Ditch Store-Bought Sprinkles for This Homemade Recipe

Sprinkles might be associated with childlike wonder, but everyone should show their inner child occasionally. Most people tend to gravitate toward store-bought sprinkles. But that habit may change after trying this homemade sprinkles recipe from the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE). 

Chelsea Burgess, chef-instructor of pastry and baking arts at the ICE’s New York City campus, shares the inspiration behind her homemade sprinkles recipe. The culinary expert says she wanted to show people how to use natural products instead of food dye to make colors. Chef Burgess adds that she aimed for an amped-up version of rainbow jimmies. Homemade sprinkles won’t have the same texture because they aren’t wax-coated, but they’ll still make a great addition to any treat, from cakes to ice cream.

Start the recipe by making the base first. Use the paddle attachment of a stand mixer to combine the powdered sugar, water, and corn syrup until smooth. Afterward, divide the base into six equal parts and cover each with plastic wrap. Remember to set one bowl aside for white sprinkles.

Mix the turmeric, matcha powder, blue spirulina, crushed freeze-dried raspberries, and cocoa powder into the divided base ingredients, adding one item per separate bowl. You’ll know you have the right consistency when you draw a line through the mixture and the trail slowly disappear afterward. Chef Burgess says you can adjust the consistency of the base by adding water to thin it out or powdered sugar to thicken it. All mixtures should be thick enough to hold their round shape. If they’re too thick, they’ll be difficult to get out of the pipe.

Once you have the right consistency for each color, you can transfer each one to a separate piping bag with a tiny hole; Chef Burgess uses tip number 41 because it has two holes, so it can pipe two rows at once, but any piping tip from one to three should do the trick. (You can cut a tiny hole in the bottom of your piping bag if you don’t have a tip).

Now, you can finally get to piping. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pipe lines from one end to the other. Chef Burgess suggests having a separate pan for each color. Let the sprinkles sit at room temperature for at least 12 hours. After 12 hours, scrape the sprinkles off the parchment paper and use your hands to break them up into equal-sized pieces. 

You can store these sprinkles at room temperature in an airtight container for about a month. Keep in mind that natural colors will fade faster than wax-coated ones. The sprinkles will absorb moisture because they aren’t coated in wax, so you may want to put desiccant packages in the container for a longer shelf life.

The next time you want to experiment with interesting recipes, consider taking a course at the Institute of Culinary Education. The school offers various classes, from hospitality and hotel management to pastry baking. Learn more about the ICE’s Los Angeles and New York locations here.   

How to Make Homemade Sprinkles

Yields: about two cups of sprinkles

Ingredients

Base:

7 cups (791 grams) powdered sugar, sifted 
½ cup (118 grams) water
¼ cup (85 grams) light corn syrup

Coloring:

Yellow: 1 teaspoon turmeric 
Green: 2 teaspoons matcha powder, plus ¼ teaspoon water 
Blue: 1 ½ teaspoons blue spirulina 
Pink: 2 tablespoons freeze-dried raspberries, crushed to a powder, plus ½ teaspoon water
Brown: 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, plus 1 teaspoon water

1. Make the base by combining powdered sugar, water, and corn syrup in a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix until smooth. 
2. Divide the base into six equal portions. Cover the surface of each portion with plastic wrap, allowing no air to touch it. Leave one portion as is; this will become the white sprinkles.
3. Make the remaining five portions different colors by mixing in the listed ingredients for each hue. Add small amounts of water as needed to maintain the desired consistency. If you draw a line with a spoon through the mixture, it should leave a solid trail that slowly dissolves back into the icing. The mixture should be thick enough to hold its shape yet soft enough to flow smoothly from the piping bag. 
4. Transfer the icing into a different piping bag with a small round tip. Tip number 41 is ideal because it will pipe two rows at a time, but any tip ranging from one to three works. If you do not have a piping tip, cut a small hole in the end of your piping bag. 
5. Pipe long lines from one end to the other on a parchment-lined sheet tray. Each color should fill an entire sheet pan. Allow to dry at room temperature for at least 12 hours. 
6. The following day, use a bench scraper to release the rows of sprinkles from the parchment. Then, use your hands to break them into similar-sized pieces. (Don’t worry about a little variation.) 
7. Store sprinkles at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one month. 

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