Hard Glaze for Cookies
This smooth, shiny glaze is ideal for cookies that will be decorated with food-safe pens. It covers cookies very well (the color of your dark gingerbread won't show through), and dries to a hard enough finish that iced cookies can be stacked on top of each other (perfect for storage or for putting into a holiday gift basket). Try building on the base layer of coating with an outline or decorations in a contrasting color.
- 1/4 cup meringue powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 to 4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup cool water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Food color or paste
Directions
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1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the meringue powder, salt, and confectioners' sugar. Add 1/3 cup cool water and the vanilla and stir, or beat on slow speed. the mixture will seem hard and lumpy, but the sugar will dissolve after 4 or 5 minutes and everything will smooth out. |
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2. Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition to achieve a spreadable consistency. For a very smooth, shiny glaze, the icing should be the consistency of corn syrup or molasses. |
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3. To use, dip the tops of cooled cookies in the glaze, then sweep a spatula over them to remove the excess. Place the cookies on a rack for several hours for the glaze to harden and dry. This may take as long as overnight, depending on the humidity of your kitchen and the consistency of the glaze. |
Recipe summary
- Hands-on time:
- 15 mins. to 20 mins.
- Baking time:
- Total time:
- 15 mins. to 20 mins.
- Yield:
- 1 1/4 cups
- Recipe comments (1) »
Tips from our bakers
- To color this glaze, add food color or paste a drop at a time, and stir until the color is evenly distributed. To make the color deeper, repeat until you have the hue you're looking for.
- Keep the glaze tightly covered when not in use; if left uncovered the top will begin to dry and make chunks.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving Size 2 teaspoons
Servings Per Batch 36 |
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| Amount Per Serving | |
| Calories 46 | Calories from Fat 0 |
| Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat | 0g |
| Saturated Fat | 0g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Cholesterol | 0mg |
| Sodium | 21mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 12g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0g |
| Sugars | 11g |
| Protein | 0g |
| * The nutrition information provided for each recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information. | |
Reviews
10/17/2009
Another recipe straight to my favorites box. The hints given in the sidebar were particularly helpful. In the past, I've tried spreading a glaze with both a spoon and an offset spatula with varying degrees of success. Dipping the surface of the cookie and then wiping the excess with a spatula while holding the cookie upside down produced 36 perfect cookies in a row! I didn't try piping. I'll save that for Christmas.
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