Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (2024)

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By Carine Claudepierre
Published on 11/23/2021 - Last updated on 03/05/2024

4.98 from 41 votes

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This easy 3-ingredient Vegan Royal Icing recipe for piping onto cookies or pound cakes adds a delicious white, sweet glaze to food.

Bonus, this vegan icing recipe is not only egg-free but also gluten-free.

Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (2)

Table of contents

Royal icing is the best part of baking. It’s an alternative to my Protein Powder Frosting or Vegan Chocolate Frosting. It’s sweet with a pure white shiny color that makes any vegan cake, vegan muffin, or vegan cookie beautiful.

Here I am sharing my tips to make a simple royal icing without meringue powder and minimal ingredients.

Is Royal Icing Vegan?

No, the classic royal icing recipe is made of meringue powder, a ready-made mix of cornstarch and dried egg white.

How To Make Vegan Royal Icing

It’s so easy to make a vegan royal icing at home, using some of your most basic pantry ingredients. Then there are two ways to make the icing.

  • Icing to glaze cakes and pound cakes – this is the runnier version.
  • Icing for piping onto cookies – this is a thicker version.

Below I will share all my tips to create the best vegan icing for cookies or cakes.

Ingredients

To make both versions of this egg-free royal icing, you need 3-ingredients:

  • Icing sugar that’s the regular powder sugar you also use for vegan frosting.
  • Vanilla extract – this is optional, only for flavor. You can also use lemon juice instead.
  • Gel food coloring drops – optional too, but if you want to add color to your icing, use gel food coloring instead of liquid food coloring that dilutes icing.
  • Soy cream – this acts as an egg replacer in the recipe. Soy cream, like Alpro, contains added gums that make the royal icing thicker than regular almond milk. While some plant-based milk also contains gums, they don’t contain much of it, or most of the time don’t have any, and they don’t make icing thick as soy cream.

Mix ingredients

To make your vegan royal icing, stir the icing sugar, soy cream, and vanilla extract together until a thick white icing forms.

If the icing is too runny, add more powder sugar. If too thick, thin out with more soy cream.

Add some color

This is optional, but icing colors are fun! To make different colors, you can split the batch of this vegan royal icing recipe into small bowls and add 3-4 drops of gel food coloring.

Stir to combine, and if the coloring makes the icing too liquid, add a pinch more icing sugar to balance and reach the right texture.

Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (3)

Option 1: Drizzling On Top Of Cakes Or Muffins

You can use this royal icing immediately if you simply want to drizzle on top of muffins, as I do on my pumpkin banana muffin or vegan lemon pound cake, using a spoon.

The icing is slightly runny and perfect if used at room temperature but too runny for a piping bag.

Option 2: Piping The Icing

If you want to use this royal icing in a piping bag to decorate my vegan gingerbread cookies, for example, then you must:

  • Add 1/4cup more icing sugar.
  • Refrigerate the batch of royal icing for 1 hour in a mixing bowl covered with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic touches the icing to prevent the top of the icing from forming a crust.

Then, fill a piping bag and use it to decorate:

  • Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
  • Gingerbread House
  • Lemon Almond Flour Cookies
  • Shortbread Cookies
  • Oat Flour Sugar Cookies
  • 3-Ingredient Almond Flour Sugar Cookies

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Swap Soy Cream For Something Else?

You can use a combination of 3 tablespoons of plant-based milk and 2 tablespoons of corn syrup instead.

My Icing Is Too Runny, What Can I Do?

This happens if you didn’t add enough icing sugar. Icing sugar is light and volatile and often difficult to measure precisely with a measuring cup.
To fix your icing, add more icing sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until it reaches your favorite texture. Don’t forget to store the icing for 1 hour in the fridge in a bowl covered with a piece of plastic wrap. Cold vegan icing thickens better and is easier to pip.

My Icing Isn’t Hardening, Can I Save It?

If it’s hot where you live, the icing can take hours to dry out at room temperature.
The best is to pop the decorated food in the fridge for 20 minutes to set the royal icing faster.

Vegan Recipes To Frost With This Icing

Below I listed my favorite cookie recipe that you can frost with this vegan royal icing.

Almond Flour Lemon Cookies

Vegan Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Vegan Lemon Pound Cake

Vegan Gingerbread Cookies

Did You Like This Recipe?

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Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (8)

Vegan Royal Icing

An easy 3-Ingredient Egg-free Royal Icing for glazing muffins, cakes, or decorating cookies with a piping bag.

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Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 10 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: vegan

Servings: 1 batch (2.5 cups)

Calories: 42.5 kcal

Author: Carine Claudepierre

4.98 from 41 votes

Ingredients

US CustomaryMetric

Instructions

  • In a large mixing bowl, add the 2 cups of icing sugar – make sure you sweep the top for precision.

  • Stir in soy cream, vanilla extract until it forms a thick white paste. Divide the batch into small bowls and add 3-4 drops of gel food colorings to make different icing colors.

For glazing

  • You can use this icing immediately on top of muffins or pound cakes.

  • To pipe on cookies, add more icing sugar to make the royal icing thicker, and store in the fridge for 1 hour in a bowl sealed on top with a piece of plastic wrap – wrap must touch the icing to avoid the icing to crust on top.

  • Then, fill a piping bag with the cold icing and ice cookies.

  • Place the cookies in the fridge to set the icing fast.

Troubleshooting

  • If the icing is too runny or too wet, add more icing sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until it reaches your favorite texture. If too thick, stir in more soy cream 1 teaspoon at a time.

Notes

Soy cream swap: you can mix 3 tablespoons of unsweetened plant-based milk and 2 tablespoons of corn syrup to replace soy cream. If both don’t combine well, microwave the mix for 20 seconds, stir to combine, and stir in the mixing bowl with the remaining ingredients.

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Nutrition

Serving: 0.25cup | Calories: 42.5kcal | Carbohydrates: 103.5g | Protein: 0.3g | Fat: 2.9g | Saturated Fat: 0.6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2.2g | Sodium: 23.4mg | Potassium: 57.7mg | Sugar: 3.5g | Vitamin A: 4.4IU | Calcium: 2.7mg | Iron: 0.1mg | Magnesium: 0.1mg | Phosphorus: 19mg | Zinc: 0.1mg

Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (11)

About Carine

Hi, I'm Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, photographer, and published author of a cookbook and founder of The Conscious Plant Kitchen with my husband Damien.Learn more about us.

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Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What can I use instead of eggs in royal icing? ›

Ingredients
  1. 2 tablespoons Ener-G-Egg Replacer.
  2. 1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tarter.
  3. 3 tablespoons Water.
  4. 2 cups Confectioner's Sugar.
  5. 1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract or Clear Vanilla Extract (optional)
  6. Food Coloring Optional.

What is a vegan substitute for meringue powder? ›

Meringue powder can get expensive, and it's made with eggs, which we don't want. Use either xanthan gum or arrowroot powder instead of meringue powder to make royal icing without eggs. You only need a half teaspoon of either of these for the recipe, so one container will last you a very long time!

Does Aquafaba harden? ›

Make sure to open your aquafaba jar in a dry space, and keep it out of humidity to prevent clumping and hardening of the powder. Additionally, adding cream of tartar to your aquafaba can be beneficial as it helps to reduce the breakdown of texture when whipping the aquafaba, allowing it to stabilize.

What is the best substitute for royal icing? ›

Anti-royal icing is an alternative to traditional royal icing. It does not contain egg white. And unlike classic royal icing, which hardens quickly and has a stiffer texture, anti-royal icing sets but remains a little lighter and fluffier, making it perfect for cakes, cupcakes, brownies and other pastries.

What makes royal icing harden? ›

Royal icing is made from confectioners sugar, water, egg white, and flavorings. This is the only icing that I use to decorate my cookies. The egg white is what allows it to dry hard, which is what makes royal icing so versatile.

Why does royal icing need egg white? ›

What you'll need to make royal icing. The egg whites are what allows the icing to dry hard. However, if you'd like to avoid using raw eggs, feel free to use meringue powder, which is sold in the baking aisle of most large supermarkets or craft stores.

What is a vegan egg white substitute for meringue? ›

Aquafaba

That's right, you can make an impressive egg white substitute using the water from a drained can of chickpeas. Simply set the chickpeas aside and whip the liquid until foamy or soft peaks start to form, just like you would with regular egg whites.

Can cream of tartar replace meringue powder? ›

Cream of tartar is a stabilizer and is sometimes used in making meringue to keep the eggs from collapsing. Some meringue powder already has cream of tartar in it to help in stabilizing meringue. So you can't use cream of tartar as a substitute for meringue powder, but it can be used to stabilize meringue recipes.

What do vegans use instead of eggs for baking? ›

The 10 best vegan egg alternatives for eggless baking and cooking
  • Apple sauce. Using apple sauce is a fat-free way to replace eggs in baked goods. ...
  • Aquafaba. ...
  • Black salt (kala namak) ...
  • Egg substitute powders. ...
  • Flaxseed (aka linseed) ...
  • Ripe bananas. ...
  • Silken tofu & firm tofu. ...
  • Tapioca starch.

Why is my aquafaba not whipping up? ›

The trick to whipping aquafaba is using a hand or stand mixer! Whisking it by hand takes quite a long time and does not produce as good of results. Another trick is to throw in 1/8-1/4 tsp cream of tartar, which causes the aquafaba to whip up much easier, faster, and makes the peaks firmer.

Does aquafaba go bad in fridge? ›

Frozen-then-thawed aquafaba whips just as well as fresh aquafaba. You can also defrost the aquafaba cubes in the microwave to speed the process along. Fresh chickpea liquid can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

What are the disadvantages of royal icing? ›

Disadvantages: Royal icing can crack. This makes it ill-suited for covering large surface areas (for instance an entire cake) or curved surfaces. Royal icing is rarely the most nuanced of flavors, with a somewhat bland (albeit sweet) flavor.

What are the three types of royal icing? ›

There are three main types of royal icing: stiff consistency, piping consistency, and flood consistency. They are used for different decorating techniques, although sometimes you can use different consistencies to achieve the same result.

What do bakers use instead of eggs? ›

Substitutes like vinegar and baking soda, plain yogurt or buttermilk can help keep cake light, airy and structurally sound. Replace each egg with 1 teaspoon of baking soda combined with 1 tablespoon of vinegar, ¼ cup of plain yogurt or ¼ cup of buttermilk.

What is a substitute for egg whites in meringue? ›

Aquafaba is one of the most common replacements for egg whites, especially in baked goods, and it's also one of the few replacements that can also be used to create meringues, marshmallows, and foams.

How do you bind a cake without eggs? ›

Xanthan gum. Xanthan gum is a white powder that comes from the exoskeleton of bacteria. Add 1 tsp. per recipe to bind and add texture to egg-free cakes and cookies, as well as milk-free ice cream.

How to stick together a gingerbread house? ›

Fit Everything Together with Melted Sugar or Royal Icing

The second way is to use burnt sugar as your glue. Just melt C&H® Pure Granulated Cane Sugar in a pan on the stove, dip the gingerbread parts in and hold them together for a few seconds. Then, presto! You've created a solid house.

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