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
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2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
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2 1/2 tablespoons water
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2 tablespoons corn syrup
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1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, or extract of choice
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Gel food color
Steps to Make It
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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.
The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack
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Combine the confectioners' sugar, water, corn syrup, and extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack
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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.
The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack
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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.
The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack
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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.
The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack
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Once all the lines are piped let the sheet trays sit out at room temperature for at least 12 hours.
The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack
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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.
The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack
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.
