homemade Pixie Sticks

How to make homemade Pixie Sticks with Skittles candy.

homemade Pixie sticks

I’m still working my way through my box of candy from Wrigley. And since most of the weight of the box comes from the two huge bags (as in 54 ounces, times two!) of Skittles®, I had to make something with that rainbow of candy. So naturally, homemade Pixie Sticks came to mind. Pixie Stix? I had the colorful straws. Skittles straws. Skittles Pixie Sticks?

By the way, have you seen the Skittles® site yet? It’s surreal, slightly bizarre and crazy impressive.

So what did I do with the Skittles? I pulverized them. And dumped them into paper straws. And now they are homemade Pixie Sticks. And they are delicious.

how to grind Skittles

I tried the blender and food processor first, but the coffee grinder worked best. Now I will warn you if you try and make these, I don’t know what long-term damage grinding candy in a coffee grinder can do, so I’d stick with an inexpensive grinder. I’m pretty sure my grinder is mad at me now, but at least it worked. Except my coffee will probably taste like Skittles for months.

First I separated out the colors. Did this take a long time? Yes, it did. But the the sweet smell was intoxicating, so I didn’t mind.

Then, I ground and ground the colors in the grinder and ended up with this lovely powder (um, after digging out all the chunks that didn’t grind) and poured the powder into bowls.

To fill the straws, I folded one end and propped the straw in a cup. Cut a square of parchment paper. Use your fingers to grab a pinch of the ground candy from a bowl, then give the candy an extra grind through your fingers onto the parchment paper. This extra grind is to make sure there are no big bits in the candy. Also, sitting in the bowls, the candy starts to lump together a bit, and it’s easiest to pour into the straws when it’s powdery. (Because I used no additives, the powder can clump in the straws, too, so you may have to squeeze the straws to break up any stuck pieces.)  Fold the parchment to help pour into the straws. I spilled some, but the cup helped catch the excess.

Then just fold over the top and that’s it. Yum. Each color really does have a different flavor.