How to Thin Royal Icing for a Perfect Consistency

How to Thin Royal Icing for a Perfect Consistency for Your Decorated Sugar Cookies | The Bearfoot Baker

Do you ever stop to think about royal icing? How does it work and why is it so hard to understand the consistency? I’m going to take a really deep dive into royal icing so we can understand how to achieve the right consistency that will help us make beautiful cookies. We’ll cover topics like how to thin royal icing, whats the right consistency for writing on cookies, and how do I make royal icing flowers and borders. Do I have to use an “outline” and a “flood” royal icing or can I use 15 Second icing for both?

Together we are going to answer those questions so we can understand this magnificent icing and make beautiful cookies so let’s get started.

How to Thin Royal Icing for a Perfect Consistency | The Bearfoot Baker

How to thin royal icing to a perfect consistency for outlining and flooding a cookie was a big challenge for me when I was a new decorator. I search the web trying to find a “magic recipe” that told me exactly how much water I needed to add to make the icing perfect. I couldn’t find anything. There weren’t any charts or videos that told me exactly what to do.

The only information was to make your royal icing by following your recipe and then start thinning it down with one teaspoon of water at a time. Okay. Sometimes one teaspoon took my royal icing from “this might work” to “Oh no! I just made colored water!” Does this sound familiar?

How to Thin Royal Icing for a Perfect Consistency with This One Simple Tool | The Bearfoot Baker

I’ve learned a lot along the way and I want to share everything I know with tips that actually work. Like this tip on how to thin royal icing with a spray bottle. Gail over at One Tough Cookie shared this tip and my mind was blown. She told us to use a simple spray bottle to thin the icing. It was simple. Spray a little water, stir the icing and repeat until you get the royal icing consistency you desire. BRILLIANT!

Her words that day changed my decorating skills in the best possible way I could imagine. Her spray bottle tip was the “magic answer” I’d been searching for. Every time I make royal icing I use Misty. Yes, I named the spray bottle Misty, my airbrush is Wendy, and my KitchenAid mixer is Arnold Schwarzenegger because he beats things up for me. I know. I have issues! Let’s stay on topic, shall we?

How to Thin Royal Icing so You Will Make Beautiful Decorated Sugar Cookies | The Bearfoot Baker

I don’t know if Gail realized how she single-handedly changed the way I decorated cookies, but she gave me the information I’d been searching for since the beginning. It wasn’t a magic wand, but it was the next best thing. It works! This is the way many decorators thin royal icing because it’s simple and the results are in the icing. I will forever be grateful Gail. SMOOCH!

How to Thin Royal Icing for the Perfect Consistency

How to Thin Royal Icing For Perfectly Decorated Sugar Cookie Decorating | The Bearfoot Baker

If you want your icing consistency to be perfect you need to buy a spray bottle because it works! Go buy one and watch your icing consistency improve immediately because this tool is amazing! Place some icing in a bowl and spray a little water with your spray bottle, stir and check the consistency. Do you like your royal icing thick or do you like thin royal icing? No matter what consistency you’re looking for Misty will help you make it because she and Gail just made your life easier with this one amazing tip.

Bear hugs,

Lisa