Homemade caramel or caramel candies melted and tossed with salted popcorn and formed into easy party ball treats.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Caramel Popcorn Balls Made Easy
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 25 minutesminutes
Total Time 55 minutesminutes
Servings 12servings
Equipment
Large pot with lid for popping corn
Saucepan for melting caramel
12 6-inch Wooden sticks
Sheet pan and parchment paper
Ingredients
1/2cupPopcorn kernels or store bought already popped about 4 1/2 cups
1/8cupSunflower oil or other neutral oil for popping corn
Homemade Caramelor 16 oz. store bought
2cupsSugar
12tbspUnsalted Butter room temperature
1cupHeavy cream room temperature
1tspSalt
Instructions
Pour the oil into a large pot (with lid). Swirl the oil around to cover the bottom. Place 2 kernels in as a tester to see if oil is hot enough.
Once the test kernels pop, remove them and discard. Add the 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels in an even layer. Cover.
Gently shake the pot until the corn stops popping, about 10-minutes. Remove from the stove with lid off.
Make Caramel
Place sugar in a saucepan, over medium heat, and begin to melt the sugar. Continue cooking the sugar for about 15 minutes or until the temperature of the sugar is no more than 350 degrees.
Turn off the heat. Whisk in the butter and salt, it will sputter a bit. Add cream and whisk until creamy.
Pour the warm caramel over the popcorn, tossing gently to coat all of the popped popcorn.
Working quickly, shape the caramel coated popcorn into balls, placing a wooden stick in the center and set the caramel popcorn balls on a parchment paper lined tray to cool. It helps to keep fingertips damp with water while shaping the balls.
Notes
Other goodies, such as chocolate chips, nuts, colorful sugar sprinkles or even grated cheese can be added while forming the balls.