Come this Christmas, you will be master of the sprinkles. Master of the sprinkles, I say! This Easy Homemade Sprinkles recipe made from coconut sugar and arrowroot powder* makes a believer out of anyone who doubts their skills. Who knew a favorite topping like these are so simple to make in the comfort of your own kitchen? This is such an easy recipe to follow, the only difficult part is waiting for them to set (kinda like my homemade googly eyes recipe). But just like that, the final product is worth every minute spent waiting for, promise! I mean, you see where we are heading with these sprinkles from the picture below, right? Every homemade Teddy Graham deserves a fuzzy Christmas sweater of his own made from homemade sprinkles. Thus, coming full circle in the Circle of Life.
*Yeah you read that right, sister/brother. Coconut sugar and arrowroot powder.
I actually have a sprinkles recipe in my cookbook, Decadent Gluten-Free Vegan Baking, which by the way, includes a fun way to create your own food coloring from fruits and vegetables but this time around I wanted to create a recipe that I could actually eat. My two sugar sources these days aside from fruit are raw honey (my blood sugar levels seem stabilized when I indulge a little) and coconut sugar. I don’t use coconut sugar too often but it’s now my go-to if I have a baked good that I want to sweeten up if I’m not using raw honey. I figured that there had to be a way to create a powdered sugar version of coconut sugar so I enlisted the help of my kitchen elves to get working on it.
Homemade Healthy Christmas Sprinkles
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 1/2 c. homemade sprinkles 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 c. coconut sugar
- 2 Tbsp. arrowroot powder
- 3/4 tsp. warm water
- 1/2 tsp. coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
- 5–7 drops natural food coloring
Instructions
- Blend together the coconut sugar in a high-speed blender with an S blade until a fine powder. Takes approx. 1 minute. Add the arrowroot powder and blend for another 20 seconds.
- Mix the powdered coconut sugar and arrowroot with the melted oil, water, and vanilla until you have developed a thick paste. Divide the paste evenly into to small bowls and add green coloring to one bowl and red to the other.
- Place into a plastic bag and make a very small slit in one corner of the bag.
- On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, create thin lines until your paste runs out.
- Allow to dry and set for at least 12 hours. Cut into small sprinkles and enjoy.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Tablespoon
- Calories: 57
- Sugar: 12g
- Fat: 0.3g
- Saturated Fat: 0.25g
- Carbohydrates: 14g
What I found was a comparable version to powdered sugar in terms of taste and texture however turning it into a paste meant that you have to endure its brownish hue. That is where the natural food coloring comes into play. As you can see they dry up real nicely in color regardless and you would never know that you were dealing with a brown base to begin with. That color you see below is actually pre-food coloring. See what I mean?
But as you can see below it mixes in nicely with the food coloring and looks even better once dried. You just have to use colors that are darker in nature and don’t expect pretty pastel colors coming from this paste.
Recipe notes:
You are looking to create a very thick paste that doesn’t spread too much. If your paste is on the runnier side, simply add a tablespoon of powdered down coconut sugar and arrowroot powder until it is on the stiffer side.
Make sure to cut only a small slit in the corner of your plastic baggie. You don’t want the sprinkles line to be too thick or else you have to wait longer for them to set and they won’t look as cute.
It is very important to allow the sprinkles to set for at least 12 hours. The longer they are left alone, the firmer they will become.
If you end up making these I would love to see your creations on Instagram! It tickles me happy to see your pictures, just tag me (@forkandbeans) so I can celebrate kitchen success with you.
This is such an awesome idea! I’ve wondered before about how to make healthy sprinkles.. love it!
I have no idea how you managed to get such great colors! Mine turned out super muddy, even though I used more coloring than was written in the recipe. I did have to double the amount of water and coconut oil to even make a paste. With the measurements as written, it was only enough liquid to turn my powdered coconut sugar into a slightly damp “sand.” I may give it another go, because I like the idea, but found this to be much trickier and more time consuming than anticipated. My toddler is super stoked though, as they’re for his birthday cake and he’s been asking me to make sprinkles all week. Guess that’s a win.
I must be doing something wrong, my wet ingredients were not nearly enough for the dry ingredients. Is it really only teaspoons for wet ingredients. Not even enough liquid to make a paste. Help!
First, I love your site and this recipe for homemade sprinkles. I have been using hydroponics from a company called http://www.planetponics.com that allows me to grow the herbs, vegetables & grains for some of your recipes. I really enjoyed the value and idea this company was striving for. Thought I would share it for others. You can grow all year and in any climate. It grows food such as herbs, vegetables, flowers and grains. And there is no soil, no mess, self-watering hydroponics. Thanks again and keep the recipes coming!
Just found your blog – I’m already obsessed. And this omg this is perfection. Thanks for sharing!!
Can’t wait to make homemade sprinkles! I spy homemade vanilla by ashlae 🙂 how is it? I ordered a few yesterday!
You are spying correctly, Cathy 🙂 You will LOVE the vanilla!
Mind. Blown. And I have all the ingredients in my pantry already!
YESSSSSS! Homemade sprinkles, here you come!
This looks like such a fun (and tasty!) project! Also, I laughed out loud in the office when I read the bit about every teddy graham needing a sweater 🙂
Words never rang truer, right Ashley? haha
These are so cute… And I noticed you have many sprinkle recipes…The Decadent Gluten Free Vegan Baking Cookbook BY Cara Reed — sprinkle recipe is different but either way I love them. Great idea, cute bears, and I am jealous of your writing skillz and photos. Please teach me how to blog like you it would make my whole DAY !!!!!?????…..
Oh man, have you checked out my posts when I first started?? I took my photos from a point and shoot camera. It’s taken years to find my voice, honestly it’s been in the past year that I have figured out what this site is all about. All that to say it just takes time, practice and tons of tweaking. I also read a lot on SEO, how to grow a blog, etc. Just try to learn all I can and network with other blogs. Recipe development has become something I LOVE and oddly something I have a knack for (would’ve never known it 3 years ago). I’ve grown tremendously in that time and love it so much. What else do you want to know/how can I help??
I have trouble with the camera big time, I don’t know “how to blog” But Im slowly accumulating the “stuff” that I need. I think, Come to vegas now all feed you gluten free treats and you’ll be my teacher. Please 🙂
These are just freakin’ adorable.
Thanks so freaking much Bianca!
I don’t have arrowroot powder anancant ourcahse it anywhere near where I live. Is there any chance I could use cornstarch instead, or another thickener? And could you recommend how much because I’m useless at substituting 😀 thanks
Use cornstarch as a 1:1 ratio, yes! I used arrowroot because it’s gentle on bellies and some have a corn allergy. But if you can use cornstarch, that works just as well. Good luck!
Thank you SO MUCH for this recipe! I can never find soy and allergen free sprinkles!
You got it Rebecca! Have fun making these. The best part is slicing them up
Oh my goodness! I’m going to bake a few different Christmas cookies and I wanted at least one with sprinkles, and I’m a sucker for anything and everything homemade. These are perfect!
My kind of gal! Homemade is the best made. Happy cookie sprinkling!
Pinned for later! I will have to look into arrowroot powder, I’ve never used it for anything!
If you cant find arrowroot (I get mine online or Whole Foods) you can use cornstarch if you can ingest corn!