I recently visited a local cookie shop and their pumpkin decorated cookie looked like they were iced in royal icing, but when I bit into it was soft not mushy but crusty then soft. Does anyone know what kind of icing this is or was it that were royal has completely set yet?

tasted like almond too,also their cookie werealmost 1" thick is this normal?

Yummy cookie though impressed

I often use a drop or two of almond flavoring in royal for cookies (depending the client) I think Alice's cookie icing is softer than royal. It includes a bit of butter that prevents it from being totally hard.

It was probably a crusting buttercream icing. Yes, those cookies tend to be very thick.