I love popcorn and I LOVE popcorn balls! I wanted to come up with fun Patriotic popcorn balls to share on the blog and I’m going to share the results here today! I gathered a bit of inspiration to begin my project and I was hoping it would all work out because I had never attempted this exact method before. So…
Here’s my inspiration:
What is all of this going tp turn into?
Now for the recipe. I prefer to leave the marshmallows to rice crispies and use a sugar/karo recipe for my popcorn. I also don’t like popping popcorn or dealing with kernels so I prefer to use a store bought gourmet popcorn. I love this brand of kettlecorn and wanted to try it with my recipe.
Here are the results of the mystery popcorn balls!
Here is the recipe for the Popcorn Balls which I named after my Star Star Spangled Banner print…
“STAR SPANGLED POPS”
Star Spangled Pops
Popcorn Balls with a Patriotic twist and “suprise” ingredient
- 9 cups popcorn
- 4 TBS Butter
- 1/3 cup Karo syrup
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 cup sugar or 3/4 if using Kettlecorn
- 1 tsp salt (only if using unsalted popcorn)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Optional “Patriotic” toppings:
- Red & Blue sprinkles
- Red & Blue candy melts
- 2 pkgs Red Pop Rocks (Strawberry (Watermelon, Cherry))
- 12 straws or lollipop sticks. Tulle (twine, or ribbon for decor on sticks)
- Spray or grease a large bowl and put popcorn in it
- In a heavy saucepan:
- Slowly melt butter, then over med high heat add in next 4 ingredients and stir until dissolved and it reaches a rolling boil. continue to stir and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
- Pour mixture over popcorn and mix thoroughly.
- To form popcorn balls, dip your hands in ice water and form 12 firm medium size balls.
- Decor: Sprinkle popcorn balls with Red & Blue sprinkles
- Place sticks with ribbon decor in each popcorn ball
- Melt chocolate in decorator bag or plastic tube and drizzle over top of popcorn balls
- When chocolate has cooled but not completely hardened, sprinkle some Pop Rocks over the very top of the popcorn balls for a “surprise” at the end of of your treat! (I used appx 1 pkg. per 6 popcorn balls
Now for the results… The kettlecorn made it pretty sweet, so I adjusted the recipe accordingly. I was afraid the Pop Rocks wouldn’t work, that they would lose their fizz but they were actually my favorite part! It was a great surprise getting to those patches of popping fun! My little star Ry Guy gave these popcorn balls the taste test.
Here are the results…
If you are interested in making them and using a printable sign to go with them, you can down load this print I used in my photos.
Download——–>> HERE
I sure had fun with this patriotic sweet treat!
To pick up the free printables of the Star Spangled Banner which was my popcorn balls inspiration head——->> HERE!
Enjoy!
Jillene
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Those are so cute-love the sticks and added colors.
Thanks Steph! The sticks were cute to display and made them easier to eat too. 🙂
The kids will LOVE these! Thank you for a great idea. The trick now will be getting them made in secret so I can surprise them when we watch fireworks this year.
Thanks Dee! they are really quick and easy to make and will keep well for a few days. I , personally loved the pop rocks too!
These are so fun!!
I like FUN Albion! Thanks!
These look amazing!
Thanks Kaysi! MmmMmm yep! :):)
Those look so delicious! A neighbor always made popcorn balls for Halloween — I never even though about making them for a different holiday!
Thanks Cori! Oh, I love popcorn balls for any occasions. I’ve seen lots of fun Christmas ones. I may just have to share another recipe for other holidays! hahah Have you seen my Zombie BOOgers? {green popcorn}
They look so cute! I love the printable too-Thanks! I bet my boys love these!
Thanks Sara! I did the printable for my display picture for the post then thought I might as well share it… maybe someone would wast to share some “Star Spangled Pops” hahah
Perfect to make next week when the grandsons get here. Picking up all the supplies to be ready. They will love these.
My grandson seemed to enjoy it–right?!! I liked using the cupcake paper to put the stick through to catch any messes too as they ate it. The popcorn was adhered to the stick really well though so it was easy to sue the stick to eat it. great for little hands!
I love how festive these are! They look so good. Going to give these a try for sure. Thanks!
Thanks Lindsay! Hope you enjoy them!
These look so yummy!
Thanks Lisa. I like em! 🙂
This look amazing. My mouth is watering. I can’t wait to make these popcorn balls for my kids birthday.