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sugar cookies decorated with royal icing foxes and florals

Vegan Royal Icing

An eggless royal icing made with aquafaba. It can be used in all the same ways as tradition egg white royal, including decorating cookies, gluing gingerbread houses, decorating cakes, and making sprinkles and royal icing transfers.

Course Dessert
Prep Time 12 minutes
Total Time 12 minutes
Author Meggan Leal

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup ish Aquafaba (the cooking or canned liquid from beans; I prefer garbanzo)
  • 1 lb to start Powdered/Confectioner's Sugar (up to one pound more depending on your needs)
  • 1 tsp ish Vinegar (may be substituted with cream of tartar or lemon juice)
  • 1 tsp ish Vanilla (I use clear for bright white icing, but you can use natural)
  • 1.5 tsp ish Gel or Powdered Food Coloring (optional, though I always add AmeriColor Bright White to mine)
  • Water or Lemon Juice to thin prepared icing

Instructions

  1. Add about a teaspoon of vinegar to your mixing bowl

  2. Pour in about a 1/4 cup of aquafaba

  3. Mix on medium to high speed with a whisk attachment just until the top of your aquafaba is frothy/foamy

  4. Turn off the mixer and add in a couple of cups of the powdered sugar.

  5. Turn the mixer on low until the sugar is mostly incorporated into the aquafaba

  6. Turn the mixer off and lift the whisk to check the consistency of your icing. We are trying to get a school-glue type consistency. If it's not there yet, add more powdered sugar about a cup at a time until you achieve it

  7. Once you achieve the school-glue consistency, add about a teaspoon of vanilla and a teaspoon and a half of white gel coloring (if you're using it)

  8. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and let it go for about eight minutes

  9. After eight minutes or so, turn the mixer off. You should have nice, stiff royal icing! It's perfect for coloring and thinning out to decorate cookies or thickening up for flowers, or using as is for writing and other fine detail work.

  10. Store the icing in an airtight container right away - it dries out very quickly - at room temperature for up to a week, in the fridge for a month, or the freezer for pretty much as long as you want

Recipe Notes

Find a video tutorial on our YouTube channel!