Questions? Give us a call at 877-767-4386
(0) Item

Have A Ball with Popcorn! Making Your Own Popcorn Balls

Posted by Rural Route 1 on 9/22/2014

Fall and popcorn go hand in hand. Football games, tailgating, Halloween parties, and festivals all have taken on this venerable treat as part of what makes fall special. We make it easy to bring the flavors of fall into your home with our huge selection of decorative tins and flavored corn, but we’re ALL about popcorn here at RuralRoute1, and if you love it as much as we do, we know you’re always looking for fun and exciting ways to incorporate it into your fall festivities.

Making popcorn balls is an activity that’s sure to please kids and adults alike. We’re happy to provide you with a couple of ways to make popcorn balls that work for many of different holidays.

The traditional way of making popcorn balls is to pop the corn, lay it out on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and then drizzle it with heated simple syrup (like Karo) until it’s sticky enough to roll together and form into balls. You can also make your popcorn balls just like rice crispy treats, using butter and mini marshmallows in place of the heated syrup, just substitute popcorn for the cereal in the recipe.

Set the balls aside on wax paper or parchment until dried, and then use plastic wrap and a ribbon to decorate them depending on the holiday. More creative balls can be made with the addition of some food coloring to the syrup before it’s used, and dried nuts, or candies like M&Ms or candy corn, too. Just be certain, especially with food coloring, that aprons and gloves are used.

It’s important to use high-quality popping corn with a sturdy popped kernel for popcorn balls. The popped kernel needs to be able to soak up the syrup without degrading and to support additives like peanuts. If you want your popcorn balls to go designer, consider melting caramel instead of warming Karo syrup to glue the balls together. You can also drizzle dried balls with melted chocolate or caramel, or dust still-damp balls with colored and crystalline sugars to make sweet treats that look as wonderful as they taste.