Traditional Popcorn Balls

TRADITIONAL POPCORN BALLS

Popcorn balls have to be my all-time favorite Halloween candy. I remember when I was taking piano lessons in grade school - my piano teacher, Carolyn, always made popcorn balls for Halloween, mounding them in this enormous basket beside her front door. And they were the best popcorn balls ever. She would always give me two when I left from my lesson that week – one for me and one for my older brother. Well… let’s just say my brother never knew Carolyn sent a popcorn ball home for him. In fact, neither of the two popcorn balls survived the ten minute drive home with me in the car.

Makes about 20

10 cups (about ½ cup unpopped) lightly buttered and salted popcorn

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup unsulfured molasses

½ cup water

¼ cup unsalted butter

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 200°F. Prepare a small bowl of water, as well as a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and set aside. Pick through the popcorn and remove any unpopped kernels. Place the popcorn in a large roasting pan and keep warm in the preheated oven.

In a large stock pot, combine the sugar, molasses, water, and butter. Set the pot over medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pot and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 270°F or the soft crack stage. Immediately remove from the heat and quickly stir in the vanilla extract.

Remove the popcorn from the oven and pour the sugar mixture over it. Toss well with a large wooden spoon to completely coat the popcorn in the sugar mixture. Working quickly, dip your hands in the bowl of water, then take about ½ cup of the popcorn mixture and form it into a 2-inch ball. Place the ball on the parchment-lined sheet tray and continue forming the popcorn balls. You should end up with about 20 popcorn balls. If the mixture becomes to hard or difficult to work with, place the roasting pan back in the oven for a few minutes to soften the sugar mixture.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: Often times, recipes for popcorn balls tell you to grease your hands with softened butter to keep the popcorn from sticking to them as you form the balls. Is it just me, or does the thought of greasing your hands before handling burning hot sugar seem a little like using butter as sun block? If you are a traditionalist, feel free to grease your hands up, but I’m going to use water to form my popcorn balls.