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This is a hybrid recipe for Royal Icing that produces good results and is fairly easy to work with. You will use different consistencies for different purposes (cookie outline, cookie fill, cake writing, etc.) and you should do that by adding a teaspoon of water at a time. Much easier to add more water than to stiffen up the icing if you've gone too far. Takes some patience. This recipe is given for 24 cookies, 48 cookies or 72 cookies.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For 24 Cookies
  • 3 oz (⅜ c) warm water -- and extra water for thinning, if necessary
  • 2T + 1½ tsp meringue powder -- you can get the expensive one from Wilton or find a cheaper brand on Amazon
  • ½ tsp cream of tartar
  • 5¼ cups (approx 1.1 lb) powdered sugar -- some people swear by the more expensive name brands, but I've used generic with good results
  • ½ tsp CLEAR vanilla, lemon, almond or other flavoring/extract
For 48 Cookies (see notes for each ingredient above)
  • 6 oz (¾ c) warm water
  • 5 tbsp meringue powder
  • 1 tsp cream of tartar
  • 10½ cups (approx 2.25 lbs) powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp CLEAR vanilla, lemon, almond or other flavoring/extract
For 72 Cookies (see notes for each ingredient above)
  • 9 oz (1⅛ c) warm water
  • 7T + 1½ tsp meringue powder
  • 1½ tsp cream of tartar
  • 15¼ cups (approx 3.4 lbs) powdered sugar
  • 1½ tsp CLEAR vanilla, lemon, almond or other flavoring/extract

Method
 

  1. In mixer bowl, pour in the warm water and the meringue powder. With whisk attachment, beat on high until ingredients are frothy and thickened.
  2. Add the cream of tartar and mix for about 30 seconds.
  3. Change to the paddle attachment on your mixer. Pour in all the powdered sugar and use the LOWEST setting on your mixer for 10 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides. The icing will get thick & creamy.
  4. Remove the icing from the mixing bowl to smaller bowls for color mixing. Add more water by the teaspoon to achieve your desired consistency and then add your colorings. Cover bowls after mixing to prevent crusting & drying.

Notes

I mix the first consistency for outlining cookies and then outline all of the cookies. Add more water to your icing for flooding after that. I've discovered that ziplock sandwich bags, with a Wilton coupler & tip works pretty good for outlining. Then I squeeze the rest of the icing into a squeeze bottle, add more water & shake to mix for the flooding consistency. No need for Wilton tips on the squeeze bottles. The squeeze bottle tips work pretty good. If you anticipate needing more solid icing for decorating after flooding, retain some for that use.