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Make Your Own Vegan Sprinkles

October 9, 2021 By Gretchen 12 Comments

Sadly animal products creep into just about everything

It seems as vegans, we spend most of our time reading labels.

But Vegan sprinkles? Seriously?

Vegan Sprinkles

Yes it’s a thing, here’s why

Confectioners glaze is the main culprit in most candy and confections.

Homemade Sprinkles! vegan gluten free

Also known as “confectioner’s polish” and “shellac,” is used by many candy manufacturers to improve the appearance of their finished products by giving them a “shiny sheen” that will not easily wear off.

Shellac is a resin excreted by certain female Asian beetles after they have feasted on tree bark.

The resin is then harvested, heated, and purified.

India is the world’s leading producer of shellac, and the U.S, Europe, and Egypt are the top consumers of it.

While some are taken aback by the fact of shellac’s origins, it really is not much different in nature than other insect products, such as honey and the honeycomb.

But as vegans we are living life with as little animal (and insect!) exploitation as possible.

That’s the bottom line, so confectioners glaze is a NO.

Whether you are vegan or not or if you care about eating beetle secretions or not,

This homemade recipe for sprinkles is not only easy and cost efficient, but fun too!

Homemade Halloween Sprinkles

It costs just about $1 to make over 2 cups of vegan sprinkles!

Homemade Sprinkles! vegan gluten free

Just give yourself an hour or more if you want to double the recipe to make 4 cups

The time is spent piping out those long strings of icing

And unless you have endless counter space, you will need several sheet pans too.

Vegan food coloring is another issue, but you can get some natural food colors here if you are going the full vegan mile.

I have also used homemade natural colors with tumeric for yellow, beet juice for purples and pinks and spinach or kale juice for green

You will have to use much less water or aquafaba than the main recipe listed below since the juices are primarily water.

But here is my favorite way to color everything now since I recently discovered Flower Powder Super Food Color by Suncore Foods *not sponsored

Miniature Cheesecakes ~ Spring Assortment

CLICK HERE FOR THE YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE THESE SPRINKLES!

Homemade Sprinkles! vegan gluten free

I’ve also made these sprinkles for Halloween and Christmas too!

DIY Halloween Sprinkles ~ Vegan!
Halloween Sprinkles
Homemade Sprinkles! vegan gluten free
Christmas Sprinkles

Basically any holiday or color scheme you want can be achieved easily!

Additionally I have used these sprinkles successfully inside of my white cake recipe for a Funfetti Cake!

Birthday Cake Cheesecake~ Copy Cat

Funfetti Birthday Cheesecake

CLICK HERE FOR THE HALLOWEEN SPRINKLES VIDEO TUTORIAL!

DIY Halloween Sprinkles ~ Vegan!

Notes for Success:

The aquafaba and addition of vanilla extract will prohibit a super bright white sprinkles

For super white I would use water instead of aquafaba in  the same measurement and omit the vanilla extract or use clear vanilla flavoring

As I mentioned above in addition to time you will need some extra sheet pans since these sprinkles must dry for several hours ~ preferably ovenight

And of course we want to make a giant batch all at once

I had 6 sheet pans for a double batch of the icing listed below *see video tutorial for visual reference

Since you will be working with such small portions of the icing sugar at a time I use parchment paper cones to pipe each color

It is cleaner and easier to handle those small bags rather than large pastry bags

Not to mention the canvas or plastic pastry bags we use for other projects may have residual grease in them which can break down the sprinkle icing.

Watch this video below for a step by step look at how to make your own parchment paper cones for icing decorations

If for some reason you are not up for the project of making your own vegan sprinkles

Don’t worry! I found a really great Vegan Company called SUPERNATURAL

They have tons of options for fun & festive sprinkles for all occasions!

Vegan Sprinkles

For more recipes using sprinkles click the links below!

Bakery Style Vegan Sugar Cookies
Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
Birthday Cake Cheesecake~ Copy Cat
Funfetti Birthday Cheesecake
The Best Vegan Vanilla Cake Recipe
Fluffy Vanilla Cake Recipe

Vegan Sugar Cookies

Birthday Cake Cheesecake~ Copy Cat Cheesecake Factory Recipe ~ Vegan

The Best Vegan Vanilla Cake Recipe

Vegan Sprinkles
 
Print
Prep time
60 mins
Total time
1 hour
 
You can easily adjust the consistency of this recipe by adding more water or AF a teaspoon at a time if it is too stiff to pipe or more confectioners sugar a Tablespoons at a time if it is too runny.
You will notice I list Aquafaba OR water in the ingredients list, I have used both with great results in each, I do prefer the AF though as I find it makes the sprinkles slightly "harder" or more "dry" if that makes sense
Serves: 2 cups
Ingredients
  • Sifted Confectioners Sugar 3 cups
  • Salt pinch
  • Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon
  • Aquafaba or Water 4-5 Tablespoons
  • Food Color as needed
Instructions
  1. By hand in a large mixing bowl or with an electric mixer, combine the sifted confectioners sugar with the salt and then add the vanilla extract and then the water, starting with just about half the water.
  2. Mix to a paste and then add more water as needed. *see note in the blog text about using liquid food colors such as natural juices, you will not need nearly as much water since those juices are primarily water.
  3. Divide the icing into as many smaller bowls are you are making colors.
  4. Add the food color and mix well, then cover each small bowl with plastic wrap to prevent drying as you pipe each color.
  5. I use parchment paper cones to pipe each color, since you are working with such small portions at a time it just makes more sense, it is cleaner and easier to handle those small bags rather than large pastry bags, not to mention the canvas or plastic pastry bags we use for other projects may have residual grease in them which can break down the sprinkle icing.
  6. Pipe the colors out in long strings onto parchment paper lined sheet pans. *It's ok if the strings break as you pipe, they are going to get broken up later anyway.
  7. You will see in the video I also made some dots with the icing for another size and variation from the strings.
  8. Let the icing dry for at least 4 hours in a cool, dry (not humid!) spot
  9. One the strings have dried all the way, roll up the parchment paper and let the sprinkles pour out into a bowl!
Notes
Store the sprinkles in any grease free container (I use mason jars) in a cool dry environment for about 3 months
3.5.3226

Filed Under: All Recipes, Cake Decorating

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Chloe

    July 24, 2018 at 3:47 pm

    You are a genius! It really irritates me that they feel the need to add animal products into everything. Completely unnecessary:( Thank you so much for this recipe!!

    Reply
  2. Sheree

    September 18, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    Would it be okay if I put these in the fridge to dry? I live in Florida, so a humidity free environment does not exist lol.

    Reply
    • Gretchen

      September 18, 2018 at 3:33 pm

      hmmm, most refrigerators also have a level of humidity. So it may not dry in there either. I used to live in Florida and had to make sure everything I did was in the air conditioned room, hopefully you have some AC and it should be fine to dry in there

      Reply
  3. Nellie

    December 13, 2018 at 10:32 am

    Hi Gretchen. I live in South East Asia where humidity is high. I do have a dehydrator, will this help in drying the sprinkles? Thank you.

    Reply
    • Gretchen

      December 13, 2018 at 6:04 pm

      Hi There! Yes it would help, keep it on the coolest setting though

      Reply
      • Nellie

        February 19, 2019 at 7:35 am

        Thank you Gretchen. Would these hold up in a funfetti cake batter?

        Reply
        • Gretchen

          February 19, 2019 at 11:26 pm

          YES!

          Reply
  4. Robin Means

    April 4, 2019 at 5:09 am

    Hi Gretchen,

    I have a list of vegan sprinkles on my website, and it’s the most popular page on my site. I list where people can buy vegan sprinkles, but I think it would also be cool to link to your recipe in case someone wants to make their own. Would you be willing to link back to my list of vegan sprinkles from your recipe? Here’s my page if you want to check it out before you decide. vegandollhouse(.)com

    Thanks,
    Robin

    Reply
  5. Sakshi

    April 4, 2019 at 1:51 pm

    Hey can I keep it to dry in refrigerator as in Mumbai it’s summer n room temperature won’t be perfect to dry it?

    Reply
    • Gretchen

      April 4, 2019 at 3:15 pm

      Hi there, I would see if they dry at room temp first. Typically it takes about an hour to two to see them start to dry, then I leave them overnight (but usually they can be crushed up by even just 4 hours)
      If they don’t seem to be getting crusty by 2 hours, try the fridge however refrigerators can tend to be humid as well, but worth a try! It’s a fairly cheap recipe so do a test batch to see first!

      Reply
  6. Te awhi

    October 24, 2020 at 2:25 pm

    Hi! Could I use powder instead of juice to colour this?

    Reply
    • Gretchen

      October 28, 2020 at 4:08 pm

      yes!

      Reply

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Yep, it's me Gretchen~ Owner of Gretchen's Bakery. Well, I no longer own a physical bakery since I sold mine in late 2014 & since 2016 I make nothing but the best vegan recipes! Read More…

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