Easy Popcorn Balls

Popcorn balls are an iconic holiday treat. They were hugely popular in the late 19th century as a holiday food, probably because they doubled as Christmas tree ornaments (I prefer to eat them). Although they are associated with winter, the far-fetched legend of their invention says popcorn got their start in the summer. As they story goes, there was a corn field in Nebraska getting scorched by the summer sun and it got so hot that the corn started popping right off the stalks. At the same time, there was a deluge of warm rain over a sugar cane field next door. The rain washed the syrupy sugar downhill toward the popped corn, rolled it into balls, and voila, you got popcorn balls!

If you've every made popcorn balls then you know what a daunting task making them can be. The candy syrup is too hot to handle and then once it's cool enough to touch, it's too hard to get an even coating on the popcorn. It take a couple tries so be prepared to toss your first, and maybe the second, batch. And be sure to give yourself plenty of space to spread out.

This is a super easy and traditional recipe that I have taken from Paula Dean with my own tips inserted.

Ingredients:

• 18 cups popcorn- salted, but with no butter. For me this was 1/4 cup kernels before being popped.
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/3 cup water
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• non-stick cooking spray

1. Put down silicone mats or parchment paper on large working space. 
2. In medium pot, combine sugar, water, corn syrup, vinegar, and salt, and cook over high heat until it reaches 250F. Going any higher than 255F will make the syrup too hard to handle when cooled so pull off the heat at 145-150 as the temperature will raise slightly even after removed from heat. Once removed from the hear, stir in the vanilla. 
3. Pour half of the syrup over the popcorn and using a spatula, immediately start tossing. Pour the remainder of the syrup over the popcorn, and toss again to get a light even coat. 
4. Once the syrup is cool enough to touch, you need to form the popcorn into balls. Use the non-stick cooking spray on your hands to keep the popcorn from sticking. Form into 14-16 tight balls and place on parchment paper to allow to finish cooling and harden.