How To Make Vegan Royal Icing

Learn How To Make Vegan Royal Icing! An easy to make royal icing recipe without eggs, and dairy. It is perfectly smooth and whipped together in minutes. The icing is suitable to decorate sugar cookies with, hold together a gingerbread house or decorate a cake. It is easily colored, flavored, and manipulated to suit your needs.

Jump to:

• 💡 The recipe in a nutshell
• Using Aquafaba instead of egg whites
• Why use Aquafaba?
• 🥣 Storage
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

💡 The recipe in a nutshell

• Vegan (eggless and dairy free)
• Easy to make
• Beautiful, shiny, and versatile
• Ready in just minutes
• Easy instructions on how to make vegan royal icing

Using Aquafaba instead of egg whites

Aquafaba is a combination of the words “aqua” and “faba” which are Latin for “water” and “bean” respectively. Its name describes perfectly what it is: bean water! When you cook beans, the cooking water absorbs some of the proteins and allows the liquid to imitate qualities of egg whites.

The most common place to find and use aquafaba is inside a can of chickpeas! However, the liquid inside many other canned beans like black beans, cannellini beans, or soybeans is also considered aquafaba.

Tom from Projectveganbaking wrote an excellent and detailed article on the science behind aquafaba, which I totally recommend you to read if you want to learn more!

Why use Aquafaba?

Chickpeas have become the default aquafaba legume for a few reasons. One is that the liquid from cooked chickpeas is clear with a yellow tinge making it look very similar to egg whites. Another reason is that chickpea aquafaba turns white when whipped. Many other beans have murky or a more deeply colored bean liquid.

The potency of aquafaba varies a lot between the different types (and different brands) of cans. You’re looking for a liquid that is mildly viscous and not super watery. Chickpea liquid tends to be relatively reliable in thickness, and often produces the best results when whipped.

Lastly, chickpeas are a popular food in a vegan kitchen, and most of us always have some cans on hand.

Serving ideas

Use this royal icing to decorate your Christmas cookies or gingerbread cookies. Or, make seasonal sugar cookies like egg shapes, color your royal icing and create easter cookies. If you are looking for a gluten-free cookie recipe to decorate, try these coconut flour shortbread cookies!

🥣 Storage

Store in an airtight container with a lid in the fridge for up to 10 days. Let come to room temperature before adding water to thin icing for cookie decorating as desired.

📖 Recipe

PS: Don't forget to rate this recipe and leave a comment on your experience - this helps improve my recipes and serves you with the best instructions, tips, and substitution ideas. Plus, I love hearing about your takes on my recipes! Tag me on Instagram @thesimplesprinkle to show me your pictures.