Ahh, summertime is here and one of our favorite things to make is snowcones!! They are cheap to make, fun to eat and an easy way to help keep cool in this heat!!
If you're like me, you might cringe at the mere thought of making many snowcones over a week's time to be racked with guilt at all the sugar you're feeding your family. The traditional and most common recipe for homemade snowcone syrup calls for 2 cups of sugar which is equivalent to 96 teaspoons!! Yes, that's right, 96 teaspoons!! And that kind of homemade syrup is sooo thick that when my kids and I made it, we only got 8 small snowcones (the size of a small styrofoam coffee cup) out of the syrup which meant that each snowcone contained 12 teaspoons of sugar!! YIKES!!!
Not only is the sugar content unreal, but to buy just 1 bottle of syrup in the stores is around $3-$4 per bottle!!
Well, I was determined to come up with an alternative solution to the outrageous price and to the sugar-induced comas I was putting my children in to as a result of our efforts to keep cool during this scorching summer.
Sooo, here's what we came up with....
Homemade Snowcone Syrup Recipe
(lowered sugar) - 16oz bottle
For 16oz of syrup you'll need....
(2) cups kool-aid drink mix from a 19oz container
(1) cup cold water
Supplies you'll need...
(1) Snowcone maker (we bought THIS one at Kohl's in-store for $10 during a sale. Walmart sells 1 Rival brand in-store for around $20)
(1) Kitchen Funnel (you can get THESE on Amazon)
(1) 16oz squeeze bottle
(1) plastic spoon
(1) pot
(1) 1C measuring cup
Ice trays (I bought our's at Walmart a 3pk for $1.38)
Cups (we like the snowcone cups)
Straws or spoons
Directions...
#1 - You'll want to make your ice in the ice trays and let them completely freeze. I know this sounds silly, but I 'thought' that I had ice and didn't and we were a little delayed in making our snowcones. lol
#2 You'll wanna measure out 2 cups of the Koolaid drink mix and dump into the pot. Then add the 1 cup of cold water. Mix it up very slowly at it can splash out of the pot.
#3 Next you'll bring the mixture just to a boil as you continue to carefully stir it the entire time it is heating up to a boil. As soon as it begins boiling, pull it from the heat and allow it to completely cool. If my kids are impatient at waiting for the syrup to cool, I will cover the pot with wax paper and stick the entire pot in the fridge for a faster cooling time. Then use the funnel to pour the completely cooled mixture into your 16oz. squeeze bottle. Make sure to keep refrigerated.
And there ya go, the finished product and man it is SOOOO good!!
This particular flavor is the new PeachMango Koolaid drink mix flavor!!
On a side note, there is only 16g of sugar per serving and to measure this out is 4 servings from the Koolaid container to make this particular syrup. Since there are 4 grams of sugar per teaspoon, there is only 16 teaspoons of sugar in this recipe for the 16oz bottle, as opposed to the 96 teaspoons in the other one!! That's a HUGE difference!! And please don't hold me to this as being exact, b/c I know there there are 'technically' 4.2 grams/tsp, but this isn't exact, just an effort to reduce my kids' sugar intake!!) :)
My family and I have found that this recipe will many, many, many snowcones out of that one 16oz bottle. So far we have made the tropical punch and peachmango and both are VERY tasty!! No complaints from my 3 kids or hubby!! Enjoy!!!
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