry, add more milk, ½ teaspoon at a time. Be sure to mix well after each addition as you don't need much.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
Here are some examples of some decorated sugar cookies as well as some essential tips and tricks!
How To Package and Ship Cookies
Ugly Sweater Christmas Cookies
Rainbow Bus Cookies (VW Bus Cookies)
Thank you for the amazing cookie glaze recipe. I have always used traditional royal icing, which as we all know, isn’t much for yummy flavor. Your glaze tastes great and even more importantly (for the decorator inside of me) it is great to decorate with. It flows so smooth and holds its shape beautifully. It dries perfectly, too. My lovely angel, Christmas tree, and snowman cookies thank you. I can’t wait to give them to my friends and family.
Thanks for this great tutorial!!
I was looking for it!
I will try to make sugar cookies for Xmas!
: )
Hi! I followed this tutorial to a T today and the cookies came out wonderful! I am doing white butterflies with orange accents for my daughter’s first birthday – this was my first time decorating a sugar cookie and thanks to you it went well! I do have a few questions if you can help!
1. How long does a glazed cookie take to dry?
2. Where should I store glazed cookies to dry – out on sheets? on racks? In airtight containers?
3. Once they’re dry, can they be stacked (e.g., stacked on top of each other in favor bags/sleeves)? Or will this smooth the detail?
THANK YOU so much!
Hi! So glad it worked! A cookie takes a couple hours to dry to the touch and a couple days to get hard. I would store them on a flat dry surface (not stacked) until they are hard. Once hard then you can stack with a parchment layer between. Hope that helps! 🙂
Thank you for this tutorial! I am wondering if you let it dry and then decorate with royal icing or decorate with different colors of the same glaze. Or, do you do different colored decorations while still wet. Please help! Thanks!
This icing did not turn out at all. I even put it in the freezer overnight. It never dried. I worked with this icing for 2 days and made 10 different batches if it trying to get it right. It remained sticky and did not dry. I spent a total of three days — first day I baked sugar cookies — and this icing was a total disappointment. It tasted great, but the cookies were not useable for the event I needed it for. Four dozen cookies went into the trash.
Sorry Jenn. It sounds like there was not enough sugar added. And “not drying” is typically a humidity issue, not the recipe’s issue.
Hi, is the first time i make cookies in my life this icing was super easy to make i love it thank you very much!!!
Will the icing harden when left to dry? Can you stack the cookies in a jar or wrap them as a gift in clear paper later on?
I have been icing Christmas cookies for as long as I can remember and I am 58. I can’t imagine going through that much trouble when it works just as well using a knife. I was quite shocked to find that people actually do this. If a person was trying to create a specific design that needed stick straight edges I can see using this method but for everyday Christmas cookies? I have to ask, why do you go through all the hassle of the bag and make an outline first rather than just using a knife and spread it on? My edges look nice and even. I am thinking maybe this particular recipe is too thin and needs the outline maybe. I never knew there were “recipes” for icing. I was raised just using powdered sugar and water and either food coloring or unsweetened chocolate. I am seriously curious to know, I am not just being negative. Thank much!
Everyone does things differently. Just because they are different from you doesnt make them wrong. 🙂
Thank you for sharing your recipe. We love this on our sugar cookies and will be trying it on our waffle cookies today.
Once the icing dries can the cookies be stacked? If so how long should be waited before stacking?