You’ll never believe how easy it is to make your own colored sugar at home!
I stumbled upon this idea last month while making cookies for Bryce’s birthday party. The boys decided they wanted to frost and decorate some cookies we had made but I didn’t have any colored sugar. After a moment of thought I decided I would try to make my own colored sugar.
My first attempt was putting the sugar in a small bowl, dropping in the food color and then using a fork to mix it all up – that was not successful. Next I tried putting the sugar in a plastic bag and shaking it up – success!
The boys and I had so much fun making a variety of colors. I let them choose how many drops of each color we would put in and then they would guess how it would turn out. The yellow food coloring fooled them more than once because it looks orange 😉Â
This is so easy you are never going to buy store-bought colored sugar again!
What you will need:
Plastic bags
food color
sugar – (granulated for smaller crystal or raw sugar for larger crystals)
Put a couple of tablespoons of sugar into a small plastic bag. Add a drop or two of food color into the bag. Seal the bag and shake it up. If the sugar starts to clump, just use your fingers to massage the clumps away. Keep working at it until the color is nice and uniform.
Try mixing up the food color to create amazing and vibrant color variations.
 
I enlisted the help of my little guys and had lots of bags going on at one time. The more the merrier!
This is what the granulated sugar looks like:
And this is what the raw sugar looks like:
This would be super fun with the neon food color that is available as well. The sugar can be stored in the plastic bags or in an airtight container. Now you don’t have to limit your decorating to the colors you find in the store. I am certainly excited to have some awesome cookie decorating parties this holiday season.
More fun ideas:
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Mini Cheesecakes
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Julie B. says
This worked great, except for red. Just couldn’t get it beyond a pink. But if I only have to buy one color of sprinkles that will be a great savings. Also they’re a bit more clumpy but you can generally keep shaking them up to get them to come out OK. Thanks for the great idea!
Tabitha says
Love this idea! I saw it on Money Saving Mom and shared on my Facebook page. I will never have to buy colored sugar again. THANK YOU for sharing. 🙂
Debbie says
Thanks many bunches. I found this receipe for some cookies that you just dip in sugar before backing. Was going to go buy some color sugar. NOW I DON’T HAVE TOO! Thanks
Debbie
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Yay! That’s so awesome! Have a great weekend Debbie!
Jessi @ Practically Functional says
I’m just stopping by to let you know I featured this today on my blog! You can check it out and grab a Featured button here: The Fun In Functional link party
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thanks so much Jessi!
Jenn says
What a fun project Trish! My boys will love this!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thanks Jenn!
Shelley says
I love this post Trish! Thanks!! I have been meaning to find out just how to color sugar and I love that you showed us using both types!
Thank you so much!
Shelley
http://www.piggyinpolkadots.blogspot.com
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thank you Shelley! It’s really easy and fun too 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Jessi @ Practically Functional says
Oh my gosh I love it! You could make literally any color for any occasion, how fun! Thanks for sharing at The Fun In Functional!
Bonnie and Trish @ Uncommon says
Ok…how super clever and smart! This is a great tip Trish!
Vicky @ Mess For Less says
Love this idea! Colored sugar is so expensive. Will have to try. Just pinned!
Jessica says
Great idea! Those containers of colored sugar at the store are SO expensive! This is much more economical, and looks like way more fun. Thanks for sharing.
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I know! This is totally fun and if you have kids – get them involved 🙂
Kelly says
I featured you today at Smart! School {House} on behalf of Whimsy Wednesday! The new party starts later today. We hope you come back to share your latest creations this week:)
Thank you!
Kelly at Smart! School {House}
Sara says
Love the pretty colors! Please come share at my link party!
http://www.shecookscraftsruns.net/2012/11/show-me-what-youre-made-of-link-up-3.html
Debi @ Adorned From Above says
This sugar is beautiful. I can’t wait to try it.
Debi @ Adorned From Above
Mama Jodi says
Never considered doing this before. It could be really helpful in my cake decorating. Thanks!
Lauren says
Awesome idea! Two questions – do you think the gel colors would work, and did the raw sugar stay pretty true to color? The raw looks more vivid in your photo but just thought I’d ask! (Can you tell I’m a slight perfectionist, lol)
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Hi Lauren! I think gel would work quite well actually and I’d love to know how it goes if you give it a try. The raw sugar seemed to enhance the colors actually. The photos are untouched so you can see how rich and vibrant the colors are. If you are looking to make pastel colors the raw sugar may not be the way to go. Good luck!
Lauren says
Awesome, I’ll give it a shot! A bag of raw sugar’s got to be cheaper than 6 bottles of the sprinkles for DD’s rainbow party. 😉 I’m going for the 6 traditional rainbow colors, so I think yellow may be the only one to give me any grief w/ raw, but we’ll see.
Lauren says
Update – the gel dyes worked really well! They probably just required a little more smushing than liquid. I was going for super true colors, and I found that the raw sugar just can’t deliver, except with yellow & orange. The tiny bit of natural color just can’t be overcome by the dyes. BUT, if you need a great teal or dull eggplant, definitely use the raw sugar with blue & purple, lol.