My kids love heading to the snow cone shack on warm summer evenings, but with seven of us it ends up being at $15-$20 every time we go. I recently realized I could make snow cones at home for way less money, and I figured out how to make them sugar free (without buying pricey syrups)! The kids get a fun snack without the sugar, and I save my money for expensive ice cream to eat after they go to bed. Sounds perfect, don’t you think?
My kids love heading to the snow cone shack on warm summer evenings, but with seven of us it ends up being at $15-$20 every time we go. I recently realized I could make snow cones at home for way less money, and I figured out how to make them sugar free (without buying pricey syrups)! The kids get a fun snack without the sugar, and I save my money for expensive ice cream to eat after they go to bed. Sounds perfect, don’t you think?
The one thing you do need is a way to make shaved ice at home. I have a Blendtec blender, and it makes “snow” from ice cubes in seconds. Literally. Just dump a tray of ice in, press ice crush, and about 15 seconds later you’ve got snow.
You can crush ice with a VitaMix blender too, although you’ll want to google the proper procedure. If you don’t have a heavy duty blender, you can get a great deal on an electric Snow Cone Maker from Amazon – only $23 right now (marked down from $80). If your family likes snow cones, it’ll pay for itself quickly!
Instead of buying expensive syrups in one or two flavors, I figured out how to make my own in just about any flavor. I made sugar-free snow cone “syrup” three different ways: 1) using Crystal Light drink mix, 2) using Kool-aid and Splenda, and 3) using the small containers of liquid “water enhancer.” With all these options, any flavor in the drink mix aisle can become a snow cone (cherry limeade, lemonade, fruit punch, blue raspberry, apple, coconut, lemon lime, berry burst, watermelon, you name it!).
I bought clear squeeze bottles from Walmart for 98 cents each, then used them to hold a concentrated flavoring for the snow cones. Since there’s no sugar in these sugar free concentrates they aren’t as thick as a traditional snow cone syrup, but the squeeze bottles have such a small opening that it’s still very easy to squirt them on the snow. The kids loved all the flavors we tried and no one could tell they were sugar free.
Here’s how I made each batch:
For Crystal Light sugar free snow cone syrup I used one packet (for use with 2 quarts of water) and mixed it with 1 cup of water. I whisked to combine, then poured the concentrate into the squeeze bottle.
For Kool-Aid sugar free snow cone syrup I mixed 1 packet of Kool-Aid with 1 cup of Splenda and 1 cup of water, whisking to combine. Into the squeeze bottle! We used lemon-lime and it was really, really good. If you prefer, I’m sure you could use Stevia instead of Splenda.
For sugar free snow cone syrup made with water enhancer, mix 1 tablespoon water enhancer with 1 cup of water, then pour it into the squeeze bottle. You may need to experiment a little with different water enhancer flavors to figure out the concentration you prefer. We tried the ICEE blue raspberry flavor and it seemed quite strong and not quite as sweet as the other two varieties. It was certainly easy, however!
Each squeeze bottle is enough to flavor 6-8 snow cones, enough for our whole family, and I’d say the cost for one bottle’s worth of syrup/concentrate is under 75 cents. Pretty good compared to almost $20 at the shave ice shack!
marliss says
I have made my own syrup with koolaid, sugar, and water but I have always boiled my sugar water and the added the flavor. I’m going to have to try it your wa.
granni says
Excellent ideas Thank You for sharing them !!!
Linda says
Instead of using 1 Cup of Splenda with Kool-Aid, would plain sugar work, in the same amount, since that’s how you make the Kool-Aid to drink? I think these sound great…can’t wait to try!
autumn says
Yes, it should work just fine with sugar. Just stir well to make sure it gets completely dissolved – if it doesn’t seem like it’s dissolving you might need to bring it up to a quick boil, then cool and use as shown!
aurie says
Genius! We love snow cones, but it’s crazy expensive – I need to pull out my blender and see if it can crush ice. Thanks for the recipes!!
Susan says
I plan to try this using cranberry juice or orange juice frozen as cubes and then processed into snow using our Ninja blender. Thanks for the idea.