Edible Glitter

 If you go to a crafting store that has decorative baking supplies, it's amazing to see what edible things that they have come up with: pearls, shimmer dust, glitter...and what's even more amazing (not really) is how much it costs.  A small container of sprinkles is like $5.  So, the idea of making your own edible glitter at home from two cheap ingredients is awesome.  For $5, you can have pounds of sprinkles! 

The description that was on the pin:  

 holy crap. seriously??? 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of food coloring mixed, bake10 mins in oven on 350 degrees to make edible glitter!

And the original link, which doesn't say anything else.

Since I already had the oven on for another batch of cheesy cauliflower breadsticks (they are seriously so freaking good), I decided to try to make some blue glitter.

I put the sugar and food coloring in a mini bread pan and mixed them together:

Then I popped it in the oven for 10 minutes.  I took it out and stirred it.  I could tell it wasn't ready because there was still food dye that was wet, and the sugar was really clumpy.

I put it in for another 10 minutes, then stirred it, and put it in for another 5.  Then I was over it.

Here's the end result.  It's still clumpy so if you want it to be smooth, you're going to have to break it down somehow:

Here's the side by side comparison of the before it was put in the oven and afterwards:

Can you tell the difference?

Does it look like glitter? No.  Is it sparkly? Slightly.  Is it any different than other sugar sprinkles that you find at the grocery store?  Maybe a little more sparkly. Is it worth turning your oven on and baking a small amount of sugar for almost a half hour?  Your call, but I would say no.  I think that this recipe is only worth it if you want a certain color of sprinkles and have run out of them, and you already have the oven on.  

Bottom Line: NOT WORTH IT!