Powdered Sugar Icing Recipe

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The shiny smooth finish of the powdered sugar icing will give your cutout cookies that perfect decorative touch and its flavor will add just the right taste.

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Ingredients

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
Food coloring

Directions

PREP

20 mins

READY IN

20 mins

Add all the ingredients into a small mixing bowl. Stir until powdered sugar is moistened.
Beat mixture with an electric mixer until smooth. If icing is too thick, add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of water and mix again. Continue to add a small amount of water until the icing is at the desired consistency.
It may be desirable to leave the icing a little thicker to begin with to do the piping on the cookies first. If you are going to do flooding, a little more water can be added to thin the icing at that time.
If decorating with different colors, divide the icing up according to the number of desired colors. Add small drops of food coloring to color the icing.
To use this icing for decorating cutout cookies, pipe the icing around the outer edges of the area to decorate and then fill in by flood coating. Use a pastry bag for piping or use a plastic bag and squeeze icing out a clipped corner of the bag.
Once piping is done, thin the icing down for flooding by stirring in 1/2 teaspoon or less of water. Continue to add water 1/2 teaspoon of water at a time until the icing is the proper consistency. It should still be thick but it should run off a spoon in a steady stream.
Spoon the thinned icing inside the piped area and then smooth out with a knife to evenly coat the cookies. The icing will harden after being allowed to sit and dry for a couple of hours.
When you are working with the frosting, be sure the frosting not being used at the time is covered with plastic to prevent it from drying out.
Sugar or sprinkles can be added while the icing is still tacky but if it has dried too much they will not stick.
Once the icing has dried, other decorative toppings can be added to decorate the iced cookies. Toppings, such as sugars, non-pariels, sprinkles, dragees, nuts, and candy can be used.
To decorate after the icing has dried, using toppings such as sugar and sprinkles, apply a light coat of warmed light corn syrup with a small paintbrush in the area that you want the topping to stick. Sprinkle the coated area with the desired topping.
Other toppings, such as dragees, nuts, and candy can be added by applying a little frosting to the topping and sticking it on the cookie.