Easy Homemade Popcorn Balls Recipe
This Holiday Favorite is Simple, and Fun For Kids to Make as Well
Maple Popcorn Balls use two common ingredients. Chocolate syrup and caramel are easy for children to add; this best winter treat is a popular Christmas tree decoration.
Kids love snow days. When school's canceled, it's like an instant, best (and unearned) vacation. But for unprepared parents stuck inside all day with those children, it can seem like anything besides a vacation - letting them play video games and watch TV all day feels like bad parenting, yet playing Chutes and Ladders for hours is, for us, a form of cruel and unusual punishment. Snow day activities don't have to be so grim; take a look in the kitchen. Even the most unprepared, understocked kitchen is bound to have the ingredients needed to prepare this easy homemade Maple Popcorn Balls recipe. And, including the children in the process is a fun way to spend a snow day: Children enjoy making these tasty winter treats almost as much as they do eating them. Right before Christmas, the maple popcorn balls can be used to trim the Christmas tree too (unless they're eaten first). Try drizzling chocolate on top, or stirring caramel into the mix.
Maple Popcorn Balls are more than just a Christmas favorite. Combining two common ingredients associated with wintertime, the recipe is easy, child friendly, and delicious.
Easy Homemade Maple Popcorn Balls Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup popping corn or microwave popcorn
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons butter
- 1/2 cup chocolate syrup or caramel (optional)
Directions:
- Pop corn according to instructions. If using microwave popcorn, be certain it's not pre-buttered (i.e. use plain popcorn).
- Salt popcorn, if desired.
- Heat maple syrup and butter in saucepan over medium-high heat.Stir constantly.
- When temperature reaches 250 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer, or when a few drops form soft balls when dropped in cold water, the syrup and butter mixture is ready.
- Mix in the caramel (optional).
- Remove pan from heat and pour maple syrup butter mixture over popcorn.
- When mixture is cool enough (approx. 5-7 minutes, use judgment), toss popcorn with syrup and mold into balls.
- Cool maple syrup popcorn balls on a buttered baking sheet or wax paper.
- Drizzle chocolate syrup on the balls (optional).
- Store cooled popcorn balls in an airtight container.
And that's it! Pretty easy recipe, right?
Children have a fun time molding the maple syrup popcorn mixture into balls, and Christmas trees take on a warm, homey look with these easy homemade balls serving as decorations. Either the chocolate drizzle or stirred-in caramel add extra sweetness, but it's best to choose one or the other (rather than both chocolate and caramel). So turn off the TV, and put away that old Chutes and Ladders board game. A snow day can make for some terrific memories as well as delicious homemade winter treats, with minimal effort. And as any busy parent will agree, "minimal effort" is often the best way to go!
