I've always wanted to make that really pretty, brightly colored candy popcorn. I tried it once using a friend's stove top pan and it didn't work well at all. (She can do it, but it was an dismal failure for me.) And using jello didn't seem like a tasty or economical way to do it, I like jello, but I didn't want my popcorn tasting like jello. So I finally found a recipe that not only tasted yummy, but also was super simple too! My kind of popcorn!
Colored Candied Popcorn
recipe adapted from Midwest Living here
Ingredients:
- ½ cup un-popped popcorn
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup light Karo syrup
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (estimate)
- food coloring (optional: see below for my color combinations)
Directions:
- Pop popcorn according to preferred method. I have an old-school hot air pop corn popper similar to this one here.
- Remove all un-popped kernels.
- Place popcorn on a cookie sheet or in a large bowl.
- In a heavy-duty 2 quart pot, melt combine sugar, Karo syrup and water. Cook over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved (mixture will be boiling).
- Clip a candy thermometer on the side of the pot and continue to cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat until it reached the hard crack stage (about 300 degrees).
- Remove from heat and remove thermometer.
- Add vanilla and food coloring and stir until combined.
- Quickly pour candy coating over popcorn and mix together using a sturdy spoon or spatula.
- Allow popcorn to set and break up the popcorn into smaller chunks if desired.
- Enjoy!
*Check out my super cute Halloween Etched Glass Vase Tutorial here
To make these bright colors, I used the following food coloring formulas:
Orange: 36 drops yellow + 3 drops red
Green: 36 drops yellow + 6 drops green
Purple: 24 drops red + 10 drops blue
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marissa | Rae Gun Ramblings
love this. it's so pretty, what a fun addition to any party. definitely saving this one. The nieces and I are going to have so much fun trying this out thanks for sharing!