For those of you who are looking for ways to make your royal icing shiny, I have made a discovery (by accident!). I have been having trouble with my royal icing getting chalky and not drying right in this humidity. I decided to try something new (I just wanted to get a cookie to dry fast so I could see if the icing was going to work for me). I placed a couple of cookies iced with royal on a cookie sheet back into the oven. I have a feature on my oven that is for drying. I turned the heat down from default drying temp to 100 degrees. They dried very nicely so I knew that I could continue working with the royal I had made and it would dry ok. After I iced all my cookies and they were all dry (I didn't put anymore than those 2 cookies in the drying oven) I noticed that the 2 cookies that I put in the oven to dry were very shiny and the others were matte. I couldn't believe the difference. There was no light on in the oven, it was simply the dry heat. I didn't fade either because this was a couple of days later that I noticed the difference. Just wanted to pass this along to all of you because you all have been so helpful to me in the past.

Can you post pics of the differences please?

I wish I had taken a picture but I didn't. The cookies are gone! The lady picked them up a few hours ago. All I can tell you is that the ones that were in the drying oven were shiny and very smooth. The other ones were matte and dull (the usual royal looking, start out wet looking and shiny then dry dull)

I'm guessing that you have a convection oven?

I have one and I have a setting that I can use for dehydrating fruits and stuff

Is this similar to what you used? If so, I'm going to have to try that.

What kind of oven is it?

That is a neat idea!

Please let us know what kind of oven you have

It's a Jennair oven duel fuel oven (gas burners on top, electric ovens on bottom). It has two ovens, one small one on top and a large convection one on the bottom. The convection oven is the one that has the drying feature. My Mom also has an oven (can't remember what kind) that has this drying feature too so I don't think it is that unusual - maybe in newer ovens. Maybe you could try setting your oven to 100 degrees and see if that works if you don't have the drying feature. I just wanted to let you all know that it must be a dry heat that helps with the shiny feature.

That is interesting. Iâve tried using a heat lamp in the past but didnât notice that much of a difference. Iâd love to try this but unfortunately my oven doesnât have the drying feature and only goes down to 165 degrees. I wonder if a dehydrator would have the same effect.

Can you tell me how long you left the cookies in to dry?

Thanks for the info!

I have always added a few drops of glycerine to my RI to give it a sheen after it dries on the cookies. The more you add, the shinier it is. I buy little bottles of it at Michael's craft store right in the cake decorating dept. I live in a very dry climate in CA, so I don't have experience dealing with humidity, but you might try it to see if that's an easier way to get some shine.

That is great Peeverly! Thanks for the tip. I am always looking for ways to try and dry the cookies in this humidity.

SweetDreamsAT - when you add glycerine to make it shinier...do you add it directly to the royal icing prior to frosting your cookies? Or do you add it to the iced cookies after it has dried? Thanks for the tip!

Thanks for passing this on! The question I have is - what RI recipe did you use and what brand of meringue powder?

Thanks again! I would love to get some sheen on my cookies!

sweet_2th_fairy - I mix in a few drops of glycerine to my RI recipe when I'm making it. You have to play around with the amount you add to get the level of sheen you want. Just a few drops helps to take away that chalky look Peeverly mentioned. Hope this helps.

Weird idea, I know...but what about those dryers (yes, clothes dryer) with a sweater rack and an air cycle? I wonder if that would work similar.

I don't have my sweater rack anymore or I'd try it.


Before anyone is grossed out by the idea, I just want to know if it'd work out the same...not to sell to a customer.

I have used the dehydrator in a pinch and it works, but the cookies end up extra dry so not so good for eating. They looked great.

Good Luck.

SweetDreamsAT - thanks for the glycerine tip. Your cookies are amazing. I took a look at your website. You are so creative and they are just beautiful. Great job!

I left the cookies in for about 10 minutes. They weren't completely dry when I took them out but enough so I could test to see if the royal was drying properly. I used Antonia's royal made with Wilton's merengue powder. I've tried the glycerin before but I felt that the shine "wore off" also, if you put too much in the icing will take a very long time to dry. So if you try it just put a touch.

Peeverly - Since glycerine hasn't done the trick for you, I can see why you are so excited about your discovery! I have never had a problem with the shine wearing off from the glycerine, but now I am curious to check out your new method. Who knows... you may go down in culinary history with the "Peeverly effect" Thanks for sharing your discovery with the rest of us.

Sweet Dreams, your cookies are amazing. My mouth fell open! I think they're the best I've ever seen.

Sweet Dreams - I agree with Sugaredup, your cookies are unbelievable. I loved looking at your website.

Please, please, let's not call it the "Peeverly Effect". We all know the name Peeverly is really stupid and I should change it (but then would you know who I am if I did change it?). It happens to be an inside joke with my family and it kind of stuck over the years. Don't ask me why I decided to use it for the cookie forum! So, I guess I'll just stay with it and if you happen to dry your royal icing in your oven with the drying button then just call it the "Susan Method".

Susan AKA Peeverly

But peeverly sounds so cute......!

SweetDreamsAT - Can you share your royal icing recipe with us? Your cookies are beautiful!!! Do you use a recipe from here or is it your own????

How much glycerin per batch of royal do you use, also if you use the heat to dry the royal does it dry out the cookie? My cookies are soft. Just wondering.

About the drying out the cookie. I didn't taste the cookie so I don't know if it dried them out (yikes - hope not!). I didn't leave them in that long but I really don't know. I'm going to try it again to see if it changes the consistency. It would be a bummer if it ruined them.

I just wanted to thank everyone for their kind words. It means a lot to get feedback from fellow cookie enthusiasts!

bellejoey- you had requested my RI recipe. Here is the one I have always used: (though, I recently tried Antonia74's recipe from this site and love it too!)
Sweet Dreams Royal Icing
2 oz. meringue powder
10 oz. water
3 lbs sifted powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp lemon juice
1/8 - 1/4 tsp glycerine

Whisk the meringue powder and water until it starts to get frothy. Add all of the sugar, and mix until completely combined. Add vanilla, lemon juice and glycerine and continue mixing for a few minutes until completely combined and smooth.

Happy baking everyone!

Thanks for passing on the tip. I have to try this.