Homemade Candy Dots (Using Kool-Aid!!!)

I can’t help but want to share the favorite parts of my childhood with my kids. I’m quite proud of the fact that my youngest’s favorite books are Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes. Pretty soon it will be time to introduce them to movies like Back to the Future and Goonies. But today, we’re going to make some old school candy – with a twist. 

One of the most nostalgic candies has got to be candy dots (you know, those little colorful dots on a piece of paper – some people call then buttons). This is up there on the nostalgia candy top ten list, along with Fun Dip and Big-League Chew. 

What’s great about this recipe is it’s super easy to make, uses minimal ingredients, and is great to do when you just don’t feel like going outside. But to jazz things up, we’re going to introduce another element of my childhood and flavor these bad boys with some Kool-Aide!

Ingredients

• 1 egg white (I recommend pasteurized eggs since we won’t be cooking this)
• 1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
• 4 packets of your favorite Kool-Aide packets (the ones that are like $0.30 a packet and don’t have any sugar) – I went with cherry, watermelon, orange, and lemonade. 
• Wax paper (you can also get a roll of narrow parchment paper used to line the edged of pans. This way you don’t have to cut the wax paper into strips)
• 4 sandwich size zip-top bags

Directions

1. Cut the wax paper into 2 ½ to 3-inch-wide strips (or you can get a roll of narrow parchment paper). This recipe makes a lot of dots, and I used about thirteen 12-inch strips. 

2. Use an electric mixer and mix together the egg white and confectioner’s sugar until smooth, but with some stiffness. If the mixture is too runny, add some more confectioner’s sugar. If it’s too stiff, add a little water—but only about a teaspoon at a time. A little goes a long way.

3. Divide the mixture into four different bowls. Add a ¼ teaspoon of each Kool-Aide flavor into each of the four bowls and mix until fully combined. (The good news is you don’t have to fuss with food coloring – it’s already in the Kool Aide mix!)

4. Pour the contents from each of the four bowls into four separate zip-top bags. 

5. Cut a small piece of the corner and pipe little dots onto the wax paper strips. (Don’t worry if you’re piping isn’t perfect. Mine certainly won’t win any prizes, but it still tastes amazing!)

6. Let the candies harden overnight. You can start eating them sooner, but they’ll be a little soft and will stick to the paper. I found that they were even better (more firm) after a couple of days.