Popcorn balls

By á-7692

Ingredients

• 8 cups popped corn
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light or dark corn syrup
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Preparation

Step 1

Keep popped popcorn warm in 200F oven while preparing syrup.

In 2-quart saucepan, stir together sugar, corn syrup, water, butter and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Continue cooking without stirring until temperature reaches 270F on a candy thermometer or until a small amount of syrup dropped into very cold water separates into threads, which are hard but not brittle.

Remove from heat. Add vanilla; stir just enough to mix through hot syrup. Slowly pour over popcorn, stirring to coat every kernel. Cool just enough to handle. Shape into balls with buttered hands. Cool on foil or buttered wax paper. Wrap in plastic wrap; tie with a ribbon.