Hello everyone,
I have to make popcorn balls for my daughter's class (4th grade). It's for a project she's doing and will be served at their end of year picnic this Thursday. I've looked online and on YouTube and there are a ton of different popcorn ball recipes to choose from . . . some are more complicated than others. I want a recipe that's easy to make, and tastes good too. I've looked at some of the popcorn ball recipe reviews of ones I found online . . . but of course, you have some people who love the recipes and others who don't.
I was just wondering if any of you have ever made popcorn balls for your child's class, and if you have . . . did the kids like them and do you have a quick, easy recipe? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance. :)
Thank you to everyone that responded. I figured these would be a pain in the butt to make . . . I did some more searching online and found easy recipes to make popcorn squares, kind of like rice crispy treats by pressing them into a pan and cutting them up into squares instead of making the balls. They include chocolate too. The recipes seem pretty easy . . . and I'm planning on putting them in individual cello bags to keep them fresh. I tried looking into buying them . . . they don't sell them at stores around here locally and ordering them online would cost a fortune because I'd have to express ship them to get them on time.
For those of you who mentioned allergies. Our school does have children with food allergies . . . so if there is a child in the class with a particular food allergy . . . they either can't bring in snacks . . . or they can bring snacks without the ingredient that the child is allergic to. None of our fourth grade students have any food allergies . .. so there is no restriction for us.
Thanks again for taking the time to answer my post . . . I'm going to cross my fingers that they come out okay. :) Take care.
Due to allergies and other health concerns, we are not allowed to bring in home made food to our school functions. We can bring fruit and vegetables, otherwise? No.
We have made popcorn balls in the winter. I've used two recipes.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-ever-popcorn-balls/
and this one
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/popcorn-bal...
I would strongly suggest you use gloves when making them.
The problem with popcorn balls is that need to be kept air tight.
And the moms are correct, they take practice. Not sure you will want to fool with them.
I actually have a recipe for popcorn candy that is excellent, but it has to be kept air tight. so not good for out of doors. We usually only make it during the cold months.
Here is a link to order some.
http://www.amazon.com/Box-25-Caramel-Popcorn-Balls/dp/B00...
we use to have these at birthday parties. If i remember correctly I think mom made them just like rice crispy treats. Of course we used popcorn instead of rice crispy treats. Rubbed our hands with a stick of butter like it was soap and went to town making popcorn balls . After reading the other reviews I am not so sure we didnt use caramel on some occasions too. Of course you could always order pre packaged. I dont recall it being a horrible mess or anything that wouldnt wash up quickly.
We aren't allowed to bring home made food to our schools anymore and I'm so very very glad. I have been in a few of the kids friends houses and I'm quite sure I would never let the kids eat any food made in those kitchens. A person truly has no idea what sort of kitchen that food came out of if the food is from home. EEEWWWWEEEE!
To your question though. Most recipes make a bunch of popcorn then coat it with various substances that imitate caramel. If you do make this substance the one thing that seems to me to be the biggest deal is to not make it grainy. I don't know if it's cooked to long and the ingredients start to break down or if they are under-cooked and not melted together enough.
So make sure you do the test and make sure the sauce is exactly to that point it needs to be at.
I would buy them, not make them. Popcorn balls are not the easiest things to make. It takes time (and many, many practice batches) to be ready to make them for a class. Is there a popcorn place nearby that sells them? The popcorn places around here will give you a discount for buying bulk and will let you pick the color.
Make a practice batch tonight.
I'm sooo tired of folk acting like homemade is icky. Evidently, her school allows home food otherwise she'd not ask the question.
