How to Make Homemade Sprinkles (Easy 4-Ingredient Recipe)

These homemade sprinkles come together with just four simple ingredients and a few minutes of mixing. They’re colorful, sweet, and perfect for topping cookies, cakes, brownies, and ice cream. Best of all, you can customize them for every season and celebration without relying on store-bought decorations filled with extra additives.

Prep Time15

Cook Time0

drying12

Total Time12 15

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: dessert recipe, holiday dessert, Mother's Day Dessert, summer dessert, Valentine's Dessert

Servings: cups

Calories: 476kcal

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Kitchen Essentials

Half Sheet Pan

Parchment paper

Ingredients

1 Cup Powdered Sugar
2-3 Teaspoons Milk or water
¼ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract optional, or other flavoring
Gel food coloring preferred for vibrant colors

Instructions

How to Make Homemade Sprinkles

Mix the Icing. In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth.
1 Cup Powdered Sugar, 2-3 Teaspoons Milk, ¼ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
The consistency should be thick but pipeable — similar to royal icing. If it’s too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add milk one drop at a time.
Add Color. Divide the icing into small bowls and stir in gel food coloring until evenly blended.
Gel food coloring
Gel coloring works best because it keeps the icing thick while producing vibrant color.
Pipe the Sprinkles. Transfer the icing to a piping bag or a zip-top bag with the corner snipped off. Pipe thin lines onto parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Keep the lines as straight and thin as possible. Or pipe tiny dots or other shapes.
Let Them Dry. Allow the piped icing to dry at room temperature for 12–24 hours, or until completely hardened. Do not rush this step — they must be fully dry before breaking.
Break into Sprinkles. Once dry, gently break the hardened icing strips into small sprinkle-sized pieces.
That’s it — just a simple icing piped and dried into classic “jimmies.” Store in an airtight container until ready to use.

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Notes

How Much Does This Recipe Make?

With 1 cup powdered sugar, this typically yields:

About ¾ to 1 cup of finished sprinkles

Or you can say:

Enough to generously decorate 24 cupcakes or a 9x13 cake

If piped very thin, it can stretch even further.

Tips for Success

Before you begin, here are a few simple tips to help your homemade sprinkles turn out beautifully every time:

Start with a slightly deeper color.
The icing will lighten as it dries, so mix your color just a shade darker than your final goal.

Pipe thin lines.
Thin lines dry faster and break into classic sprinkle-sized pieces. Thick lines can take much longer to dry and may remain soft inside.

Use gel food coloring.
Gel colors give vibrant color without thinning the icing. Liquid food coloring can make the mixture too runny.

Allow plenty of drying time.
Sprinkles must be completely dry before breaking apart. In humid kitchens, this may take a full 24 hours.

A dehydrator can speed things up.
If you live in a humid climate, a dehydrator set on low can help them dry more quickly and evenly. (Be sure not to overheat, or they may crack.)

Customize the size and shape.
Break them into shorter pieces for confetti-style sprinkles, or pipe small dots, stars, or hearts for special occasions.

Nutrition