DIY Keto Sprinkles
You can easily create your own DIY keto sprinkles for cookie and cake decorations at home! Two of the easiest decorations to make are colored decorating “sugar” and coconut flour “sprinkles” Since these are not recipes, just ingredients, we will not include nutrition macros. Creating these decorations is fast and easy. The best part is you can use natural food colorings and avoid artificial colors if desired. We recommend using the India Tree Natural Food Colorings made from natural ingredients like vegetable juice, turmeric, and spirulina. The colors are dissolved in a base of glycerin, so you may want to account for the carbohydrate in the KetoDietCalculator if using more than a fraction of a drop. But a tiny drop goes a long way. Have fun with these decorations, the small addition of a few sprinkles can have a huge impact on a keto kid! Try these decorations along with our High Fat Decorating Icing on our Simple Sugar Cookies.
Other ingredients can be used to make sprinkles, in the future we will try coconut butter and cacao butter.
Chocolate Sprinkles
(Far Left in photo) Simply melt sugar free chocolate, any brand is ok! Use a syringe or small piping bag to drizzle long lines of the melted chocolate onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Allow them to cool and solidify, then break into small pieces.
Coconut Flour Sprinkles
(The Blue sprinkles in the photo) These are best for baking inside of batters like a “funfetti” cake. Also good if you can not tolerate any additional sweetener. You can color coconut flour paste, spread it thin to dry, then crumble it into colorful sprinkles! We have tested this with coconut flour many times and it never fails. Combine 1 tablespoon of coconut flour with equal parts water, stir to combine. Add 1 drop of food coloring to the coconut flour and water. Stir to evenly distribute the color. Using an off set spatula, spread the colored coconut flour on a piece of parchment paper until it is very thin. Allow it to air-dry overnight. When it is thoroughly dry, crush it into very small pieces and store in an airtight jar. If you have the time and patience, you can also use a 10 ml syringe or tiny piping bag to extrude the colored coconut flour or sweetener to make uniform size sprinkles (the blue sprinkles in the photo were made with a syringe). Make each color separately using the same process. If using the KetoDietCalculator, use “coconut flour” in the recipe calculation to include the sprinkles. Since the amount of food coloring in the cake recipe is so minimal, the food coloring can be counted as a “free food” item. See an example of a “Funfetti” birthday cake using coconut flour sprinkles here (we will get an updated photo soon).
White Chocolate Sprinkles
(Red and White sprinkles in the photo) Follow the same process as the chocolate sprinkles using sugar free white chocolate chips. You can color these or leave them plain.
Powder Sugar
(Green Sprinkles in photo) Use powdered or confectioners low carb sweetener. Make a thick paste with water and natural food coloring. Use a syringe to pipe onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Allow them to dry for at least 24 hours. They will easily break when completely dry. The low carb sugar sprinkles are best for decorating since you will be tasting them. Plan ahead to make these the day before baking
Colored Sugar
Use any granular low carb sweetener. Add about 2-3 drops of food coloring to 1/4 cup sweetener. Use the side of a silicone spatula to stir the coloring into the sweetener. You will have to press the lumps of color against the sides of the mixing bowl to fully incorporate the color. This may take a few minutes, but it will eventually fully incorporate. Natural colors will take longer than artificial food coloring. If the sweetener begins to feel wet and sticky, just let it sit overnight uncovered. the moisture will eventually dry out. You can store these colored sugars for future use in an airtight container. If you happen to have a food safe moisture absorption packet (commonly found in packed food items) you can place one in the colored sweetener container. This will continue to dry out the added moisture from the food dye. Use the colored sweetener to decorate cookies and cakes.