{"id":73670,"date":"2025-06-07T22:23:33","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T05:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sugarhero.com\/?p=73670"},"modified":"2025-06-07T22:23:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T05:23:39","slug":"root-beer-float-pieces-recipe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sugarhero.com\/root-beer-float-pieces-recipe\/","title":{"rendered":"Root Beer Float Pieces (Copycat Recipe)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Make the popular Trader Joe’s Root Beer Float Pieces<\/strong> at home! This copycat candy recipe combines vanilla sandwich cookies, popping candy, and root beer coating to produce a homemade candy that tastes just as delicious as the original.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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🍻 Make Root Beer Float Pieces at Home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Can a grocery chain be your soulmate? If so, I’ve been in a (one-sided) love affair with Trader Joe’s for years now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s no secret I love a wacky food combo, and TJ’s is always taking bold swings and coming out with creative new products. (I swear they’re one step away from releasing dill pickle ice cream or ube-flavored mustard.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when I saw these new Root Beer Float Pieces<\/strong> on the shelves, of course<\/em> I bought them immediately, even though they sounded insane. They’re described as “vanilla sandwich cookie pieces with popping candy covered in a root beer flavored coating.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Real talk: that description sounds like something I would come up with in a dream, write down in the middle of the night, and then wake up the next morning, read it, and think “…what?! Why did I think this was a great idea?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These Root Beer Float Pieces are, in fact, bizarre. Your mouth is telling you the texture is like a chocolate-covered Oreo, but your tongue is telling you it tastes like a root beer float, and just when you’re starting to accept these competing ideas, the popping candy bursts into the mix all, POP FIZZ POP POP POW in your mouth and then you have no idea WHAT is going on. It’s confusing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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All that is to say, I love these little oddballs. I went back and bought several more bags. I kept them in the office so I wouldn’t have to share with the kids. And sometime deep into my second or third bag, I had the idea to try and make them at home. To the SugarHero laboratory!<\/em> 👩🏻‍🔬<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No false modesty here: After 4 different attempts to nail the ratio of candy to cookie and get the root beer coating juuuuuust right, I’ve done it! These homemade Root Beer Float Pieces are SO good<\/strong>, and – with apologies to my secret boyfriend T. Joe – even better than the original! Here’s a comparison shot:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Homemade on left, store-bought on right<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The homemade ones have the perfect mix of smooth root beer flavored coating, crunchy cookie pieces, and fizzy popping candy. The store-bought ones are also delish, but they mostly suffer from age. They’ve spent who-knows-how-long jostled around in a bag together, getting scuffed and slowly losing their freshly-made taste. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to try making these yourself at home, I have alllllll the info and lots of advice for you in this post. Before we begin, you should know:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. You will need some specialty ingredients, listed and linked in the Ingredients section<\/a> below. Unless you live in a magic land where unflavored popping candy is on every store shelf, you’ll need to plan ahead and order a few things online. Sorry ‘bout it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. I didn’t do any math, but I can’t imagine it’s cheaper to make these candies at home. If you make 4 or 5 batches, you’ll probably break even, but this isn’t a “cheap Trader Joe’s hack.” This is for the weirdos like me who think it’s fun to play with their food and try new things for the sake of trying. I see you out there and I love you. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    So without further ado (there has been so much ado already!), here’s how to make your own root beer float pieces at home, complete with step-by-step photos. Let’s gooooooo!<\/p>\n\n\n

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    More Soda Desserts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    After you make these, use leftover root beer flavoring to make my Deep Fried Root Beer Floats<\/a>, or make a root beer version of Dirty Coke Fudge<\/a>! <\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

    Table of Contents<\/h2><\/span><\/summary>