Best Rainbow Sprinkles: A Great Surprise Sprinkles Rainbow Topping

It’s a tough job, but someone had to do it.

What are the best sprinkles? We tested 11 brands of sprinkles to decorate a slew of baking projects, from cookies to cakes, donuts to cupcakes. Then we judged the results based on taste, texture and overall look—after all, sprinkles are supposed to be fun.

Trivia note: nonpareils (those little, round crunchy spheres) predate sprinkles, dating back to the 1700’s. A Dutch baker invented the cylindrical hagelslag (sprinkles) in 1913, or so says Wikipedia. The Dutch are apparently crazy for chocolate sprinkles on bread, so the credit goes to them for popularizing this treat.

FYI: In parts of the US, sprinkles are also known as jimmies (Boston, we are looking at you).

After trying out several brands of rainbow sprinkles, we think A Great Surprise is the best bet. One key reason: they taste much better than the sprinkles you find in regular stores. Here’s more:

What We Liked

• 2.2 lb jar = lots of decorating projects!

• Affordable.

• Tastes superior to other brands we sampled.

• Bright, vibrant colors.

• No GMO’s.

• Gluten-free.

What Needs Work

• Contain artificial dyes (FD&C) as coloring.

• Allergy alert: repackaged in a facility with milk, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, wheat and other allergens.

• Contain corn starch and palm kernel oil. 

• Texture? A few of our testers didn’t like the texture of these sprinkles, but that was a minority opinion. We liked them!

Best Nonpareils Sprinkles: Wilton 710-4065 Rainbow Nonpareils

We tried out a few brands of nonpareils—those tiny, crunchy spheres—before deciding Wilton’s 710-4065 Rainbow Nonareils are the best overall. Here’s why:

What We Liked

• Best taste overall.

• Affordable.

• Good texture.

• Most vibrant rainbow colors.

• Decent size bottle (7.5 ounces) goes a long way.

What Needs Work

• Not made in the USA.

• Allergy alert: made on equipment that processes soy, peanuts and tree nuts.

• Contains corn starch.

• Artificial coloring includes FD&C dyes.

Best Unicorn Sprinkles: Sweets Indeed Sprinklefetti Happy Unicorn Sprinkles

And now for somethiing different—if you’re tired of the usual rainbow or chocolate sprinkles, consider upping your decorating game with unicorn sprinkles. Yes, unicorn sprinkles.

Not surprisingly, given how unicorns are so popular, there are more than a few brands of unicorn sprinkles out there. After sampling a few, we thought Sweet Indeed Sprinklefetti’s Happy Unicorn Sprinkles. (They had us at “sprinklefetti”).

Sprinkle these on a cupcake and we dare you not to smile! Here’s more:

What We Liked

• Super cute, colorful and fun. This bag has a mix of sprinkles (jimmies), candies, confetti, balls and stars.

• Made in the USA.

• Good taste. 

• Excellent for “explosion cakes”!

• Gluten free.

• Dairy free.

• Egg free.

What Needs Work

• Contains corn syrup.

• Allergy alert: contains soy and may be processed on machines that process wheat, eggs, milk and tree nuts.

• Pricey.

• Artificial colors including FD&C dyes. To be fair, there are also natural colors as well.

• The pearls (larger balls) could be softer.

Best Mermaid Sprinkles: Sweets Indeed Sprinklefetti Mermaid Sprinkle Mix

Yep, these sprinkles are just like the unicorn sprinkles (reviewed above)—just mermaids tails instead of unicorns!

The color scheme is also more purple/teal.  The pros and cons for these sprinkles are basically the same, since they are made by the same company.

What We Liked

• Super cute, colorful and fun. This bag has a mix of sprinkles (jimmies), candies, confetti, balls and stars.

• Made in the USA.

• Good taste. 

• Excellent for “explosion cakes”!

• Gluten free.

• Dairy free.

• Egg free.

What Needs Work

• Contains corn syrup.

• Allergy alert: contains soy and may be processed on machines that process wheat, eggs, milk and tree nuts.

• Pricey.

• Artificial colors including FD&C dyes. To be fair, there are also natural colors as well.

• The pearls (larger balls) could be softer to chew! They are more like jawbreakers.

Why Trust Us

We’ve been rating and reviewing products for children, families and the home since 1994. We do hands-on testing—we buy the products with our own money and evaluate with an eye toward quality and affordability.

Here’s another key point: we don’t take money from the brands we review. No free samples, no sponsors, no “partnerships.” Our work is 100% reader-supported!