Koolickles are brightly colored candied dill pickles that have had an additional flavor layer of Kool-Aid. Perfect recipe for entertaining kids for a few days during summer break!Some say this is a southern thing, but I had never heard of them in all the years I lived south of the Mason-Dixon line. I heard of them during my years living across the street from the Tulsa State Fair. Actually, I didn’t even see them with my own eyes, I saw them on the news. The Tulsa State Fair is a really big deal around here. For 10 days it dominates the news and traffic dominates a 2 square mile radius. I am not going to miss that this year.

They taste like a sweet candied dill pickle, minus the pickling spices with a hint of lime or cherry. I did not make any other flavors and I have to be honest, my favorite was probably the lime. Lime looks a bit radioactive and would be perfect for Halloween!

The cherry ones would be great for Christmas or adding something bright red to your Fourth of July or Memorial Day picnic line-up. Heck, you could even choose school colors or professional sports team colors for tailgating and playoffs.

These do not taste bad, they just taste different. Everyone should try these at least once.

These would make for great novelty items on a buffet and can be made in any flavor or color of powdered drink mix you could possibly find. It is fun to watch folks’ faces as they try these for the first time.

The longer they sit and marinade, the deeper the color and flavor, but after about 3 days they have reached their maximum flavor and color potential. My pickles looked and tasted the same on days 3 and 7.

I would suggest adding more Kool-Aid and sugar after 3 days and see if you can get more flavor in them or using dill spears or slices instead.

I just think that science dictates the amount of sugar uptake. It all has to do with hygroscopic properties. Who knew there was so much chemistry involved in cooking?

I believe that whole pickles sliced in half have about all the cherry or lime flavor I would like.

Side note: Be careful when serving these up, they will stain your fingers! I suspect they will also stain clothes etc, just like spilling a glass of Kool-Aid down the front of your brand new white shirt.

Art smocks would be a really good idea to use in this situation. The clothes staining danger is equal to, perhaps even greater than, Easter egg dying projects.

Any color or flavor of drink mix can be used.

Some suggested color combinations;

Red and Blue for summer holidays

Red and Green for Christmas

Purple, Green, and Orange for Halloween

You can skip the flavoring of the powdered drink mix and just add the sugar and some food coloring. But now you just have a sweetened dill pickle and not a koolickle.

We have a sweet candied dill pickle recipe we will be sharing in the next few weeks that would be a better alternative if you don’t want fruit flavoring. Pickling spices are where the flavoring comes from in that recipe. Gel Food coloring can be added to that recipe to achieve the colors you want without adding a drink mix.

Koolickles

Koolickles -brightly colored candied dill pickles that have had an additional flavor layer of Kool-Aid. Fun idea for condiment tray additions.

Author: Beth
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 24 hours
Total Time: 24 hours 10 minutes
Yield: 20 half pickles
Category: Condiment
Method: Refrigerator
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

32-ounce jar whole dill pickles, kosher are fine

Pickle juice from the jar of pickles

2 packets of unsweetened powdered drink mix

1 cup sugar

Instructions

Remove pickles from jar and place on a cutting board.

Add sugar and powdered drink mix to juice in the jar.

Replace lid on pickle jar and shake until sugar is dissolved.

Cut pickles into halves or quarters and place back into the jar. Do this over a sink to prevent staining counter tops, clothes, cabinets, appliances, and anything else in the path.

Replace lid and place into refrigerator for at least 1 day. Flavor and color should be fully established in 3 days.