I consider myself to be a pretty good artist. My education and former profession is in the design field and I’m pretty good at craft stuff. I also think I’m a decent cook, so I figured with those two things going for me, decorating fancy sugar cookies would be right up my alley. Imagine my surprise (not to mention shattered ego and broken self-confidence) when I attempted to play around with royal icing for the first time and my little masterpieces looked more like something in a 1st grader’s art pile. So I gave up on ever decorating fancy-schmancy cookies again.
That was until I met THIS style of icing. Now my confidence is back in tact because even my very first batch turned out beautifully! It’s super forgiving, easy to use, and it actually tastes good!
The benefit of using an icing like this is that it dries to a solid sheen, making the cookies stackable and packable- perfect for giving or displaying on a platter. With a soft, fluffy buttercream, there’s just no easy way to give them away so you have to eat them all yourself (which may be the plan, right??)
Ingredient Notes
- Simple Ingredients – All you need for this icing is powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup, and extract of your choice (I use almond, but vanilla is great, too.) And we all know that corn syrup is not the same thing as high-fructose corn syrup, right?? Like, we don’t have to have this conversation again? Okie-dokie then.
- Cookies – You’ll need cookies to decorate! I use The Best Sugar Cookies.
How to Decorate Using Glace Icing
Whisk up some powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup, and extract of your choice and you’ll have a nice glaze-y consistency. You’re going to use the same recipe for both glazing and piping. The way it is right now is the consistency you want for glazing. It’s smooth and thin and it easily runs off the whisk in a pretty thin drizzle.
Now, you have some options of where to go from here. You can simply spoon this icing onto your cookies and gently spread out with a spoon and be done! In fact, one of the easiest ways is to just quickly spread and let it go completely off the edges like this:
While the icing is wet, you can mix colors and create all kinds of fun things. Try glazing in one color and then adding other colors from a piping bag with a very small, plain opening, and drag the designs with a toothpick to create gorgeous works of art.
You honestly can’t make an ugly cookie here.
Another method is to pipe an edge around your cookie, and then wait for a few minutes for it to firm up. When you’re piping, you’ll want to add a bit more powdered sugar to thicken up the icing just a bit.
Once hardened a a little, go back in with your glaze and fill in the space. That outline will work as a dam and give you nice clean lines.
Wet-on-wet icing will marble and swirl together. I actually did this whole batch this way because I didn’t have time to let mine dry very much.
If you want to pipe designs on top of your cookies, you’ll want to wait until your first glazing layer is dry to the touch, which can take a couple of hours. You’ll want to leave them out un-covered to dry. You can see a great example of this method in this post, where I made darling little Owl Cookies.
I also used that method when making these Valentine Cookie Pops.
Either way, you’ll want to let these cookies dry all the way before stacking or handling too much.
They develop a sheen and are dry to the touch after a couple hours, but they’ll need to really dry for most of the day, or overnight to be completely dry.
Whenever I update ancient posts like this one, I always feel like I’m erasing a bit of history when I delete old, outdated photos, so I’m going to leave a few of the originals here- just because. 
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do these keep? The icing will last longer than the cookies. For most cookies, I would say they are best eaten within a couple of days. Store stacked in an airtight container.
Related Recipes
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I’d love to hear from you! Snap a picture and tag me on Instagram, then come back and give this recipe a rating!
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Glacé Icing
- Total Time: Varies Depending on Method
Description
These sugar cookies are as delicious as they are beautiful! Such a fun way to decorate sugar cookies!
Ingredients
- 1 pound powdered sugar (about 3 3/4 cups)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon extract (I use almond because I use almond in my sugar cookies, but other flavors like vanilla, lemon, and peppermint are also delicious)
Instructions
- With a whisk, combine sugar and milk until smooth (no lumps!) Then stir in corn syrup and extract.
- You will use this same recipe for both glazing and piping. Thickened, you can pipe outlines, and as you thin it, you can use it for “flooding” cookies. Make sure to let them dry overnight to fully harden for stacking.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Drying Time: 6-8 hours
Questions & Reviews
I was wondering if a non dairy milk, such as coconut milk would work, or even coffee rich.
I started with the piped border and flood method but then found that with this icing I could decorate a beautiful cookie with just spreading the icing on with a spoon. Thanks for your tutorial. This is the best blog for cookies that I've found.
OMG……best sugar recipe in the world…..i luv u!!!
but cant do the icing….it was runny….need to perfect it…one more question cant get the color white to look so white….my colorless icing looks more yellowish kind of want to ake the snowflake white….any suggestions??
I think you are my new hero. I've just discovered your site, and I can't get enough! I need to try these icing tips ASAP…maybe for Halloween.
Hi, Mauid! I've frozen them before in airtight containers and they come out great on the other side. The only concern is freezing them for too long–sometimes they'll lose their lustre and become a little cloudy looking, but they're still beautiful and taste great.
beautiful cookies! Do you know if we can freeze these cookies already decorated with the glace icing?
You make it look so easy! I've always tended to be more like you described your first attempt. Thanks for sharing … I've posted a link.
Kelly just try thickening your glaze- when it's too runny the colors will bleed easily. Or, let one dry for a few hours before adding the other. As long as you have a solid border nothing will bleed!
Really pretty! I've been working with this glaze for a few weeks and having trouble with the colors bleeding – particularly with black/gray onto red or white (ladybugs and soccer balls). I really want to be able to layer colors! Any tips to keep the colors from bleeding? I love it otherwise because it gets hard and tastes great!! Thanks!
Ms Piggy- if you want to actually stack and pack the cookies, they'll need 24 hours to dry. However, if you just want them to look pretty on a plate and not smash each other if overlapped a littl, a few hours will do just fine. They will have hardened on top, but the icing underneath is still soft. That's actually how I like them best! I'm not sure what you mean by "does it come off", but it doesn't really chip off if that's what you mean.
What is the drying time for the icing?? I would like to try the icing for some Easter Sugar Cookies and need factor in the time it takes to try. Does the icing come off easily?
No it's 6T, don't ask me how that C got in there!
Hi Sara
the recipe says 6T C whole milk, is that 6 tablespoons plus 1 cup of milk? Thanks can't wait to try these!
Thank you, Thank you, a million times Thank you! My search is over… This is THE sugar cookie recipe. I have been looking for YEARS for a recipe that I could make nice thick cookies with, that wouldn't puff up and distort the shape of the cut out. These stayed perfect! And the icing/glaze…also perfect. My family is all laughing at me becasue I can't stop singing and dancing about these cookies!!!!
Andrea, this wouldn't work on cupcakes, but try this:
https://ourbestbites.com/2008/09/perfect-cupcake-frosting-and-filling.html
It's probably just what you're looking for!
Is this and icing that you can use on cupcakes also? Butter cream is way to sweet and cream cheese icing is just not sweet enough!
Thank you, Sara! Now I know what you're talking about.
Can't wait to try 🙂
Avanniel-
Okay, I just asked on Twitter and got this info:
In Hebrew they are called tamsiot or Tamtsit vanil (supermarkets) or http://bit.ly/cMVona
Thanks to @franticfoodie for that info!
Avanniel- extract is a type of flavoring we use in the US, often in baking. It's just a highly concentrated flavor that comes in small bottles in every flavor you can imagine. Just a small amount will flavor sweets and baked goods. You could use a few drops of a flavored oil as well if you have that in Israel.
Hello! This sounds and looks absolutely amazing, but there's something in the ingredients i didn't get –
What's the extract ?
Does it have any alternate names so I can buy it here, in Israel?
thankyou.
My husband is going to help me decorate cookies for the first time this year ~ this will definitely help him out! Thanks!
I have been looking for a great tasting, hard frosting for cookies that I can get creative with! I am looking forward to using your icing suggestions. Great pics by the way!
I have to say that I am completely intrigued now. I have a friend that swears by royal icing. I've also saved a tutorial using royal from another blog. This looks like a great method too. I guess I will have to try them both and see how it goes! Thanks 🙂
Well if you're using a really small tip you generally need to have a more fluid consistency to your icing. So you just have to be careful that it doesn't get *too* runny. I don't have any "rules" I just go by feel and look and make adjustments from there!
what size tip do you use to write letters? i had an order to write a name on the #1 and i cant get the name to look good.
any other advice for writing names?
Hmmm, I don't know what to tell ya! It's super flexible though, so just try adding more sugar or liquid until it's a consistency that works.
I have been using your glace icing recipe, but dont need such large amounts at once. When I try cutting it in half or in quarters, its not quite the same.
HELP!
Hello! I just linked to this tutorial on my blog, and I also added your site to my blogroll 🙂 Thanks for the inspiration!
Hi Sara, I'm back 🙂
Thanks for dropping by my blog, very much appreciated. If you do have the ingredients for onde-onde over at your place, you should give it a try, it's a lovely dessert!
Thanks for ur notes, I'll keep them in mind 🙂
Hi Sara, I'm back 🙂
Thanks for dropping by my blog, very much appreciated. If you do have the ingredients for onde-onde over at your place, you should give it a try, it's a lovely dessert!
Thanks for ur notes, I'll keep them in mind 🙂