Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (2024)

Yes, you can make vegan royal icing! Traditional royal icing is typically made with egg whites, but you can make an eggless royal icing by using aquafaba instead of egg whites. Egg free royal icing is perfect for making gingerbread houses and decorating Christmas cookies. This eggless, easy royal icing recipeworks exactly like regular royal icing.

Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (1)

This simple vegan royal icing recipe is the perfect icing for making gingerbread cookies, gingerbread houses, or decorated sugar cookies this holiday season. It tastes and dries just like classic royal icing, but using an egg white substitute makes this a vegan recipe. (If you're looking for a vegan sugar cookies recipe, I like this one from It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken.)

Aquafaba in Vegan Royal Icing

What is aquafaba? It's the liquid that comes in canned chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans). Aquafaba can be used to replace eggs in vegan baking; use 3 Tablespoons in place of each egg.The same ratio works brilliantly for making eggless royal icing, which is typically made with raw egg whites or meringue powder.

Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (2)

I'm making gingerbread houses for my daughter's Woodcraft Folk scout group this week, and one of the scouts has an egg allergy. I want every child to be as safe and involved as possible, so I decided to rework my gingerbread house recipe and royal icing recipe to make an eggless gingerbread house recipe and egg free royal icing recipe.

Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (3)

Egg Free Vegan Royal Icing Recipe

  • 2 pounds powdered sugar (also called icing sugar)
  • 18 Tablespoons aquafaba (canned chickpea liquid)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (almond extract is another popular flavor, but vanilla is the most classic)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (4)

In this eggless royal icing recipe, egg whites are replaced with aquafaba, the liquid from a can of chickpeas. The chickpea water actually looks a lot like egg whites--a similar consistency and color.

Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (5)

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat on high speed with a mixer. You can use a hand mixer, but I always use my Kitchenaid stand mixer.It took over five minutes of beating at a high speed for this mixture to turn into a thick royal icing, making the consistency of the icing perfect for the vegan gingerbread houses I was making. It may take longer if you're using a hand mixer.

Substitutions for Cream of Tartar in Vegan Royal Icing

What if you don't have any cream of tartar? There are some other options you can substitute. The Cream of Tartar in the recipe provides acid (it's the powdered form of tartaric acid), which helps to stabilizeand strengthen the air bubbles in the icing, making it thicker and more durable. If you can't find cream of tartar, you can:

  • Use twice the amount of fresh lemon juice as cream of tartar in the recipe. This will add a slight lemon flavor to your icing.
  • Use the same amount of white vinegar as cream of tartar in the recipe.

Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (6)

If you've been beating the icing for over five minutes and still want thicker icing, add more powdered sugar--about a half a cup at a time.

Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (7)

I like my royal icing for gingerbread houses to be VERY thick, so I added about a cup of powdered sugar to my vegan icing to get the perfect consistency. If you want a thinner icing for making decorative details, you can always thin it with a little water until it's the right consistency.

If you want to add food coloring, add it to the icing after it's already made. I like using Americolor gel food coloring the best--great colors, you only need a little bit of the gel colours, and it's easy to dispense. You can mix up many colors of icing in separate bowls, and put in a piping bagor icing bottles to make decorated cookies and intricate details.

How to Store Vegan Royal Icing

  • Just like regular royal icing, this starts to harden and dry very quickly when exposed to air! Cover any bowl of icing with a clean, damp kitchen towel to prevent crusting. Cover the tips of any piping bags you're using with a damp cloth, too, or the icing at the tip will dry and clog the pastry bag.
  • If you're not going to use the vegan royal icing immediately, it can be stored in anairtight container. Keep thesealedcontainer in the fridge, where it can be kept up to a week. The frosting will lose some of its stiffness as it is stored; let come to room temperature and re-beat the icing with your electric mixture to bring it back to the texture you need.

Printable Vegan Royal Icing Recipe

Want a free, printable, one page version of this sweet vegan royal icing recipe? Click on the image below to print directly or download the PDF to your device.

Other Vegan Recipes You Might Like:

Other Icing Recipes You Might Like:

Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is a vegan substitute for meringue powder? ›

Meringue powder can get expensive, and it's made with eggs, which we don't want. Use either xanthan gum or arrowroot powder instead of meringue powder to make royal icing without eggs. You only need a half teaspoon of either of these for the recipe, so one container will last you a very long time!

Does Aquafaba harden? ›

Make sure to open your aquafaba jar in a dry space, and keep it out of humidity to prevent clumping and hardening of the powder. Additionally, adding cream of tartar to your aquafaba can be beneficial as it helps to reduce the breakdown of texture when whipping the aquafaba, allowing it to stabilize.

What is the best substitute for royal icing? ›

Anti-royal icing is an alternative to traditional royal icing. It does not contain egg white. And unlike classic royal icing, which hardens quickly and has a stiffer texture, anti-royal icing sets but remains a little lighter and fluffier, making it perfect for cakes, cupcakes, brownies and other pastries.

What makes royal icing harden? ›

Royal icing is made from confectioners sugar, water, egg white, and flavorings. This is the only icing that I use to decorate my cookies. The egg white is what allows it to dry hard, which is what makes royal icing so versatile.

Why does royal icing need egg white? ›

What you'll need to make royal icing. The egg whites are what allows the icing to dry hard. However, if you'd like to avoid using raw eggs, feel free to use meringue powder, which is sold in the baking aisle of most large supermarkets or craft stores.

What is a vegan egg white substitute for meringue? ›

Aquafaba

That's right, you can make an impressive egg white substitute using the water from a drained can of chickpeas. Simply set the chickpeas aside and whip the liquid until foamy or soft peaks start to form, just like you would with regular egg whites.

Can cream of tartar replace meringue powder? ›

Cream of tartar is a stabilizer and is sometimes used in making meringue to keep the eggs from collapsing. Some meringue powder already has cream of tartar in it to help in stabilizing meringue. So you can't use cream of tartar as a substitute for meringue powder, but it can be used to stabilize meringue recipes.

Does aquafaba go bad in fridge? ›

Frozen-then-thawed aquafaba whips just as well as fresh aquafaba. You can also defrost the aquafaba cubes in the microwave to speed the process along. Fresh chickpea liquid can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Why is my aquafaba not whipping up? ›

The trick to whipping aquafaba is using a hand or stand mixer! Whisking it by hand takes quite a long time and does not produce as good of results. Another trick is to throw in 1/8-1/4 tsp cream of tartar, which causes the aquafaba to whip up much easier, faster, and makes the peaks firmer.

What are the disadvantages of royal icing? ›

Disadvantages: Royal icing can crack. This makes it ill-suited for covering large surface areas (for instance an entire cake) or curved surfaces. Royal icing is rarely the most nuanced of flavors, with a somewhat bland (albeit sweet) flavor.

What are the three types of royal icing? ›

There are three main types of royal icing: stiff consistency, piping consistency, and flood consistency. They are used for different decorating techniques, although sometimes you can use different consistencies to achieve the same result.

What do bakers use instead of eggs? ›

Substitutes like vinegar and baking soda, plain yogurt or buttermilk can help keep cake light, airy and structurally sound. Replace each egg with 1 teaspoon of baking soda combined with 1 tablespoon of vinegar, ¼ cup of plain yogurt or ¼ cup of buttermilk.

What is a substitute for egg whites in meringue? ›

Aquafaba is one of the most common replacements for egg whites, especially in baked goods, and it's also one of the few replacements that can also be used to create meringues, marshmallows, and foams.

How do you bind a cake without eggs? ›

Xanthan gum. Xanthan gum is a white powder that comes from the exoskeleton of bacteria. Add 1 tsp. per recipe to bind and add texture to egg-free cakes and cookies, as well as milk-free ice cream.

How to stick together a gingerbread house? ›

Fit Everything Together with Melted Sugar or Royal Icing

The second way is to use burnt sugar as your glue. Just melt C&H® Pure Granulated Cane Sugar in a pan on the stove, dip the gingerbread parts in and hold them together for a few seconds. Then, presto! You've created a solid house.

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