Ever wanted to make Royal Icing? If you have it is pretty straight forward with only three basic ingredients that you probably already have on hand. Now I am going to show you how to make royal icing with egg whites and I do realize that this method isn't for everyone, so if using raw egg whites isn't your thing (I totally get it) you can buy meringue powder online or even at the store and it should have a recipe for royal icing. I personal haven't tried that method but I heard it works well. You can also get really creative with coloring your icing different colors but I'll be sticking to white because I love the way it looks (especially on Christmas cookies). If you want to learn how to make Royal Icing with egg whites, follow along step by step here or watch the video below. Let's go!

Supplies

Hamilton Beach Hand Mixer
Misc. Kitchen Utensils

Step 1: Ingredients

3 egg whites
4 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Weight conversion (if you need help converting the measurements)

Step 2: Beat Egg Whites

In a large bowl, beat egg whites on high speed until foamy.

Step 3: Gradually Add Powdered Sugar

Switch to low speed and gradually add the sugar into the egg whites until it's completely incorporated. If you have a standing mixer, use it because the sugar gets everywhere. Also scrape the sides of your bowl with a rubber spatula.

Step 4: Add Lemon Juice

Then add the lemon juice and beat on high speed until the icing is very thick and forms stiff peaks, this takes about 5 to 10 minutes. The lemon juice will help harden the icing on top the cookie once it is decorated.

Step 5: Tips

Store extra icing refrigerator in an airtight container (this is good for a few days). Also use thicker icing to outline and add details to cookies. To fill in cookies (flooding the cookies) use thinner icing and you can thin the icing by adding a little water to it until it is the right consistency. Also this would be the time to color your icing if that is something you want to do. Just keep in mind that you might have to add more sugar because the food coloring has a bit of liquid.

Step 6: Decorate

Decorate your cookies. I used a piping bag but you can also place icing in a ziplock bag and cut the tip and make really pretty decorations, I've used both methods and they both work just fine.