How to Make Homemade Sprinkles
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Learn how to make homemade sprinkles with this easy recipe, using ingredients you already have in the kitchen cabinet. Customize the colors, shapes, and flavors to fit any occasion or baking project—pretty pastels for Easter, pink for Valentine’s Day, red and green for Christmas, or your favorite school or sports team colors. These homemade sprinkles are gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan, so they’re suitable for friends and family with a variety of dietary preferences, too.
What Inspired These Homemade Sprinkles?
When I moved from New York to London to study pastry at Le Cordon Bleu I knew there would be things I’d grow to miss about living in the US, but I never thought that sprinkles would be one of them. But due to health regulations, British manufacturers cannot use the food dyes found in American sprinkles, so they substitute vegetable colorants instead. Unfortunately, this swap means that many of the candies and confections wind up looking bland—even M&Ms appear dull and matte compared to their shiny, brightly-colored US counterparts.
Even worse than their uninspiring appearance, British sprinkles dissolve into a sticky, goopy, brownish-grey mess stirred into doughs and batters, so vibrant funfetti cakes, cookies, shortbread, biscotti, or…anything funfetti, really, comes out looking pretty sad. (In fact, British sprinkles are so ill-suited to funfetti bakes that a few years ago, a bakery in England found itself in trouble for using “illegal” American sprinkles in their cookies!) So, like pumpkin spice, everything bagel seasoning, and other hard-to-find American staples, I taught myself to make my own homemade sprinkles.
Ingredients for Making Homemade Sprinkles
- Confectioner’s Sugar – Confectioner’s sugar (icing sugar) forms the sweet sprinkle batter. Pass the sugar through a fine mesh strainer before mixing it with the other ingredients. If you don’t sift, hard, white pieces of sugar might be visible in your finished sprinkles; these are especially noticeable if you make dark or bright colors.
- Liquid Glucose – A clear, sticky invert sugar prevents crystallization. I’ve tested this recipe with liquid glucose, corn syrup, and light Karo syrup; any of these can be used interchangeably.
- Flavoring – To flavor my sprinkles, I chose almond extract (mostly just because I love it!) You can also opt for vanilla extract, or any other flavor oil or extract you’d like. Use flavors and extracts sparingly, unless you want the flavor of your homemade sprinkles to feature prominently in the finished dish.
- Food Coloring – To achieve vibrantly colored sprinkles, you will need gel food coloring for this recipe, rather than the water-based kind from the grocery store. (Water-based colors add too much extra liquid, which can cause the batter to run as you pipe.) My go-to supplier for gel coloring is the Chefmaster brand.
Notes on Piping Homemade Sprinkles
You will need a set of teeny tiny piping tips to pipe your homemade sprinkles. An opening around 1/16-inch to 1/8-inch or so works best. For efficiency, it’s easiest to have one piping bag and piping tip for each sprinkle color you plan to make, rather than washing and reusing the same piping tip.
If you don’t already own a set of tiny piping tips, they’re a great addition to your baking toolkit. As well as making homemade sprinkles, I use mine for gingerbread houses and for piping decorations on royal icing cookies and macarons. They’re also ideal for adding text or decorative elements to cakes, cookies, and plated desserts.
Tips & Tricks for Making Homemade Sprinkles
- Plan ahead. The batter comes together quickly, but you will need to allow time for the piped sprinkles to dry before cutting. This can take anywhere from a few hours to a full day, depending on temperature and humidity factors (as well as the thickness of your piping) so plan accordingly.
- Pipe on parchment. While I love my silicone baking mats, for sprinkles I recommend parchment instead. You should never cut directly on a silicone mat (in pastry school, we learned that silicone mats have fibers inside, and if you cut on the mat, these fibers can find their way into your food) and there is no way to easily move the thinly piped rows of icing to a cutting board without breaking them in the process. Plus, you can easily lift the sheet and move it to a cutting board to cut your sprinkles, and it’s easier to fold the paper to pour your homemade sprinkles into a dish.
- Tape the corners. Parchment slips around more than a silicone mat, so you might want to add small tabs of tape to the edges to help hold the paper in place while you pipe.
- Don’t worry about precision. I like to begin by trimming off the “blobby” ends on both ends of the rows. Beyond that, I don’t worry about making all of my sprinkles exactly the same size. I generally aim for 1/2-inch pieces, but slightly bigger or smaller is fine, too.
- Use a sharp chef’s knife. And don’t apply too much pressure, or you’ll risk causing your sprinkles to shatter. I find that a “tapping” motion works best, but it will depend on your knife and how thickly you’ve piped the lines of sprinkles.
- Make fun shapes. For this batch, I’ve gone with the traditional, elongated “sprinkle” shape, but feel free to be creative. This recipe works equally well for piping dots, hearts, stars, shamrocks, or any other shapes you’d like. If you pipe larger shapes, note that your sprinkles might take longer to dry, so be sure to plan accordingly.
How to Make Homemade Sprinkles
- Total Time12 hours
- Yield150 grams (about 1 1/2 cups) homemade sprinkles 1x
A recipe for homemade sprinkles. Easily customizable for holidays, sports team colors, or anything else you’d like!
Ingredients
300 grams confectioner’s sugar (2 1/4 cups; 10 1/2 ounces), plus more to adjust consistency
40 milliliters cold water (2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons), plus more to adjust consistency
20 grams liquid glucose, or light corn syrup (1 tablespoon)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract, vanilla extract, or other extract of choice
Pinch fine sea salt
Gel food coloring
Instructions
Line 2-3 large rimmed baking trays with parchment. Add tabs of tape at the corners to prevent it from slipping as you pipe.
Fit a piping bag with a 1/16-inch or 1/8-inch tip. Prepare a separate piping bag for each sprinkle color you plan to make.
Pass the confectioner’s sugar through a fine mesh sieve to remove any lumps or clumps.
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, mix confectioner’s sugar, water, liquid glucose, and salt on medium-high speed until well combined.
If necessary, add more water or confectioner’s sugar to adjust the consistency. The batter should feel thick and viscous rather than runny, yet remain fluid enough to pipe.
Divide into bowls, with a separate bowl for each color you plan to make.
Stir in gel food coloring as desired.
Scoop batter into prepared piping bags.
On prepared trays, pipe straight lines, dots, or other shapes.*
Set aside and allow to dry, uncovered, for at least 10 hours, or overnight.
Carefully remove the tape and lift the parchment sheet to a large cutting board.
With a sharp chef’s knife, cut piped lines into sprinkles, each about 1/2-inch long.**
Repeat the process with the rest of the piped lines.
Store homemade sprinkles in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.
Notes
*The batter should be thick enough that it does not spread, so feel free to pipe your lines close together to save space.
**Try not to apply too much pressure, or it can cause the sprinkles to shatter. And don’t worry if they aren’t all exactly the same size—mine definitely aren’t!
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Setting Time: 10 hours
- Category: Miscellaneous
- Method: No Cook
Ways to Use Homemade Sprinkles
You can use these homemade sprinkles to decorate just about anything! Sprinkle on buttercream Easter eggs, chocolate bark, or frosted hand pies. Use your homemade sprinkles for cupcakes or cake decorating, or as a finishing touch on buttercream cookies. Or, sprinkle them over a milkshake, sundae, or bowl of homemade vanilla ice cream.
Other DIY Ingredient Recipes You Might Enjoy
Homemade Ice Cream Cones
Lavender Sugar Cubes
Everything Bagel Seasoning
Candied Ginger
Dried Citrus Slices
Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix
And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!
