Super easy Vegan Cookie Icing. Made in minutes with just 4 ingredients. It's silky smooth and shiny, dries very quickly, is hard but not tooth-breakingly so, and has that nostalgic crunchy sweet icing flavour. Use it to flood or add detailed designs to any cookie recipe.
2 teaspoonsbrown rice syrup, corn syrup, or agave syrup
asmallpinch fine sea salt
½teaspoonvanilla extract, or other flavored extract
2 to 3tablespoonswater or dairy-free milk
(OPTIONAL) a fewdropsgel food coloring
INSTRUCTIONS
To a medium bowl add the powdered sugar, syrup, vanilla, and salt. Gradually add the water a little at a time. Be careful as you hardly need any water. Add it in very small amounts and mix really well between additions. It will go from looking like it's way too dry, to perfect in the blink of an eye. The icing needs to be thick enough so the decorations you pipe hold their shape. Use the whisk to squiggle icing across the surface of your icing. The squiggles should hold their shape for at least 3 seconds before disappearing. I usually end up using 2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon of water.
If using gel food coloring add it now. Use only 1 to 2 drops at first, stir it in then add a little more as needed. Bear in mind that the color will darken as it dries. Divide the icing between bowls if using multiple colors.
This icing is best used soon after making. Decorate the cookies by piping the outline first then fill the inside. Piping an outline first keeps the icing from sliding off the cookies.
Allow to dry completely before storing. It doesn't take too long to dry but I like to decorate them directly on a baking tray so that I can pop the entire thing in the fridge to speed up the setting.
NOTES
This recipe makes enough for one batch of Vegan Sugar Cookies although if you are using multiple colors you might want to err on the side of caution and make a little extra because you will lose some through handling.