Saturday Spotlight Halloween Popcorn Balls

Thanks for stopping by today!  My blog on Thursday (Glitter Queens Blog Hop - Halloween)  promised a quick and easy recipe for the yummy popcorn ball I posted.  The wait is over. The recipe is below. 

This sweet is my favorite memory of Trick or Treat.  As a child, I would roam many neighborhood blocks for the best popcorn balls. I knew the houses that had the really good ones.  I did not care about how many chocolate bars I had stuffed away.  I cared about the number of awesome popcorn balls I could collect before curfew.

This treat has been part of my Halloween ritual for many years. I went from collecting them to making them.  I got this recipe from one of my old neighbors who used to make them at Halloween for all us kids.

I made these popcorn balls for school Halloween parties for more than 15 years. As I was making these the other night I thought my oldest children would get a kick seeing popcorn balls all over the kitchen again.  So, I text these pictures to my oldest daughters.  Kristy sent a text back first saying "I need that recipe!" Kelly sent a text saying "If I give u a fed ex number can you mail me 15?" Priceless! 

The recipe is simple and quick.  The clean up is sticky but the treat is oh so worth the mess. If you are lucky to have a hubby like mine, he will do most of the clean-up for you! Thank you Andy; you are the best!

1. Combine 2 cups of Karo syrup, 1 1/3 cups dark brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of vanilla and a stick of butter (cut in cubes) in a large pan and bring to a full rolling boil.  The mixture will rise a bit as it boils.  Boil for 2 minutes.

2. While the syrup is heating, pop 10 quarts of yellow popcorn.  The popcorn needs to be warm when you add the syrup.  I heat the oil for the popcorn as I am measuring ingredients to boil. Add the popcorn to the oil once the butter melts and you should end up with warm popcorn from the pan just after the syrup is ready.

3. Poor the hot syrup over the popcorn in a extra large container that will allow you to stir the popcorn and the hot syrup until it coats the popcorn well.

4. Butter your hands and mold a large handful of coated popcorn to form a 3 or 4 inch ball.

5. Wrap the ball in wax paper or plastic wrap.

Enjoy and save some popcorn balls for the kids!

Do something creative today!