I have special memories reserved for popcorn balls. My grandmother, now 94, made them for me, and my little sisters, before we came to visit her farmhouse. I was just a child then, but making these popcorn balls now is a way of sharing my love for my grandmother with our children. My memories with her. The stories she told about when she was young. These popcorn balls are part of our family history, our family story.
We found a recipe for old-fashioned popcorn balls on the back of our bag of Jolly Time popcorn. Our all-natural adaptation of this recipe we made together can be found below. Jolly Time is the oldest popcorn company in America. They have have been churning out popcorn for us to enjoy since 1914, just three years before my grandmother was born.
We did have a jolly time making our Jolly Time popcorn balls. We shaped some of the popcorn snow into a snowman with pretzel arms and chocolate chip buttons. Our six-year-old strung another popcorn ball on a tree outside, a treat for the snow birds. The children mixed some chocolate candies, jelly beans and chocolate chips into some of them—just for silly, recipe-experimenting fun. And the rest of the snowball popcorn balls...were so good just as they were.
snowball popcorn balls
8 cups plain popped popcorn
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Stir sugar, syrup, water, butter and salt together in a pan. Cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Stir constantly. Now cook without stirring until the mixture is 270° on a candy thermometer. You may also check to see if it is done by dropping a small amount of syrup into very cold water. If it separates into hard, but not brittle threads, it is done cooking. Remove from heat. Add vanilla, stir just enough to mix in. Slowly pour over popcorn while you stir to coat all the popped corn. Butter hands and shape into balls just as soon as you can handle the hot popcorn. Cool on foil or wax paper. Makes 12 medium balls.
Healthy popcorn recipes and organic popcorn can be found at Jolly Time. Maple caramel corn is a healthy popcorn treat we have published on our website. Sweetened only with maple syrup, it is another fun popcorn recipe to make with children and could also be formed into popcorn balls.
