Description
These Christmas Popcorn Balls are a delightful and festive treat perfect for holiday celebrations. Made with sweetened marshmallow coating and vibrant red and green colors, they bring a fun and colorful addition to your holiday snack table. Easy to make and sure to impress kids and adults alike, these popcorn balls combine the crunchiness of popcorn with a chewy, sweet glaze accented by sprinkles for a cheerful holiday treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Popcorn
- 10 cups popped popcorn
Syrup Mixture
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 bag (10 oz) mini marshmallows
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Coloring and Decoration
- Red food coloring
- Green food coloring
- Red and green sprinkles
Instructions
- Prepare Popcorn: Place the popped popcorn in a large mixing bowl and set it aside to be coated later.
- Melt Butter and Marshmallows: In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the mini marshmallows and stir continuously until completely melted and smooth.
- Add Syrup and Flavoring: Stir in the light corn syrup and vanilla extract into the melted marshmallow mixture. Remove the saucepan from heat to prevent burning.
- Divide and Color Mixture: Divide the marshmallow mixture evenly into two separate bowls. Add red food coloring to one bowl and green food coloring to the other, mixing each until the colors are fully combined.
- Coat Popcorn: Pour the red-colored mixture over half of the popcorn and the green-colored mixture over the other half. Stir each batch thoroughly until the popcorn is evenly coated with the colored marshmallow mixture.
- Shape Popcorn Balls: With greased hands to prevent sticking, form the coated popcorn into balls about the size of a tennis ball. Place the formed balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Decorate: Sprinkle the popcorn balls with red and green sprinkles to add an additional festive and colorful touch.
- Cool and Set: Allow the popcorn balls to cool completely so they set up before serving, ensuring they hold their shape and are not sticky.
Notes
- Use greased hands or lightly butter your hands to prevent the sticky marshmallow mixture from adhering while forming the popcorn balls.
- Make sure the popcorn is fully popped and any unpopped kernels are removed to avoid hard bits in the popcorn balls.
- For best results, allow the popcorn balls to cool at room temperature; refrigeration is not necessary and may make the treat too hard.
- You can customize colors and sprinkles to match other holiday themes if desired.
- Store leftover popcorn balls in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days to maintain freshness.
