Home Made Popcorn Balls

Popcorn balls are a very healthy alternative to chips during cold winter months. Follow this simple recipe for popcorn balls - the whole family will love them!

For the popcorn balls gather the following ingredients:

• 1 bag of plain popcorn
• 1tspn. butter
• 1 cup of white Karo
• 2 cups of white sugar
• ½ cup water
• 1 tspn. soda
• 1 tspn. vanilla
• Food coloring (your choice)

You'll also need a couple of cookie baking sheets and all hands on deck to quickly work on the popcorn balls.

Prepare some popcorn. Begin by making some popcorn. So that they are healthy, be sure to use popcorn that isn't seasoned with butter or even salt - just get the plain kind. Buy some kernels and pop those up on your stove if you can't buy ready-made plain popcorn.

A one quarter cup of unpopped kernels is enough. Put them in a saucepan with some oil, cover with a lid and gently move the pot over high heat until you don't hear the kernels popping anymore.

Syrup. The syrup is the ingredient that holds the popcorn balls together. An adult needs to do this step - just let the children watch for this step. Combine the sugar, Karo and water in a saucepan. Put it in the water and keep it at a rolling boil until you hear crackling sounds. Take it off of the heat.

Put in any flavorings. You can now add the teaspoon of soda, the butter and the vanilla to the syrup. If you want colorful popcorn balls, at this stage add some drops of food coloring. Stir well to combine.

Now move quickly to mix in the syrup. Choose a metal mixing bowl and put the popcorn in. Covering as much popcorn as possible, pour the syrup over. Mix well with the help of hands or a wooden spoon. Just ensure that each piece of popcorn has some syrup on it.

Making the popcorn balls. You have to work quickly before the syrup dries, so get some help - many hands make light work. You can press the syrup-covered popcorn into forms or molds if you have any, at this point. However, for more traditional ones, just take a handful of popcorn and make a ball - use rubber gloves to keep your hands from becoming a sticky mess if you wish. Form the balls no bigger than a medium apple.

If they are any bigger than this then people won't be able to finish them, and any smaller will seem ungenerous.

Place a popcorn ball onto a cookie sheet when you have formed it. Keep going until you have used all of the popcorn. Popcorn balls are great treats; after you allow them to cool, enjoy!