Drizzle a bit of this silky and simple powdered sugar glaze on all your favorite treats. It's done in under a minute and with just three ingredients!
Why you'll love it
A good powdered sugar glaze or icing is the perfect finishing touch to so many classic baked goods such as cinnamon rolls, coffee cake, quick breads, and pound cake.
It is a favorite way among many people to add another layer of flavor, and can even be used as a decorative finish.
You can customize your icing or glaze to match or enhance the flavors of the other ingredients in your recipe. It is a fun way to add flavor and even some visual interest
Ingredients
A good powdered sugar glaze only needs three simple ingredients.
- Powdered sugar - This is the base of the icing. There are some people who say you can use alternatives, but I have not found any that works just as well for a consistently smooth texture.
- Flavoring - There are almost no limits to what you can use to flavor your powdered sugar. For a basic glaze, vanilla is traditional.
- Water/milk - You can use water, milk, heavy cream, and even sometimes your flavoring choice to thin out the mixture to get your desired consistency.
How to make
It really takes only a moment to make a glaze, which is why it is a favorite last minute addition to so many treats.
- Add the powdered sugar to a medium bowl along with your flavoring.
- Drizzle in your liquid of choice slowly, stirring well after adding just a teaspoon at a time to ensure you reach your desired consistency.
- Drizzle over your baked goods.
Ways to flavor
There are so many different icing flavors that you can create. These are just a few examples of some that I like to keep in my back pocket
- Lemon - Replace your liquid of choice with lemon juice. You can also use orange or lime juices to make a delicious citrusy glaze
- Cinnamon - Add a little bit of ground cinnamon to the icing, anywhere between ½ to 1 teaspoon
- Coffee - For the best results, add coffee flavor is to use cooled coffee or cold brew as your liquid of choice
- Peppermint - Use a small drop of peppermint extract in the glaze. I recommend still using the vanilla along with it
- Fruity - Use fruit juice as your liquid of choice
- Maple - Add a teaspoon or two of pure maple syrup and reduce the amount of water or milk, as needed. You can also replace the vanilla with maple extract
- Boozy - You can make the glaze a little more adult by adding rum, bourbon, Chambord, or any other flavored liquors and liqueurs
Recipe FAQs
Eventually. A ratio with less water or milk will definitely harden and without a lot of waiting time. If you are using slightly more water or milk, it will take longer to harden, but will eventually. Heavy cream will take the longest to harden, and often will harden on the outside only if the glaze is on thick enough. If you want to prevent the glaze from hardening, you can add a small touch of melted butter or even corn syrup.
Most people use each term interchangeably and it is used interchangeably in this recipe. You use the same ingredients for both, but in technical terms, the difference comes in the consistency and role you want it to take. Icing is usually a little thicker and meant to harden, whereas the glaze is meant to be a light coating and sets a little more transparent.
Unless the specific recipe has a particular way it needs to be store, you can usually keep it in an airtight container at room temperature.
Royal icing is meant to be very thick and harden significantly more than any typical powdered sugar icing ever could. This is achieved by adding whipped egg whites (most bakers will use meringue powder as a quick shortcut)
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Recipe Card
Powdered Sugar Glaze and Icing
Ingredients
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teasoon vanilla extract
- 1 - 2 tablespoons water or milk or as needed
Instructions
- Add the powdered sugar to a small or medium bowl.
- Pour in the vanilla.
- Drizzle in half a tablespoon of the liquid of your choice and whisk well. Add another half tablespoon and mix well. Keep repeating until it reaches your desired consistency.
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