365 in 365 - Royal Icing Recipe

I wanted y'all to know that I have updated the royal icing recipe for the cookies and it seems to be working very well.  One of the issues that I was having was with the flavor of this concoction and the original amount that recipe made.  First, there was no flavor except for sweet and secondly, there was tons of it left over and no cookies to dress, unless I wanted to make a triple batch of cookies.  So, here is the recipe with all the updates:

Royal Icing - These flavor and the amounts have been adjusted for the shortbread cookie recipe so that not very much is left over

1 teaspoon meringue powder

1 - 1/4 cups of confectioner's sugar

1/4 cup water mixed with 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Mix the meringue powder into the powdered sugar, add 1/8 cup of the water and vanilla mixture to start with and beat on medium with a hand held mixer until mixed and thickened and a bit fluffy.  You may or may not need a little bit more of the vanilla water that remains. 

Spread about 1 teaspoon of icing on each cookie and let the icing dry.  This icing will dry to a firm consistency, but will not be so hard that it will crack or crumble.  You can use a bit more if you like.  Also, using a pastry bag with a very small tip works well too.

I will be working on various flavors of this icing and once I get those nailed down, I will share these as well.