How to Tint Sugar

Tinted sugar makes a colorful, decorative addition to your cookies, cakes or pastries. You can purchase sugar sprinkles in different colors for decorating desserts. You also can make your own. Dye your own granulated sugar or powdered sugar in any color you desire by following these few steps.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Powdered or granulated sugar
• Food coloring
• Ziploc bag or blender

Tint Granulated Sugar

1. Place the granulated sugar that you need for your recipe into a Ziploc plastic bag.

2. Add a drop or 2 of dye to the bag. Let the color drip on the inside of the bag instead of directly onto the sugar. If using a thick-concentrated coloring, put some dye on a toothpick and wipe it onto the inside of the bag.

3. Close the Ziploc bag. Shake and massage the bag with your fingers until the color is evenly distributed throughout the sugar and all the clumps are removed.

4. Add more color if the color isn't dark enough or add more sugar if it is too dark.

Tint Powdered Sugar

1. Put about one-half pound of powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar) into a blender.

2. Stick your finger into the middle of the sugar to make a small hole and put a drop of food coloring in the hole.

3. Blend the sugar in the blender until it is evenly colored.

4. Stop the blender and add more color if you would like your powdered sugar a deeper color. Add more sugar if it is too dark.

Tips & Warnings

• You can also use powdered food coloring, which you can find online or at crafts stores, to tint powdered sugar. Liquid color can cause the sugar to become clumpy and gooey if you use too much.

Resources

• Purchase powdered food coloring on this site.