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Make popcorn balls with a simple recipe using uncooked popcorn, oil, dark corn syrup, sugar, and salt. Coat the popcorn, form into balls, and let cool before wrapping in plastic or displaying on a platter.
Popular at Christmas and other winter holidays, popcorn balls are a wonderful treat that can be enjoyed any time of year. You can use popcorn prepared in any method and it requires nothing more than a few simple ingredients and about half an hour of time. There are a number of popcorn ball recipes, many of which add various types of candy into the mix. To get you started, here’s a basic recipe you can try.
For the basic recipe, you need 1/2 cup (120 mL) of uncooked popcorn and a quarter cup (60 mL) of some type of cooking oil. If you’d rather not use oil-popped popcorn, there’s always the option to use air-popped popcorn. To save time, you can also purchase a microwaveable type of popcorn or a bag of movie-style popcorn to use for popcorn balls.
To create the base coating, combine one-half cup (120 mL) dark corn syrup, one-half cup (120 mL) granulated sugar, and one-half teaspoon (2.5 mL) table salt. Keep in mind that the mixture will be quite thick when mixing, but will thin out once it’s applied to the popcorn.
Once the coating is prepared, place the popped corn in a four-quart (3.8-liter) kettle over medium heat. Gradually add the coating, taking care to coat each of the popped kernels evenly. Keep stirring the mixture until the sugar has dissolved and the coating has left a thin layer on all the popcorn in the kettle.
Remove the coated popcorn from the heat. Using your hands, scoop up a small amount of the mixture and start forming popcorn balls. While you want them to look like the size of the average baseball, don’t worry if they aren’t perfectly round. Continue the process until you have formed a total of twelve popcorn balls. Place them on a sheet of wax paper and let them cool to room temperature.
A helpful tip is to use a small amount of margarine or butter to coat your hands before you start forming popcorn balls. This will make it easier to manage the sticky mixture and won’t affect the taste or texture of the finished product in any way.
After the popcorn balls have cooled, you can start wrapping them in plastic wrap or arranging them on a platter for a dessert table. It’s not unusual for people to wrap popcorn balls in colorful plastic wrap, then secure the wrapper with some type of colorful tape. This is a common approach when you plan to use sweets as ornaments on a tree or as part of a gift basket.
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