Best New Pastry Chef
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Total Eclipse of the Tart
Homemade Sprinkles
About BraveTartChocolate Sprinkles · GF (1 cup)
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Much has been made of the restaurant industry’s dark underbelly rife with drugs and alcohol, but little about the darkest addiction of them all: chocolate sprinkles. Those in the pastry department find themselves at an especially high risk for developing a dependency on jimmies, aka chocolate vitamins and will “take” them on everything from buttered bread to ice cream, cupcakes and sugar cookies. If you don’t leave now, you may soon find yourself doing lines of chocolate in the kitchen too.
These sprinkles have a solid chocolate flavor bolstered by a heady vanilla note that comes from a big ol’ shot of vanilla in the mix. If you’d rather focus on chocolate, cut the vanilla down to a half ounce and replace the missing liquid with water. The instant coffee helps deepen the chocolate flavor without making these sprinkles coffee or mocha flavored. Omit it if you must, but expect a less complex chocolate flavor.
You’ll want to start putting these on everything. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Chocolate Sprinkles
5 ounce powdered sugar
1 1/4 ounces cocoa, Dutch or natural
1 ounce water or chocolate liquor, I love Mozart
1 ounce vanilla
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp instant coffee
For the prettiest (and easiest!) sprinkles, you’ll need a piping bag fit with a multi-opening tip, I adore #134 but #89 works too. You can alternately use a small, plain tip or a parchment cone; it just takes a bit longer to pipe the sprinkles one line at a time. Also, have two sheet pans lined with parchment paper set aside.
Using a hand or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine all of the ingredients and beat on low speed until the powdered sugar has been thoroughly moistened. Turn the speed up to medium and beat until the mixture forms a smooth, homogenous paste.
Scrape the bowl and beater down with a rubber spatula and beat for another minute to ensure no lumps remain. Even a small lump will clog your pastry tip and cause no end of frustration during piping, so take care to mix enough to destroy all lumps.
Transfer the chocolate paste to the piping bag and pipe into long rows on the parchment lined sheet pans. If you need to take a break, just cover the piping tip with a damp paper towel to prevent the paste from crusting over and clogging up the tip.
Place the trays of chocolate somewhere safe from kids, pets, and debris and let air dry for 24 hours.
After twenty four hours, use a bench scraper to scrape up all the chocolate lines from the parchment by holding it at a 45° angle against the first row of sprinkles then gently pushing forward. Gather up the chocolate sticks into a bundle and chop them into sprinkle sized bits.
Store in an airtight container indefinitely. Use with caution, they’re habit forming.
If you’d rather make rainbow sprinkles, I have recipes for both soft and crispy sprinkles you can flavor in any way you like.
Any questions?
Mar 04, 2012 · 2:02 PM
wow.. your post really useful, and the ingredients are easy to find, will bookmark it, then learn very well how to make it, and I think I need to prepare spare time to make it!
cheers
latest Post; http://noteetc.blogspot.com/2012/02/dry-baked-brownies.html
· Tya @ Note Etc. · noteetc.blogspot.com
Mar 04, 2012 · 5:16 PM
Oh no you didn’t! Holy crud what a great idea!
· Crackers on the Couch · www.crackersonthecouch.blogspot.com
Mar 04, 2012 · 7:07 PM
I made the home made sprinkles twice from your previous recipe and love it. I made some sugar cookies for my daughter’s bday party and used the sprinkles to decorate them. My guests could not believe they were home made. This one for sure its making it to my baking list. You rock!!
· eat good 4 life · eatgood4life.blogspot.com
Mar 04, 2012 · 9:05 PM
@Sorcha, what’s your address again, dear? 
@Tesei, so glad you’ve tried out the rainbow version too! I’m sure you’ll love these too, they’re my favorite I think…
@Tya, hope you get a chance to make them!
@Crackers, muahahaha. My evil plan to take over the world.
@eat good 4 life, haha, it’s such a good party trick! So happy to hear you made them.
Mar 05, 2012 · 2:17 PM
Wow! That is such a cool recipe Who would have thought? They look perfect, too.
· Kiri W. · www.healthyfoodietravels.net
Mar 06, 2012 · 9:32 AM
I’ve never heard of homemade sprinkles, this is great! Congrats on Top 9!
· Sandra · www.thesweetsensations.com
Mar 06, 2012 · 11:36 AM
I love chocolate sprinkles I eat them by the handfuls. I can now make my own. Thank you Congratulations on Foodbuzz Top 9.
Mar 06, 2012 · 5:26 PM
@Kiri, I’ve been working on these for forever, so glad to have finally gotten them right!
@Sandra, so glad to surprise you!!
@Geri, these are a little crisper than the regular kind, but in a good way. They just burst with flavor.
@missy, do you think I….crossed the line? Yeah. I know. I slay me. 
Mar 07, 2012 · 12:13 PM
Sounds like a lot of work, but looks like it’s definitely worth it! I’d love to make my own sprinkles. Saving your recipe straight away!
· Nicky @ Pink Recipe Box · www.pinkrecipebox.com
Mar 07, 2012 · 1:37 PM
@Nicky, I hope you do make them! I made a batch yesterday with a bit of orange extract in the mix, a really nice twist.
Mar 12, 2012 · 6:13 PM
I’ve been wanting to make sprinkles for quite sometime. I’m making these now!
· Krissy's Creations · www.krissys-creations.com
Mar 13, 2012 · 3:17 PM
there’s something evil about empowering people to make their own amazing sprinkles
· Lauren · www.bytes-from-texas.blogspot.com
Mar 13, 2012 · 8:48 PM
@Krissy, oh, please let me know if you do!
@Lauren, I have definitely resolved to use my power for evil, not good. Muahahaha.
Mar 27, 2012 · 5:42 AM
Thank you for sharing. I just readout interesting website’s your awesome interesting and informative topic. I really appreciate your thought about it. It’s really so useful for all,thanks again
· hermes birkin · hermesbirkin4discount.com
Jun 02, 2012 · 4:06 PM
This sounds incredibly intriguing and fun. I’ve always hated the taste of store-bought sprinkles, but I’m sure these would be great.
· JD @ Trader Joes Recipes · traderjoesrecipes.net
Jun 03, 2012 · 9:40 PM
@JD, agree! Store bought chocolate sprinkles have a strange, waxy sort of texture and pretty much no flavor at all. These are a little bit crisp and very chocolatey!
Jan 24, 2013 · 8:21 AM
Hi Crazygirl! Aw, Mrs. Luck is the best! She and I used to spend so much time in the kitchen together. What good memories.
Feb 03, 2013 · 5:49 PM
I made these last week, and they are amazing. The Mozart liqueur is very difficult if not almost impossible to locate in Ontario though.
Found piping slightly easier with a quarter oz. extra water though.
Taste if perfectly delicious!
· kathyskakes · www.kathyskakes.ca
Feb 04, 2013 · 9:55 AM
Hi kathyskakes! Yeah, the Mozart is really just a luxurious bonus, but definitely not make-or-break for this recipe. So glad you enjoyed your spinkles!!
Mar 01, 2013 · 10:42 PM
My paste clogged my tip while I was piping…any suggestions? I didn’t know if it was too stiff and if I should have added more water.
· Aly · fudgingahead.wordpress.com
Mar 01, 2013 · 10:58 PM
Hi Aly. Ugh, I know what you mean, a clogged tip is super frustrating. It usually happens if a) the powdered sugar or cocoa powder wasn’t sifted or b) if the bowl wasn’t scraped much during mixing. The only way to really fix the situation is to uncouple the tip and clean it under hot, running water. Then screw it back on and keep piping. You can kinda poke the holes clean with a toothpick, but it’s a temporary solution since it just pushes the clump back into the bag.
Mar 04, 2013 · 3:26 AM
I guess I need to buy a big coupler for things like this (I couldn’t use the #134 on my normal coupler). Thanks for the tips!
· Aly · fudgingahead.wordpress.com
Mar 04, 2013 · 9:07 AM
Hi Aly! Oh, yeah! My knee-jerk image was of the smaller 3-hole tip. The big one is such a huge pain to deal with when it clogs! Actually, I’ve been very frustrated with #134 lately because it’s made from two separate pieces that aren’t welded together very well, and sometimes the sprinkle mixture gets forced out of the gaps in between, another major frustration. I’m looking around to see in another company makes a better one.
May 16, 2013 · 6:34 PM
Oh, that’s so exciting Jeanie! I’d love to hear more about the extruder you used, was it a pasta attachment? What a breakthrough!