I think my favorite part of St. Patrick’s Day is trying to incorporate the color green into as many things as possible. So, I broke out the green food dye and looked around my kitchen for inspiration. My eyes fell upon our container of popcorn kernels and thus, this recipe for St. Patty’s popcorn balls was born.
St. Patty’s Popcorn Balls Are A Fun Family Activity
Because we were undergoing several days of snowy weather, the kids were home from school and were able to help me. I honestly can’t say what they enjoyed more, making the popcorn balls or eating them. So, not only are they a tasty treat, they are also a fun family activity!
I prefer stovetop popcorn to microwave, but you can use either. Just make sure you leave out the salt in the recipe if you use pre-salted microwave popcorn.
📋 Recipe
St. Patty's Popcorn Balls
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 2 T unsalted butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2/3 cup marshmallows
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2-4 drops green food coloring
- 12 cups plain popped popcorn
Instructions
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the corn syrup, butter, powdered sugar, marshmallows, salt, and vanilla.
- Stir frequently until mixture comes to a boil.
- Add 2-4 drops of green food coloring (depending on how dark you want the color to be) and stir well.
- Pour the mixture over the popcorn, mixing well to ensure each kernel is coated.
- Grease hands with shortening and quickly shape the coated popcorn into balls before it cools.
- To store, wrap each ball in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature.
Nutrition
A Couple Of Important Notes About Making St. Patty’s Popcorn Balls
- The mixture will be hot when you are forming balls so don’t let younger kids help with shaping until it has cooled slightly or have them use a greased ice cream scoop to shape the balls.
- I like my popcorn balls to be more popcorn than candy coating. If you want ooey, gooey popcorn balls then you should double all ingredients except for the popcorn, which you should only increase by 1/3 (16 cups).
It doenst say anything about how to make them green or about food coloring. When and to what and how much? Please help.
Hi Grant, major oops on my part. I am fixing it now. I just added green food coloring to the corn syrup mixture at the end, right before pouring it on the popcorn. I ended up adding just 2 drops, but you can add more if you want to really bring out the green. Correcting the recipe now. Thanks for pointing out my oversight!
I love these! I’ve included them in my 17 St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Kids roundup post here http://livinginhisway.blogspot.ca/2015/03/17-st-patricks-day-activities-for-kids.html
Thank you! Heading over now to check out the other posts and to share.
I’ve always wanted to make popcorn balls, but never thought about looking up the recipe. This sounds so yummy! I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks for sharing at Inspire Me Mondays!
They really are fun to make. I hope you enjoy them. Thanks for hosting the party and for taking the time to stop in and comment.
This looks great and so versatile for lots of celebrations! Thanks for sharing at Something To Talk About link party!
Thanks for stopping by!
These look yummy & easy to make! Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty 🙂
Oh yummy! I love a nice, fresh popcorn ball! Thanks for sharing on Momma Told Me! We hope you’ll come back soon and share more!
~Jen
What a fun snowy weather family activity! I’ll definitely be making a batch with my kiddos this weekend.
These are adorable. I have pinned them for later!
#CircleofFriends
These look so yummy and I think they would be the perfect snack – sweet and salty! I bet the kids had fun making and eating them!