Egg White Royal Icing Recipe & Egg Safety
The other day I was making cookies and I ran out of icing. I was almost finished with the set of cookies I was working on but I had a small problem. I didn’t have any meringue powder. Since I live in the middle of the woods, I didn’t want to stop what I was doing and spend half the day going to the store. I decided to make my egg white royal icing recipe. I don’t use it often because to me royal icing made from meringue powder is a little safer and easier to make.
The reason meringue powder is safer to use is that there is a slight risk of getting salmonella or another food-borne illness from eating raw eggs. As kids, we would fight over who got to lick the spoon when my mom or grandma would make a cake, icing or other desserts that contained raw eggs. In all my years, I have never got sick from them and I don’t know of anyone else who has become sick from eating this icing or licking the spoon of some amazing cake batter.
I am not making light of food poisoning because I had it after eating a slice of cheesecake from a very popular food chain that specialized in, well, cheesecake. It is the sickest I have ever been in my life. I honestly thought I was going to die. I don’t ever want anyone else to feel like that so, I want to make sure you understand that raw egg whites can be a bit tricky before you use my or any other egg white royal icing recipe.

Supplies for Egg White Royal Icing:

Egg White Royal Icing Recipe
Make royal icing with egg whites for decorating cookies and gingerbread houses.
Ingredients:
- 6 cups of confectioner’s sugar (that is about 750 grams but you may need more depending on how thick you want your icing)
- 4 egg whites
- 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar- this is used to stabilize the egg whites)
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract or the flavor of your choice
Directions:
- Place the confectioner’s sugar and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer.
- Separate the eggs.
- Add the egg whites to the sugar, vanilla and Cream of TarTar. Mix on low-medium speed until the icing is smooth.
- Use immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge. It is good for up to one week if kept in the fridge.
Egg White Royal Icing Video:
There are a few tips that you should know about using raw egg whites that can help keep your food safe.
- When you make this egg whites royal icing recipe, you should use pasteurized eggs.
- The salmonella tends to be found in the yolk of the egg, according to researchers. But it’s possible for it to be in raw egg whites.
- If you don’t want to take a chance on eating raw eggs there are a few other choices you can use. Egg substitutes are pasteurized, which means they’re quickly heated at a certain temperature to destroy any salmonella.
- Don’t store the eggs in the door of the fridge. When the door is open it lets in heat. Eggs need to say cold so place them on a shelf and not in the door.
Now you should be “egg-cited” to be informed on the safety of consuming raw egg whites.
I used my big girl mixer in my recipe videos but I want you to know you don’t have to have this type of mixer to make royal icing. I made it with a hand mixer for years before investing in a KitchenAid. As a matter of fact, I made a video showing how to make it with a hand mixer. It is easy and I promise the icing will taste the same no matter what mixer you use.
Egg White Royal Icing:
Last but not least, in the video, I made the icing a little on the thin side. To make a thicker consistency, add more powdered sugar and mix it until the icing is smooth. I have a video coming up soon on how to do that. If you are looking for a Royal Icing Recipe that uses meringue powder, click here or here.
I hope you enjoy this Egg White Royal Icing Recipe and who knows, it may save you one morning at 3 am when there is no meringue powder in the house and you need to mix up a batch of royal icing to finish those amazing Christmas cookies you are making. I know it saved me the other day.
Bear hugs,

By the time my cookies are cool, it will be 3am and of course I don’t have meringue Powder. So basically this recipe is a God sent gift to my late night Christmas time pregnancy cravings haha!! THANK YOU
I think we need to write a book on “Late Night Christmas Pregnancy Cravings” so we can enjoy them all year long! Have your people call my people! LOL