Eating popcorn balls brings smiles on the faces of children and adults. This sweet and crunchy treat makes people think of fairs, festivals, amusement parks, and circuses. However, you don’t have to wait for the fair or circus to come to town to enjoy popcorn balls; you can learn how to make popcorn balls in your own kitchen. With the right ingredients, you can whip up a variety of popcorn balls.
Preparing Popcorn
When making popcorn balls, you’ll need to use popped popcorn. If you use microwaveable popcorn, make sure to follow the preparation instructions found on the packaging. Since microwave temperatures vary, it’s a good idea to stay near the microwave, so you can hear when the popping has slowed down. You don’t want to burn your popcorn.
If you don’t want to use popcorn cooked in a microwave, you can prepare your popcorn on the stove. Following the directions on the packaging will give you the best popcorn. However, most require that you use a large pot that has a lid. You need to heat about two tablespoons of vegetable oil in the pan over medium heat. Place two kernels in the pot and wait for them to pop. Once the kernels have popped, pour one cup of kernels, which will make about sixteen cups of popped popcorn, into your pot and place the lid onto the pot. Gently shake the pot while on the heat. After a few minutes, you should hear the popcorn popping. Once the popping slows down or the lid begins to rise, remove the pot from the heat, and you’ll have popcorn ready to be used in your popcorn ball recipes.
Marshmallow Popcorn Balls
How to Make Popcorn Balls
Using marshmallows to make popcorn balls is a quick way to make this tasty treat. You’ll need about 9 cups of popped popcorn, 1 package of large marshmallows (10 ounces), and a ¼ cup of butter. Melt the butter and marshmallows in a saucepan over low heat. Stir the mixture constantly. Once the marshmallows and butter have melted, place the popcorn in a lightly buttered bowl and pour the mixture over your popcorn. Stir the mixture and popcorn until all the popcorn is covered with the marshmallow and butter mixture.
When you’ve completely covered the popcorn, and it has cooled, using buttered hands, form balls with the popcorn. You can place the popcorn balls on wax paper or a cookie sheet, so they can harden.
Corn Syrup Popcorn Balls
Corn syrup and sugar can be used to bind the popcorn instead of using marshmallows and butter. For this recipe, you’ll need 2 cups of popped popcorn, ½ cup of sugar, and ½ cup of corn syrup. In a saucepan, dissolve the sugar and corn syrup over medium heat. Once the sugar has dissolved, pour it over the popcorn in a buttered bowl. Using a wooden spoon, you should stir the popcorn and sugary mixture together. Once the popcorn is completely covered, form popcorn balls with buttered hands.
Caramel Popcorn Balls
Caramel popcorn balls are another sweet version of traditional popcorn balls. For this recipe, you’ll need 16 cups of popped popcorn and a bag of caramels. Remove the wrapping from the caramels. Then, in a medium saucepan, over medium heat melt the caramels. Once they are melted, pour them over the popcorn. (Peanuts can be added to this recipe.) Like the other recipes, completely coat the popcorn with the caramel. With buttered hands, form the popcorn balls and let them cool and harden before serving.
These three recipes are easy to make and each take less than an hour to complete. You can follow the recipes as they are written, or you can add food coloring to alter the color or add flavoring or candies to change the taste of the recipes that don’t use caramel. By following these recipes and adding your own special treats to them, you can make delicious popcorn balls for yourself, friends and family members without waiting to buy them at a special event.
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