Homemade Pixi Stix, or… Twisti Stix! Using real fruit.

You probably remember these from your childhood, or from your kid’s kid-hood.  They’re delicious, and when you make them at home, you control the sugar, and even give them a little boost of nutrition… for a candy, at least.

This is a supremely easy-to-make confection, with only three natural ingredients.  No chemicals, no kidding!  They are:

Granulated Sugar

Citric Acid

and, our secret ingredient – Freeze Dried Fruit!

If you’re not familiar with freeze dried fruit, it’s different from other dried fruit like apricots or raisins.  This is real fruit that is first frozen, and then pressurized to remove the moisture, so it ends up light and crunchy.  It’s completely natural; there’s nothing else in there – just fruit!

Citric acid is a substance naturally occurring in fruit like oranges, tangerines, raspberries and blueberries.  It’s the thing that gives the Twisty Sticks their sharp tanginess.  You can find citric acid on line, make sure you’re using “food grade” quality.

Next fill the straws.  I use biodegradable paper straws, because they’re more like the original.  (You can use plastic straws, just carefully use a torch or match to fuse the ends, hold with pliers.) Glue and fold the bottom end, holding the glued bit in place with a tiny binder-clip until it’s dry.  Then use a tiny funnel (make one with paper) to fill each straw with powder.   Fold and glue the top, and your Twisty Stick is finished!

Note:  if you’re using raspberries and rather thin straws, you may need to sift the seeds out of your mixture before putting in straws.  There goes most of any fiber benefits of your Twisty Stix, but hey… it’s candy.

Each straw holds about one teaspoon of powder, so one batch makes about 15 to 20 Twisty Stix.

They’re delicious, and when you let the kids have this treat you’re sneaking in real fruit into their diet!  Bravo you!

There are lots of different types of freeze dried fruit –strawberries, raspberries (my favorite!), even mangoes.  Think of the possibilities.  And… two in a glass of mineral water, wine or liquor makes a very nice sweet cocktail.  Tear off the ends of the straw, and you’ve got instant deliciousness, with real fruit.  Enjoy revisiting the classic.

Note:  If you live in a high-humidity area, or make these on a particularly damp day, the powder can clump and stick inside the straws. I’ve found that blueberries are particularly prone to this.  To prevent, don’t over-pulverize the fruit, make within a day or two of using Twisty Stix, and use plastic straws, to further prevent exposure to moisture.

Bonus Content:

Pixi sticks evolved from a drink powder called Frutola, created in the 1930s.  It was made to be mixed with water as a drink, but kids were more interested in eating the powder alone, so the manufacturers re-packaged it to be eaten with a spoon.  Eventually, the sugar-delivery system was streamlined into paper straws, which could easily be poured into kid’s mouths.  A candy classic was born.

Print Recipe

Home Made Pixi Sticks -- Tamara's Twisty Stix

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Snacks, dessert

By Tamara Berg – Serves: 4-5

Prep Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes

Homemade, tasty, and contain real fruit. They taste just like the ones you remember as a kid… better actually! 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup freeze dried fruit -- Raspberries, Blueberries, Mangoes
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp. citric acid

Instructions

1

Put freeze dried fruit in a blender and pulverize. 

2

Strain through a mesh strainer to remove unwanted seeds (especially important for raspberries).

3

Pour powder into a bowl, Add sugar and citric acid, Mix with a whisk and it’s finished. 

4

Taste, adjust the fruit-to-sugar ratio if you like.

Notes

Citric acid is a substance naturally occurring in fruit like oranges, tangerines, raspberries and blueberries.  It’s the thing that gives the Twisty Sticks their sharp tanginess. You can find citric acid online, make sure you're using "food grade" quality.