How to Make Powdered Sugar

I'll show you how to make powdered sugar, also called confectioner's sugar, so you'll never run out when making any of your favorite baking recipes!

Recipe by Gemma Stafford on March 10, 2018

Prep time: PT5M

Total time: PT5M

Rating

4.58 stars (529 reviews)

How to Make Powdered Sugar

First, you need a small, powerful blender, like a spice grinder, Nutri bullet, Vitamix, or food processor. I had the best success in a blender. You might have to try a few different appliances to see what works best.
Add in the sugar and cornflour/cornstarch. The cornflour is important as it keeps the sugar dry.
Blend it all together until fine, around 4-5 minutes. Stop, and stir with a spatula to make sure it gets mixed all around so that it is all blended.
After a few minutes, run it through your fingers; if it feels gritty, then keep blending. You might still feel a little texture at the end, but that’s ok. If you can’t seem to get it really fine, you might need to try a smaller, stronger blender.
Store your Homemade Powdered sugar in an airtight container; it will keep indefinitely.

Nancy Sterling on 2025-09-20 (5 stars):
Who da thunk ? It never occurred to me that I could make my own powdered sugar. I’m generally not a baker so I don’t keep powdered sugar in the pantry. Now I will. I used the ‘dry ingredients’ container of my VitaMix blender and it worked beautifully. However, I found that 2 cups was a bit more than it could handle so after the first few minutes, I divided it in half then re-blended each half. Confection Perfection !!!!! Thank you for sharing.
Bernadette -Maria Fletcher on 2024-12-04 (5 stars):
This worked exactly as written, thanks!