Where can I buy sprinkles? I hear that question a lot and the reality is, sprinkles can be found practically anywhere. I think you can even find them in the petite grocery section of Walgreens.
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Sprinkles: tiny, brightly colored specks of sugar, made from confectioners sugar or icing sugar, if you’re in the UK, and food coloring, with maybe a teensy bit of food safe wax, are the crowning glory of many a dessert from cookies to cupcakes to cake.
You can even use sprinkles as an ingredient ala these sprinkle or confetti cookies.
Sprinkles, depending on where you are in the world, are also called jimmies. And they can be chocolate instead of rainbow-hued.
But, back to where you can buy baking sprinkles:
Grocery Stores
Locate sprinkles in potentially several places in your grocery store: baking aisles, the bakery itself as well as holiday specific aisles.
Craft Stores
If you've got a craft store nearby, it probably has a food craft section where you'll find all kind of colors and types of sprinkles.
- Michael's
- JoAnn's
- Hobby Lobby
Online Purveyors
- Amazon
- Sweetapolita
- Nuts.com
- Layer Cake Shop
- Sprinkle Nation
Mass Market Stores
- Target
- Walmart
- TJ Maxx
- Marshall's
- Nordstrom Rack
- Home Goods
Dollar Stores
- Family Dollar
- Dollar General
- Dollar Tree
- .99 C Only
- Five Below
Ice Cream Shops
For reals, I live in a tiny seaside town where there’s one ice cream shop open during the summer. Well technically it’s a seafood shack.
But, they sell ice cream and you can order sprinkles to go on top. So if you're really in a pinch, say you're at camp or a lake house or a coastal AirBnB and you're planning to bake a birthday cake, you could probably source sprinkles for a buck or two from a local ice cream shop to adorn the top of the cake.
When to Shop for Sprinkles
You might not realize this but there's a great time to shop for sprinkles and that's right after a major holiday or any holiday really.
Sprinkles get discounted up to 50 percent or more just like holiday decorations and whatnot.
- After a holiday–you can find holiday specific sprinkles usually 50 percent off. I love a bargain and probably you do too. Sprinkles last quite a while so don’t worry about buying dessert decorations too far in advance.
- KInd of in line with #1 before you need sprinkles is the time to buy them.
I’m all about making a last minute batch of sprinkle cookies but if you’re doing something special like Easter cupcakes or Valentine’s Day cookies, chances are you’re going to know well in advance.
So shop around for what you want to avoid last minute trips to the store, especially if it’s a big holiday and you need Christmas Sprinkles or Easter Sprinkles or Valentine’s Day or Christmas when you and everyone of your neighbors will be flying through store aisles while wielding carts like they’re swords and you’re all on an episode of Game of Thrones.
Holidays are a great time to stock up. Not only can you pick up confetti style sprinkles, you can find holiday specific sprinkles too, such as hearts for Valentine’s Day or St. Patrick’s Day.
Of course, technically there are other types of sprinkles:
- Non-pareils (tiny, rainbow-hued balls)
- Dragees (tiny, silver balls)
- Sugar pearls (tiny, white balls of sugar)
- Rods (tiny, cylindrical pieces of sugar)
I found edible metallic sprinkles aka gold and silver at Target well in advance of New Year’s Eve.
And I used them to make these Christmas Star cookies.
What are the best sprinkles to bake with?
Sprinkles–the long ones–called Jimmies in some parts of the country.
The tiny round balls, aka non-pareils, are prone to bleeding color in baked goods, according to the Pancake Princess site.
How do you get sprinkles on cookies without frosting?
Bake the cookies. When you pull them out of the oven, using a pastry brush to put just a dab of water or milk or a bit of egg white wash on top of the cookies then lightly add the sprinkles to the tops of the cookies.
You can see how to add sprinkles in this recipe for Christmas Stars.
Do sprinkles expire?
Sprinkle eventually expire but it takes a while. You can store unopened bottles of sprinkles for up to three years.
Once opened, sprinkles will expire after 12 months. However, I have used them past 12 months without issues.
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