Hi All,

I just thought I would give you my opinion on the different types of icing (if you care!!!). There are always questions about the different kinds so I am going to sum it up:

Royal Icing - Pros: Easy to work with and make, most people like it
Cons: Can be time consuming, can be hard to bite into
not always as shiny as you want it to be

Toba's Icing - Pros: Very tasty (most people love it), easy to flood with,
dries shiny
Cons: Can't pipe with it easily, makes the cookie too soft
and therefore can break easily (my experience)

Rolled Buttercream - Pros: tasty, easy to make,fast to get a cookie
covered
Cons: Not all people like it - some say it is too
sweet, peels off cookie and some don't
like that aspect.

MMF - Pros: Easy to make, gets cookie coverd fast, can make
decorations with it.
Cons: People say it is too sweet, can peel off cookie and
I've been told by people they don't like that.

There you go. I go back in forth on the icings but I think I am a royal fan. Any comments??

Susan

I tend to like the modified royal(antonia's)

Once I get the consistency right, it's wonderful to work with, tastes great(I use almond or other clear flavoring extract) and I love the bite. You get frosting with every bite. It make the cookies a nice soft but not too soft. I've never gotten breakage from the icing. When it happens it is usually because the cutter was a delicate design and i am kind of clumsy that way. I've broken the neck of many a flamingo trying to get it in the cello bag!

Can you tell I love this icing? Haven't tried Toba's yet but will very soon.

Thanks for offering your opinion, it helps us novices.

Thanks, guys. I'd like to try cookies but had no idea what icing to try. It's so overwhelming and this helps a ton!

If you add some more powdered sugar to thicken the icing, Toba's pipes pretty easy. I guess I haven't noticed that it makes the cookie soft. Maybe they just don't last long enough to get soft!

Thanks for the pros and cons of all the icings. You could add plain buttercream to your list. Pros: easy to work with and tastes great. Cons: doesn't dry hard enought for stacking. Some think it is too greasy.

I only tried Antonia74's icing and Toba's. Not that I didn't like Toba's because I really did but I found Antonia's so much easier to work with. Every time I use Toba's it runs all over the place I need to spend more time with it to perfect the consistency because it's always nice to have different icings to use.

Oh, and I have made RBC I just haven't put it on my cookies yet - it's still sitting in the fridge wrapped up all nice and airtight waiting for the perfect moment for me to not be so lazy.

I use Antonia's icing on cookies. It does not get so hard you can't bite it, and it has a mild lemony flavor. I also use MMF on cookies, and if you place it on the cookie when it's hot, it does not come off. Or you can stick it to the cookie when it cools with corn syrup. If you think it's too sweet you add popcorn salt when you mix it. I use either butter vanilla or cream bouquet for flavor. To the chocolate I add choc hazelnut flavor.

the first time i decorated cookies, i used tobas, and i continued to use it for about a year. everyone loved the taste, so i kept making it. I used RI for the first time a few months ago, and that's pretty much all i use now. i find it easier to work with, and i happen to like the 'matte' appearance when it dries. i have flavored it with a few different lor-ann oils and its very yummy to me, and i really like the little 'crunch' when you bite into it. i used MMF on cookies and it was *so* fun to work with, but i find it too chewy and sweet. i'm sure if i rolled it thinner and flavored it differently i would like it better, but overall Antonia74s RI gets my vote!

Thank you Peeverly for the Pro's and Con's on the different icings. It is very helpful. I am a fan of Antonia74 for my sugar cookie icing, but have been wanting to try Toba's icing. Most of my customers love my sugar cookies, so guess I will stay with what works for me.

Am I the only one who uses Karen's Meringue Powder buttercream for cookies? I've tried Antonia's, mmf, rbc, and Alice's cookie icing and Karen's is my favorite by far. It's easy to make, easy to pipe and it tastes delicous.

I love MMF on butter cookies. I flavor mine with Creme Bouquet. If you cut your shapes ahead and put them on the cookies hot from the oven they meld right to the cookie and won't peel off. I use a small roller to smoothe out any bubbles and then let them cool. They taste like a piece of my favorite kind of wedding cake to me. YUM!

THANK YOU!! This is a life saver!!

I'm making cookies for the 1st time today, and i want an icing that is hard enough to stack, but i don't want a crispy crunchy feeling when i eat it. I want more like a really crusty buttercream texture. I think i'm going to try Toba's first, and if i don't like it, i'll try Antonia74 RI!

Thanks!

Do you have a recipe for Karen's Meringue Buttercream? I tried looking for it in the recipes, but I couldn't find it. Thanks!

I think karens recipe is very similiar to alices cookie icing except karen uses shortening and alice uses butter. I just made alices for the first time a few minutes ago, and i am waiting until it dries to compare the flavor with antonias royal icing. I love using antonias royal icing, but i do not love the taste of it. i am hoping i like alices but you never know. i am not sure if it is the icing or the cookie i do not like. i also want to experiment with some other sugar cookie recipes. My husband LOVES what i make now, which is NFSC with antonias icing, but i just do not like it at all. I guess everyone has their own personal taste preferences!!! I happen to love the flavor of the cookies from Cookies by Design, and my husband thinks they are awful. Go figure!

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I just don't like royal icing on cookies. I don't like the taste, and I find it too hard when you bite into it. Looks beautiful, but tastes...blech!

I'm a HUGE fan of Alice's cookie icing. It floods beautifully, colours are bright, and the dried icing is hard enough to stack, but still soft enough to bite into easily. Plus, it has a wonderful buttery flavour. I'd never go back to plain RI again.

Just my opinion. I'm going to have to try the rolled buttercream or MMF on cookies soon. I've got some white chocolate fondant (Chocopan) that I bet would be yummy, too! A good chance to try out my new food markers!

I really like Alice's icing and the RBC. However I have not found a good chocolate icing for cookies. Anyone have one?
Thanks, Melonie