Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl. Add milk and stir until well combined. The mixture will be thick.
Add in your corn syrup and flavoring and stir well. The consistency you are looking for at this point is similar to the corn syrup you just poured in. If it’s still too thick, add in more milk in 1/4 teaspoon increments, stirring well between each addition to reach desired consistency. If you prefer a thinner icing, you can use milk to get it thinner. Just do it in small increments. If you mess up and thin it too much, add in some extra sifted powdered sugar until you get it just right. It’s not an exact science. You have to tweak it and work it until you find it to be just the right consistency for the cookies you are decorating. If you are want to paint it on the cookies, the thicker consistency is what you are aiming for. To dip cookies, you will want it to be thinner.
Separate the icing into smaller containers and add some food coloring and get ready to go! I have used both the gel food colors and the paste, and have noticed no difference in the consistency of the icing as a result of one over the other, so use whatever you have!
I paint it on the cookies by first spooning it into the middle of each cookie, then using a small paintbrush to push it out to the edges. Lay each cookie flat until completely dry to prevent the icing from “pooling.”
Cookies will be dry in 6 hours, or overnight is best. Once they are dry, you can stack them and store in an airtight container for several days. Put a few in a cellophane bag, tie them up with a pretty ribbon, and they make great gifts at the holidays.
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Pam (Bored Cook) on 12.1.2010
Ok, not sure why it keeps saying “yes” for where I meant to put “eyes”. Maybe it was me making that mistake twice? LOL
Anyway, that should be EYES and not YES. Sorry.
Pam (Bored Cook) on 12.1.2010
Glad everyone likes it. It’s my favorite to work with as well.
Bethannabel:
I use a small tipped pain brush with a slanted tip. Once you cover the cooking in the icing I wait a few minutes, or just until a slight crust starts to form on the top of the cookie (making sure to keep them flat during this process or the frosting will pool on you). I then fill the tip of my brush with the black for the yes, and barely touching the cooking I leave a small circle/dollop for the yes. I do the same with the nose on the snowman, using the side of the slant tip to make the “carrot”. Very gently and barely touching the cookie. If you are waiting to do the accents on the cookies until they are fully dry you can of course apply more pressure.
Hope that helps.
bethannabel on 11.30.2010
What type of paintbrush are we talking about? Also, when you did the snowman’s eyes in the picture, for instance, how long did you have to wait after spreading the white icing, before adding the black icing? Can’t wait to try this out. Thanks for the recipe!
andreahaha on 10.13.2010
LOVE this recipe. I use it for all my sugar cookies now and get compliments. I mostly use the almond extract with vanilla & cinnamon sugar cookies. I didn’t have any paintbrushes on hand, so I used . . . chopsticks! Ha, it actually worked out really well. Also, I used shot glasses and small juice glasses to mix up different colors for the icing.
Pam (Bored Cook) on 1.3.2010
I’ve never tried making them with Lemon, but I bet they were good. I like making them with peppermint extract as well, but I will usually use a little less than the 1/2 teaspoon of other flavored extracts. The peppermint is a stronger extract, so less is usually better.
The paintbrush technique is the key to success with these. So much easier!