How to Make Icing with Icing Sugar and Water

The EASIEST tutorial on how to make icing with just icing sugar and water! With just 3 simple ingredients, this smooth & glossy icing is perfect for decorating sugar cookies, brownies, bundt cakes, and quick breads in a pinch! Makes ½ cup icing, enough to ice about 12 sugar cookies.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cookies

Prep Time 20

Total Time 20

Servings Cookies (Makes ½ cup icing)

Calories 234kcal

Author Melissa Rose

Ingredients

2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons water (luke-warm) can also use milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (oil-free for quicker drying time) use clear extract for a pure white icing
⅛ teaspoon salt optional, see notes
Food coloring optional

Instructions

Combine powdered sugar (2 cups), lukewarm water (2 tablespoons), and vanilla extract (1 teaspoon) in a medium-sized bowl. Mix until smooth.
Add more water or powdered sugar until it reaches your desired consistency. If using a piping bag, about 2 tablespoons of water is best (you want the icing to be about the consistency of pancake batter). If dipping or drizzling the icing, 3 tablespoons of water will likely be needed. See notes below for storing and freezing notes.
Drying time: Depending on the temperature and humidity of your house, drying time will vary. For a thin glaze (dipped), I typically find that it takes 6-8 hours on the counter (uncovered) to fully harden. After about 3 hours, the outside is "set" but the inside will still be soft. You can place a fan nearby to help speed up the drying time.

Notes

Work Quickly: If you're using the powdered sugar icing in the recipe below, you need to work fast and press the candy M&M's into the icing right after icing the cookie. Because the icing hardens fast, waiting too long will create cracks in the icing when you press on the candy.
Storage: Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
Freezing: While this quick icing does freeze, it does get a bit sticky upon thawing. If you plan to freeze the iced cookies, wait until they are hardened and then layer between pieces of parchment. When it's time to serve, remove from freezer and immediately lay the cookies in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Again, note that the icing will likely have moisture and be a bit sticky. If you plan to freeze your cookies, I'd recommend using my buttercream Christmas Cookie Frosting instead.
Flavorings: Scroll up in post to read flavoring tips.
Salt: while this is naturally a sweet icing, you can mix in ⅛ teaspoon salt to cut the sweetness.

Decorating Tips:

Consistency for Drizzling: If you are using it to drizzle over brownies, cookies, bundt cakes, or quick breads then you will want it a bit thinner (closer to 2 tablespoons of water)
For Dipping Sugar Cookies: For dipping, you want it to have a thinner consistency (closer to 3 tablespoons of water)
For Piping or Spreading on Sugar Cookies: For decorating sugar cookies, you will want it a bit thicker like pancake batter so that it doesn't run off the cookies (closer to 2 tablespoons of water).

Nutrition