DIY Snow Cone Syrup Recipe
DIY Snow Cone Syrup Recipe
We are just days away from starting our summer break and a cold treat is something we like to enjoy often. For Mother’s Day, my sweet husband got me a Ninja Ultima System! I have made smoothies and done some juicing with it, but our latest creation is pure enjoyment! One amazing thing that this Ninja does, is that it makes snow, also known as shaved ice!! Knowing that this was one of the first things I wanted to try and make with my new toy, my husband bought one bottle of root beer syrup for us to use. It was HORRIBLE!! It didn’t even taste like root beer.
From that moment, it became my mission to make my own! I came across this really easy DIY Snow Cone Syrup Recipe and had to share it with you! This is so simple to make, and you more than likely already have everything you need to make it! Now don’t worry, if you don’t have a machine that makes snow, just put some ice cubes in your blender and blend. This will give you crushed ice, which will give you the original “snow cone” effect!
UPDATE!!! We added a new Sugar Free Snow Cone Syrup recipe and you can’t even tell it’s sugar free!!!
Here are the ingredients! Simple, right? You can basically make any flavor of Kool-Aid into a DIY Snow Cone Syrup! OR….you can use different flavors of extract to get even more flavors. There are super strong extracts that you can purchase to make flavors like bubble gum, cotton candy and MORE! The one I found is called LorAnn Hard Candy Flavoring and you can get a 5 pack (you pick the flavors) HERE! So here’s how to make your own DIY Snow Cone Syrup!
DIY Snow Cone Syrup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup of water
- 1 package of unsweetened drink mix Kool-Aid or other brand. Or you can use 1/2 teaspoon (or more depending on how strong you like it) of your favorite extract.
- container to put syrup in
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar and water.
- Bring to a boil, stir until sugar is dissolved while boiling for about 1 minute.
- Remove pan from heat and stir in flavored drink mix or extract. If using extract start with 1/2 teaspoon then add more to taste if needed.
- Allow to cool completely and transfer to container for pouring. Syrup will get thicker as it cools.
- Prepare shaved ice and pour on top.
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy.
I found these condiment dispensers at Walmart for about a dollar, but you can also order a 3-pack HERE. This DIY Snow Cone Syrup Recipe does make a little more than this dispenser can hold, but we just ended up using an extra container and mixing two flavors to make a new one!
Update:
We make this recipe often during the summer time so we wanted to include a few more process photos with detailed instructions on how to make this DIY Snow Cone Syrup recipe with the candy oils. We do many different versions and although we do have our favorites, many people love them all! Besides, these candy oils are very potent. A little bit goes a long way!
The recipe is the same as above. Make the syrup exactly the same way with 2 cups of sugar to one cup of water. Bring it to a boil for one minute and then let it set to cool down. I want to make many different flavors so this is why I don’t add my candy flavors while cooking the syrup. Once it’s cooled off I divide the syrup into different containers and flavor them. Our family loves strawberry, pina colada, cheesecake and watermelon the most so I always make more of our favorite flavors. There are tons of different Lorann candy flavors that you can see here on Amazon. You can find them at your local Hobby Lobby but they don’t have the selection you can find on Amazon. They are much cheaper on Amazon too! My local Walmart did not have them in stock but the bigger Walmart stores might carry them.
Tip: The syrups taste best when they are fresh. They don’t have any preservatives so be sure to make the amount you think you will use in a month or so.
I have a good friend that runs a Sno Cone Stand and he does very well during the summer. He has the best sno cones out of all of his competitors. He swears his secret is the homemade syrups because they are fresh! This recipe is the exact recipe he uses to create his syrups but he makes them on a much larger scale in big batches at a time. He sells a ton of snow cones. He is open 6 days a week and makes a new big batch of syrup every two days. He is retired and this is a business that does well for him and his wife during the summer months here in Texas. His biggest complaint is running out of one dollar bills for change. He loves this business!
He also gave me another tip. If you want to add cream to your snow cone be sure to use evaporated milk. Most people think you would use condensed milk because of the sweetness for this dessert but don’t. It will be way to sugary. The evaporated milk gives it the cream taste without the extra sugar. There’s already enough sugar in the syrup. Try it, you will be pleasantly surprised! This is another good tip from my dear friend!
Tips for mixing the candy flavoring into the syrup:
The Lorann candy flavorings come in tiny bottles. You can purchase a dram dropper if you want to measure out the flavoring oils. I purchase a big pack of small eye droppers for 1 dram Lorann candy flavoring oils. This was very helpful when making the flavored syrups. I would fill a mason jar up about 1/4 way and put one small dram dropper full for every 2 ounces or so in that syrup to make sure the taste was perfect. I used the 8 oz mason jars. I was start with a small amount of flavoring and add more to your taste.
Here’s another idea for you. You can mix any of the flavor combinations together too. We like to mix the strawberry and cheesecake together. YUM!!! You can also make any flavor tart. For example, we love to add Tart and Sour flavoring to our apple candy flavoring oil. You can find the tart and sour here on Amazon also. I have not seen this sold at my local stores. This bottle will last you a very long time. I would only add a few drops (about 5 drops) at a time and taste it in between. We love sour apple snow cones!
Last tip, you can use a soup ladle to create that smooth snow cone top you see in the photo below. You can also use a funnel. The funnel (like these funnels found here) work best because you can pack in the snow ice nice and tight.
Here are a few photos we took during our cooking and flavoring process.
Enjoy!
Oh wow, thats gonna help a lot in making our own syrups.
Thanks for sharing!
So sweet, so delicious, I love it, Thank you so much!
Your recipe for snow cone syrup is the best we’ve ever had! Could you add a little cooking vanilla to orange koolaid for a dreamcicle taste?
we used this for a school project and it worked great, we sold everything and made $350.
Will using too much oil create crystals in the syrup? I used more banana flavor than I used in my other batches. I also had this happen with watermelon using oil.
I love your recipes. Thank you
Crystals can form if the sugar is not completely dissolved, and has nothing to do with the flavors. I use this same recipe to make pancake syrup, using maple flavoring instead of the Lorraine oil. When making the sugar syrup, after taking the pan off the heat, stir with a wooden spoon until there is no sign of sugar at all. No grains at all. Zip, zero, nada. If there as a dime in the bottom of the pan, you should be able to read the date.
I believe that the sugar not being fully dissolved will cause crystals similar to when you make rock candy.
Thanks for these nice snow cone recipes. I’ve just one question, is there any special snow recipe for winter season? If you know anything, please share.
Jennifer YOU are a wonderful lady…Thank YOU so much for sharing the recipe for snow cone syrup. I too love snow cones.
how much evaporated milk would go in a recipe. thinking about adding it to orange coolaid to get the flavor of orange push up icecream.you mention that your friend sas o use evaporated milk not condensed milk. but don’t mention how to mix it or how much to use
I live in New Orleans and down here we pour the condensed milk on top of the sno balls.
I used a gallon and 1 pint of water and 8 pounds of sugar. Then divided it into 7 quart jars with 2 Koolaid packets per jar. Big batch for church event. Easy!
Does this need to be refrigerated? Thx
I did refrigerate mine! I would say yes.
Condensed milk is how it’s done in Louisiana. And while sweet is very yummy.
This would be great, I market at Farmer’s Markets (we are Canadian) and my teenagers love to help put at our market stall. This would go great alongside our Italian Soda’s. Thanks to you and your friend for sharing this recipe and the creamy tip.
Just wondering how much of lorran oil you used to the amount of syrup you had in bottle.
When I made the above recipe, it made about 2 cups of syrup. I only used 2 drops of bubblegum candy flavor and it turned out amazingly well. I also added a drop or two of pink food color, just to differentiate from some of my other flavors I made, but that is a personal preference.
My I have more detail about using milk to make it creamy. Thanks
Yes, I just squirt a small amount over the top of your snow cone. I would guess about a tablespoon. It all depends on your tastes.
Snow Cone Syrup Recipe, It’s my love!!!, With me, I always using 1 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water, It will not sweet so much.
The syrup is good for up to a year at room temp … That’s if it would last that long lol..
I have bottles in the fridge from last summer and they are still good.
For the LorAnn favors, did you use the oil or water/alcohol based? Or does it not matter?
I don’t think it matters to be honest. I believe we used the water base.
I have used both, snd find the oil is a lot better.
do you have to refrigerate syrup?
You probably don’t have to, we just did. When you see it at the snow cone places, they don’t refrigerate it. But make sure the top is on good.
im excited about this recipe! My husband and I are living in Myanmar ; helping at a school. Most Friday’s we sell snow cones but a huge cost is the syrup! We want to make this ams try it out. How long does the syrups last if you don’t use it all in one sitting? Does it have to be refrigerated?
I’m not sure exactly how long it will last, but it is okay to keep it for a bit. We did put ours in the fridge, but as long as you close the container good I’m not even sure if that is necessary. I used to work at a family fun center (when I was much younger :)) and we just put the cap on and left it on the counter at room tempurature.
For diabetics what kind, and how much artificial sugar would you add?
We have looked in to making a sugar-free version also, but just haven’t done it yet. From what I have read, you can use 3/4 cup of granular Splenda instead of the sugar. I have also seen where they use a little more water (1 1/2 cups). But I would still start with 1 cup and then add a little more if you think you need too. Hope that helps.
She has a sugar free recipe on her site…this lady is awesome!
Thanks for posting this!! We got a Ninja too, and have been wanting to make sno cones, but finding syrup hasn’t been too easy.
You’re welcome Laura! The one syrup we did find was gross 🙁 We put our extra syrup in the fridge. I don’t know that it’s necessary, but it couldn’t hurt.