Crush Candy With Your Pepper Grinder For The Ultimate Ice Cream Topping

Your pepper grinder isn't just for crunching up peppercorns. From topping bowls of ice cream to adding a colorful finish to plated brownies, packing your pepper grinder with crunchy candies is the simple kitchen hack that is waiting for your experimentation. Whether you have leftover Halloween candy or party favors from yesterday's birthday celebration that you're trying to use up, you can enlist your spice and salt grinders to sprinkle add an unexpected sweet finish to your favorite desserts.

Before you begin to garnish your sweets with candy powder, clean out your used grinder or dedicate a new device that is to be reserved strictly for sugary toppings. Since harder candies like Jolly Ranchers may not crumble properly in your grinder, begin your candy-crushing attempts with Nerds, Sweet Tarts, or Reese's Pieces. If you only have sturdier candies like peppermints, Lemonheads, or Red Hots stashed in your cupboards, you can place the pieces in a sealed plastic bag and break the candy down with a kitchen utensil or hard object before pouring the sweet debris into the empty cavern of your grinder.

Once you've packed the pepper grinder with M&Ms or Skittles, you'll want to keep the filled grinder in a cool place so that the candy inside isn't at risk of melting. Alternatively, you can grind a batch of candy at one go and store the candy dust in an airtight container so that you have a sprinkle of sweets on hand to quickly add to a cold dish of homemade strawberry sorbet. Check your pepper grinder to see if you can adjust the size of the grind for larger flakes or finer candy sprinkles.

While you can experiment with combining different candies and an assortment of ice cream flavors, the sweet fun doesn't need to end with scooped frozen treats. Sprinkle ground M&Ms on top of slices of classic cheesecake or use a powdery dusting of ground Reese's Pieces to enhance your next bowl of buttery popcorn. Candy sprinkles can quickly add a touch of flavor to breakfast pancakes and piles of French toast, and open-faced PB&J sandwiches can be topped off with a few sprinkles of ground-up Whoppers. If your sweet tooth has any say in the recipes you whip up in your kitchen, this sweet hack will soon become a dessert-finishing staple.