Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe is a sweet homemade frosting that is made with just four ingredients and can be adapted to your favorite flavor and color. I love sugar cookies year-round, but they are especially popular around the holidays. It’s such a fun cookie to play around with. They are the perfect cookie for making into your favorite shapes and, of course, decorating! This icing recipe is an easy recipe to make and be as colorful and flavorful as you want it to be. Be sure to check out my Sugar Cookie Decorating 101 for tips on decorating sugar cookies.
Icing Ingredients
Confectioners’ sugar: Be sure to sift the confectioners’ sugar (also known as icing sugar) before adding the other ingredients. This will remove any lumps that may be in the sugar.
Milk: Whole milk will give you the best consistency in the frosting. Amounts of milk may vary depending on seasonality.
Corn syrup: Light corn syrup is in the frosting recipe gives the frosting a glossy finish and adds a little more moisture to it.
Lemon juice: As with the milk, the amount of lemon juice added to the recipe will be determined by the temperature of your kitchen and the overall climate. Lemon juice is an acid and will counter the “sweetness” of the confectioner’s sugar and corn syrup. No, the icing will not taste lemony.
What is the 10-Second Rule?
If you have already outlined your cookies and need to fill in or ‘spill’ your cookies, you can add more milk (as much as you would need) to make your frosting very runny. A great way to check the consistency of your frosting if you need to fill a cookie is to use the ‘ten-second rule’.
For this ten-second rule, run your spoon along the bottom of the bowl of frosting. 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.
Can You Stack Cookies with Glaze Icing?
Yes! Absolutely. After the icing dries it will stack beautifully, about 3 cookies high. It takes about 24 hours for the icing to dry depending on how thick your icing is.
Variations to Sugar Cookie Icing
- If you are using food coloring, be sure to use LESS milk. Most food colorings are liquid and can make your frosting runnier. If you are using gel food coloring, your milk quantity can remain the same.
- To add different flavors, you can add drops of vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon, etc. to flavor your frosting.
- If you want more shine, use more corn syrup and less milk.
How to Store Sugar Cookie Icing
I will often times store it in piping bags that have been sealed with a rubber band or twist tie. You can also store it in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to a week. If you are using food coloring, I will often color the icing before storing, as you will see the “true” color after the icing settles.
I used this icing to make my Original Ugly Sweater Cookies. You can see how beautifully it sets and is firm enough to gently stack!
More Sugar Cookies
Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125 g) confectioners' sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons whole milk, as needed depending on seasonality and desired consistency
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1 -3 drops lemon juice, as needed depending on seasonality and desired consistency
Instructions
- Sift the confectioners' sugar to remove lumps.
- To a medium bowl, add all the ingredients and mix until combined.
- Add more milk and/or lemon juice as needed to achieve desired consistency.
Video
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Thank you for your recipe♥️
Thank you so much!!!! Happy Holidays!!
Live in UK can’t get corn syrup is golden syrup the same
Golden syrup will have a slightly more caramel taste, but should work in place of corn, or karo syrup. It has a slower crystallization point, but that shouldn’t effect use in icing to any significant degree.
In Australia we call corn syrup glucose syrup. Maybe the same in the UK?
I believe golden syrup and light corn syrup is the same thing.
Can I use flavored extract instead of lemon juice, my husband isn’t a fan of lemon?
You can’t taste the lemon. It acts as an acid to offset the pure sweetness of the sugar. You can use flavored extracts.
Isoglucose: A term used to describe corn syrup or high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
Maize syrup: Another term for corn syrup or HFCS
Glucose-fructose syrup (GFS): A term used to describe HFCS
It’s called this in the UK
I live in Canada and we have both, if the golden syrup is amber I think you might not get a really white color
No it’s not the same…Honey is a substitute for corn syrup…I would experiment with that
About how long does the icing take to dry. It looks easy to use. Thanks for sharing
Can you use something other than the lemon juice?
Ellen Worthen
I make this recipe but I use almond extract or vanilla extract instead of lemon juice.
Thankyou I will try it on my gingerbread cookies. 🙂
How long did you let the bottom color dry before you added details/decorations to the cookies?
Just what I was looking for to ice my cookies….thanks for sharing the recipe.
Can you make these in advance and store them in the freezer? If not in the freezer, can they be stored in the fridge? How long can they stay in either?
Can you use 1% milk instead of whole milk? I only use 1% milk or almond milk or cashew milk. But absolutely no soy milk for me.
Yes, you can.
Thank you for the recipe, can’t wait to try it.
Does this dry hard so cookies can be stacked?
You can stack them after 24 hours.
Could you use almond extract instead of lemon juice?