This 5-Ingredient Sugar Cookie Icing Is Totally Vegan-Friendly

Psst… did you know royal icing isn’t your only option for decorating cookies? Glace icing is a tasty, stress-free and vegan-friendly option for all your home-baked sugar cookies.

Glace Icing

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Sift

Sift the powdered sugar into a clean bowl. Do not skip this step — if you don’t sift, you’ll end up with a bowl of lumpy icing, which isn’t exactly appealing.

2. Add Water and Whisk

Add in five tablespoons of water and whisk until combined. Add more water if your mixture becomes too stiff — it should be loose enough to be pourable.

Pro Tip: Try not to whisk the mixture too much — you’ll risk creating air bubbles that’ll show up in your icing work. If you do find air bubbles, you can remove them once the icing is on the cookies by popping them with a cocktail stick or toothpick.

3. Color and Flavor

Add the the light corn syrup, and the flavorings and food coloring of your choice. Stir until the icing is well-mixed (the consistency will become stiffer), then you’re ready to decorate!

Tips for Decorating With Glace Icing

Glace icing is often described as the vegan version of royal icing, but there are some key differences you should take note of.

1. Add More Food Coloring

Unlike royal icing, glace icing is nearly translucent when it dries, so it requires much more food coloring to get a bright, vibrant color. Add some food dye little by little until you get the color you want.

2. Consider Skipping the Piping Bag

Glace icing has a thick consistency, which can make it difficult to pipe. It’s best if you use a spoon to pour the icing over a cookie, though that decorating method can make the icing hard to control. If you do decide to pipe, use a medium-sized round piping tip — about 4mm. Anything smaller and the icing will get stuck in the tip!

3. Feel Free to Fix It Up

The best thing about decorating with glace icing: It dries much more slowly than royal icing, so you can easily fix any pesky mistakes.