Royal Icing Recipe and Thanksgiving Cookies

I discovered an amazing Royal Icing Recipe over at Sweetopia. I've always wanted to be able to decorate sugar cookies like a pro (you know with an icing that would harden and be able to be packaged and given as a gift for any occasion) . And once I discovered the recipe I knew I needed a reason to test it out. I tried as best as I could to wait until after Thanksgiving but I opted out of baking cupcakes for our Thanksgiving dessert and made these cookies instead. They turned out pretty good for my first attempt at decorating.

The Royal Icing hardened perfectly and it even tasted good! I was afraid of it tasting like pure sugar but it has just the right amount of sweetness for me :0) Here's the recipe:

ROYAL ICING RECIPE
Ingredients:
-3/4 C. warm water
-5 Tbs. Meringue Powder (vanilla flavored, if not just add a tsp. of clear vanilla extract)
-1 tsp. cream of tartar
-2.25 lbs.powdered sugar

Directions:
1) Mix water and Meringue Powder together with a whisk until frothy and thickened (about 30 seconds)
2) Add cream of tartar and whisk for about 30 more seconds.
3) Add all of powdered sugar at once and mix at the lowest speed with your mixer using a paddle attachment if available for 10 minutes. The icing will get thick and creamy.

You can now add food coloring (the gel kind is best) or water to get desired color and consistency (I might only add water for icing used to flood cookies).

I'd highly recommend checking out the cookie decorating tutorial over at Sweetopia, she does an excellent job giving tips and tricks for any newbie cookie decorator like me!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, I'm grateful you stopped by! I'd love to see how your cookie decorating turns out if you use this recipe.