Homemade Sprinkles

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 0 mins

Set Time: 12 hrs

Total: 12 hrs 10 mins

Servings: 12 servings

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Making sprinkles at home is a fun activity alone or with kids! You can customize your own colors and size and even change the flavor with different extracts. Using a piping bag with a tip will make the sprinkles look more rounded and uniform, but if you don’t have either, you can use a resealable sandwich bag and snip a tiny bit off the corner.

How To Use Homemade Sprinkles

Use these sprinkles on cakes and cupcakes, ice cream sundaes, cookies, and anywhere else you want to add a dash of color. They can also be sprinkled on buttered toast to make a version of "fairy bread."

Tips for Making Homemade Sprinkles

How to hold the piping bag — Hold the piping bag 1/2 inch away from the surface at a 45-degree angle and squeeze the bag gently, then pull across. Touch the tip to the parchment paper to end the line.
If you don't have a piping bag — Use a resealable sandwich bag if you don't have a piping bag. Cut off a tiny part of one of the corners, and fill the bag with the mixture.
What tip to use — If you have an assortment of piping bag tips, a #4 round tip works perfectly for this recipe.
How to store sprinkles in the freezer — If storing the sprinkles in the freezer, defrost by pouring out the desired amount onto a piece of parchment paper and allow to sit at room temp. Spreading the sprinkles out onto parchment will allow any condensation from the freezer to dissipate without making them all stick together.

“When it’s this easy to make your sprinkles at home, why bother buying them? Plus it helps if you’re making them with kids to let them have fun making their own designs for them.” —Noah Velush-Rogers

A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 1/2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, or extract of choice
Gel food color

Steps to Make It

Gather the ingredients.

Line 2 to 3 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Prepare the same number of piping bags as the colors you want to make with a 4 mm circle tip.
Combine the confectioners' sugar, water, corn syrup, and extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
Whisk on medium speed until everything is completely combined into a thick paste. If the mixture is too thick and not pipeable, add 1/4 teaspoon water at a time until it reaches the desired consistency. If the mixture is too thin and runny, add more confectioners' sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.
Divide the mixture into the same number of bowls as the colors you want to make. Add drops of food coloring into each bowl. Make it slightly darker than the desired color as it will lighten once set.
Pour the mixtures into the prepared piping bags and pipe straight lines horizontally from left to right on the parchment-lined baking sheets. Space the lines 1/2 inch apart.
Once all the lines are piped let the sheet trays sit out at room temperature for at least 12 hours.
When the lines are totally dried use a knife or bench scraper to cut the sprinkles into desired lengths and store in an airtight container.

How to Store and Freeze

Store the sprinkles at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a month or in the freezer for up to six months.
If storing the sprinkles in the freezer, defrost by pouring out the desired amount onto a piece of parchment paper and allow to sit at room temp. Spreading the sprinkles out onto parchment will allow any condensation from the freezer to dissipate without making them all stick together.

Recipe Variations

Try different shapes — Make different sprinkle shapes by piping tiny dots, stars, or hearts instead of lines.
Flavor the sprinkles — Change the flavor of the sprinkles by using any extract like almond, cinnamon, orange, etc.
Using natural dyes and flavors — Make all-natural flavored and colored sprinkles by adding powders like cocoa powder, pulverized freeze-dried fruit powders, matcha, instant coffee, etc.
Avoiding corn syrup — If you don’t want to use corn syrup, you can make royal icing and finish it the same way.

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 12
Amount per serving
Calories	82
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g	0%
Saturated Fat 0g	0%
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 3mg	0%
Total Carbohydrate 21g	8%
Dietary Fiber 0g	0%
Total Sugars 21g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 0mg	0%
Calcium 1mg	0%
Iron 0mg	0%
Potassium 1mg	0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.