Vegan Icing for Cookies
Servings: 18
Calories: 82kcal
If you're looking for a simple yet effective way to make vegan icing for cookies, Karo syrup offers a great alternative to the more tricky vegan royal icing. Clear corn syrup acts as an ideal base for creating smooth and glossy icing making it a convenient choice for any vegan home baker. Whether you're decorating sugar cookies or adding a sweet drizzle to oatmeal treats, this easy-to-make vegan icing with Karo syrup is a reliable and delicious option that comes together in minutes, ensuring your baked goods are both eye-catching and inclusively sweet.
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup warm water
- 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup Karo
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon butter extract see notes
- pinch of salt
- gel food colorings recommended
Instructions
- Use a small bowl to combine all of the liquids. Add the pinch of salt¼ cup warm water, 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup, ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon butter extract, pinch of salt
- Place the powdered sugar in a larger bowl and add the liquids to the powdered sugar. Whisk together until all of the powdered sugar has been incorporated.3 cups powdered sugar
- Check the consistency. Raise your whisk (or spoon) and let the icing fall to the bowl. The fallen icing should be absorbed in about five seconds.
- Portion out small amounts into bowls. Add the tiniest bit of gel food coloring. Mix well and put into icing bags. See blog post for hints.
- Cover tightly until use. If if starts to dry and crust then you can try to revive it by stirring in a few drops of water.
Notes
This icing is going to go on smooth like royal icing but is NOT going to give you the same design abilities that royal icing would. It will not dry as hard or stiff as royal icing does. I personally like the flavor a little better and the softer texture when fully dried. But for the fancy royal icing designs, you'll need to make actual (vegan) royal icing. Recipe to come...
This is enough to ice about 16-20ish sugar cookies - assuming you use one tablespoon of icing for each cookie. This recipe probably makes more than needed, but I like to have extra on hand for trying out various colors.
I prefer gel food colors for this recipe. Portion the icing out in a small bowl and start with just a drop of two of your color of choice. You can always add more for more intensity but it's nearly impossible to make the color lighter once you've mixed it.
I love the tiniest bit of butter-flavored extract in this icing. If you don't want to use that you can use almond extract or just use a full teaspoon of vanilla extract instead.
Nutrition
Calories: 82kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Fat: 0.002g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 1mg | Sugar: 21g | Calcium: 0.4mg | Iron: 0.01mg