Nonpareil Candy is easy to make and you only need two ingredients, chocolate, and nonpareil sprinkles. Homemade chocolate nonpareils are also great for gifting!
Chocolate Nonpareils are one of my absolute favorite chocolate candies. Unfortunately, most store-bought candy isn’t dairy-free, nut-free, or allergen-free for the most part. Fortunately, I know how to make them even better than store-bought and they’re allergy-friendly!
What are nonpareils?
We all know Sno-Caps, the chocolate nonpareils at the movie theater, right? Well depending on who you ask, nonpareils are a round sprinkle or a round disk of chocolate covered in round sprinkles.
The actual nonpareil candy is a round piece of chocolate that is plain chocolate on one side and then covered with nonpareil sprinkles on the other side. You’ll traditionally see this as either rainbow or white sprinkles.
Nonpareil sprinkles are widely known for this candy, but also can be used on all sorts of treats and desserts like cakes and even our rolo pretzels recipe.
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes:
- Nonpareil Sprinkles – These sprinkles are a must. They’re round, tiny, and crunchy. You can use white nonpareils or rainbow nonpareils for a traditional look or even use holiday nonpareils or different colors for any theme.
- Chocolate – You can make white chocolate nonpareils, milk chocolate nonpareils, semi-sweet nonpareils, dark chocolate nonpareils, or even use candy melts for different colors of chocolate nonpareils.
When making chocolate nonpareils at home you can really control the quality, size, and look of your candy.
Step-by-step instructions
For the full ingredient amount and full instructions on how to make nonpareils candy please scroll to the recipe card below.
Microwave the chocolate in a microwave-safe dish for 15-20 seconds at a time and stir in between until the chocolate is melted.
Once the chocolate is melted, pour the nonpareil sprinkles onto a clean rimmed baking sheet or jelly roll pan.
Drop the chocolate into the pan using a teaspoon or tablespoon measuring spoon ensuring the chocolate is dropped and then round in shape.
Allow the chocolate to set and then remove the nonpareil candy from the sprinkles.
Enjoy within 2 weeks.
Recipe tips and variations:
- Use whatever color nonpareil sprinkles you like or keep it traditional with the white or rainbow nonpareils sprinkles.
- You can use any chocolate you like. We use dairy free chocolate so our recipe is allergy friendly.
- These are great for gift giving! We love to gift chocolate nonpareils along with our marshmallow snowman, dairy free hot chocolate mix and snowman hot chocolate bombs.
This is a great recipe to get kids involved in the kitchen. My daughter loves picking out the colors for the occasion. She is such a little chef now. She will actually tell me while we’re shopping “I need this for my recipe”. She loves to be in the kitchen and cook just like mommy. Also, I don’t discourage my kiddos from tasting during the recipe process unless it’s an item that isn’t safe to consume without cooking. Tasting is learning!
Storage and reheating tips:
- Room temperature: Store in an airtight container for 2 weeks.
Frequently asked questions:
To make them mini we recommend using a piping bag or squeeze bottle. Squeeze a little bit at a time into the sprinkles and they’ll be nice and tiny.
Using good quality chocolate is important. These will only taste as good as the chocolate you use. We do not recommend using chocolate you wouldn’t eat plain.
Yes! The sprinkles should be just fine to reuse. We just remove the nonpareil candy from the sprinkles and then usually use them again for more candy or cakes.
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Homemade Chocolate Nonpareils
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Print Pin Recipe 🖤 SaveIngredients
- 12 oz chocolate (dark, milk, white or semi-sweet)
- 1 cup nonpareils
Instructions
- Melt chocolate over double boiler or in microwave.
- Place into a bowl.
- Pour nonpareils into the pan and then drop chocolate into the pan by the spoon full.
- Refrigerate until chocolate is firm or freeze if in a hurry.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
The nutritional information is automatically calculated and can vary based ingredients and products used. If the nutrition numbers are important for you we recommend calculating them yourself.
Thanks, Serena! 🙂
Have you ever made them mint? Just wondering how much mint extract you might use. My granddaughter loves the pastel ones but I can’t find them anywhere and thought I might make her some.
I love those too! We haven’t tried making those yet, but we do plan to eventually 🙂 They have a creaminess to them and we’ll have to alter due to our son having food allergies.
My family owns a chocolate factory where we make nonpareils, so I have a few tips:
1. Chocolate does not go bad in 2 weeks, nor do the nonpareil sprinkles (in fact, it will last for months). They also do not need to be stored in an airtight container to stay fresh. So, if you make a batch and do not finish them within 2 weeks, don’t feel you have to throw them away.
2. To add flavoring to your chocolate, you will want to get a food grade essential oil, such as LorAnn Oils. You only need a small amount to flavor a large amount of chocolate. Using a dropper, you can start with a couple drops and mix it into your chocolate and taste. Adjust your ratio from there to make it as strong or as light as you want.
3. I recommend using a piping bag whether it’s a small or large size nonpareil you are going for. It will be much easier to keep the shape round. You can also shake the pan a little bit to flatten out the nonpareils if they seem too tall, just don’t shake too much or you will cover the tops with them. Just a gentle back and forth will do.
I hope this helps! It is so fun and easy to make these and they taste great!
Great tips! Thanks so much 😀
Really good and easy. My teen was able to do this without help.
Love this so much!! 😀