About two weeks ago, the kids and I were walking through the grocery store when Zander’s eyes lighted upon a package of popcorn balls. His eyes were full of desire, and I almost grabbed the package to put in my cart when MY eyes lighted upon the price tag nearby. $7.99 for 1 dozen popcorn balls. Eight bucks for some popcorn held together by sugar? I don’t think so!
Well, one day this week Zander reminded me about these popcorn balls, and knowing I had this afternoon completely free and clear, I decided I would make them today and make my little boy happy. I flipped through a few cookbooks looking for a recipe, and then went online to look at a few more. They all were different, and all used a different sort of method. I wanted easy and I wanted basic. I wanted a simple vanilla-sugary syrup that would hold together some popcorn. I ended up following the recipe in my Betty Crocker New Cookbook- one of the very first cookbooks my mom got for me my first Christmas away from home.
It was easy and quick- and that’s exactly what I was hoping for. I started by popping up some popcorn. Ours is some we picked up at the apple orchard this fall, and it is fantastic. If you can find locally grown popcorn- by all means, pick some up. Otherwise, I find that Amish grown popcorn tends to have a fine flavor and texture. I used my hot air popper to pop up a half cup of kernels, which was just a touch too much. 1/3 cup may have been perfect. I filled a 2 quart bowl with popped kernels and passed the rest on to the kids for snacking.
Next I made my syrup. I put 1/2 a cup of sugar in my saucepot along with 4 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 a cup of light corn syrup and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. I stirred and heated, and once it started boiling, I set the timer for two minutes and stirred the whole time. When two minutes was up, I pulled it off the heat and then I added 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and stirred it in. This mixture got poured over my popcorn while I tossed it around with a wooden spoon.
Then I waited for a few minutes. Not too long, but long enough for that hot sugar mixture to cool down a touch. Read: Boiling Hot Lava On The Hands. I didn’t wait quite long enough, but I was close. I ran cold water in the sink and over my hands, and then used my cold wet hands to grab a handful of coated corn kernels. I packed them into a snowball-sized ball and then set them to dry on a wax-paper lined baking sheet. When I got to the bottom of the bowl of popcorn, I found that the sugar syrup in the bottom of the bowl was not as cool as the syrup all over the corn… watch out for that, is what I’m sayin’.
When all was said and done, I got 12 popcorn balls out of my recipe, and I bet that if I broke down the cost of ingredients, I didn’t even spend a dollar on all of them. Once they cooled and set enough, the kids dug right in, and they both were very happy. The popcorn balls are delicious and could be a new holiday favorite. To store them, wrap each ball individually in wax paper. Wrap them up like a giant ball of candy, and then you can tie the ends with some colored ribbon and do something really fun with them- like tuck them into the branches of your Christmas tree and they’ll look like giant candies.
Last year we started what appears to be a new tradition by decorating one of our trees with homemade decorations. Last year we threw out all the ones we made, thinking we’d buy new ornaments this year, only Abigail really enjoyed making decorations for the tree last year, so here we go again. The homemade popcorn balls look awesome on the branches. I’ll make sure I share a picture of the tree when all is said and done.
Popcorn Balls
1/2 cup sugar 1/4 stick butter 1/2 cup light corn syrup 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 8 cups popped popcornPlace the popcorn in a large heat-safe mixing bowl.
Heat the sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 2 minutes; remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
Drizzle the syrup over the popcorn kernels, tossing with a wooden spoon while you drizzle. Once all the mixture is in the bowl, toss it a few more times, rather gently, to evenly distribute the mixture.
Dip hands into cold water. Shape mixture into 12 balls, each about 2 inches in diameter. Place on waxed paper to cool completely. Wrap individually with waxed paper for storing.
Makes 12 popcorn balls.