Fruity Flavored Popcorn

I love candied popcorn...

Something about the colorful kernels...

Or maybe the sweet crunchy taste...

Whatever it is, I've loved it since I was a kid.

Last summer I visited Chicago with my family. We stopped at a popcorn store and bought some colorful candied popcorn. It was good, but it was really expensive! I decided to do some research and see if I could find a recipe for candied popcorn I could make at home. I found this recipe at the Kraft Foods website. It's colorful and even better tasting than the candied popcorn I've found in the stores. 

Let me show you how I made it:

First, I gathered the ingredients; 8 cups of popped popcorn (I used the Paper Bag Popcorn recipe from my blog), 1/4 cup butter, 3 tablespoons of light corn syrup, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, and one small box green gelatin.

 I made this as a St. Patrick's Day treat for my grandkids so I thought I'd make a green batch first. As it turned out I decided to make other flavors so it would be more colorful ~ but these pictures will show you how I made the green (lime) candied popcorn. 

 I preheated the oven to 300 degrees and prepared a 10x15 baking sheet by lining it with foil (after the first batch I decided to use parchment paper because the popcorn tended to stick to the foil and I didn't want to use PAM ~ the parchment paper worked best).

 I put the butter and the corn syrup in a small saucepan and heated it on low until the butter melted.

I added the sugar and the lime jello and stirred to combine the ingredients. I turned the stove up to medium heat and continued to stir until it came to a boil.

When it started boiling I turned a timer on for 5 minutes and turned the burner down slightly, then continued to stir until the time was up.

I poured the hot mixture over the popcorn in a large plastic container. Then I quickly and gently stirred the popcorn and hot mixture to try to coat the popcorn evenly.

At this point it can be made into popcorn balls, but I spread the popcorn out on the prepared baking sheet and then baked it for 10 minutes at 300 degrees. When the time was up I pulled it from the oven and let it cool on the pan for about 5 minutes and then I broke it into pieces and put it in an airtight container.

I went back and made two more batches, one orange and one grape. I added food coloring to the orange and grape flavors because I felt the green didn't come out as bright as I wanted. I was happy with the food color results ~ I will use that for green in the future.

This is the official recipe for Fruity Flavored Popcorn

8 cups popped popcorn

1/4 cup butter

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 small box flavored gelatin

food coloring (whatever color coordinates with the flavor jello you're using)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Prepare 10x15 baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper, set aside

Put popcorn in large plastic bowl, set aside

Add butter and corn syrup to a small saucepan set on low heat. Stir until butter is melted. 

Add sugar and powdered jello.

Stir and turn heat up to medium.

When mixture starts to boil set a timer for 5 minutes and turn heat down slightly. Boil and stir until the time is up.

Pour hot mixture over the popcorn and quickly and gently stir to cover popcorn.

Put popcorn mixture on parchment lined pan and carefully (because it is hot!) spread the popcorn mixture out.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Cool on the pan for 5 minutes and then break up and put in air tight container.

***Hint*** Set the mixing bowl, saucepan and stir spatula in a sink full of hot soapy water as soon as possible to let them soak because the candy coating is very hard to clean up if it has a chance to harden.

 What was the taste tester's bottom line?

We really enjoyed the flavor of this popcorn. The kids each had their favorite flavor. Those who didn't like popcorn, didn't like this. It tends to be sticky ~ not so much on the hands, but on the teeth. I've made candied popcorn before, but it never had the intensity of fruity flavor like this does. The jello is a wonderful addition! We have to keep in mind this is candy and show some portion control and also remind the kids to do an extra good job brushing their teeth afterward!

The bottom line: This is a good treat for kids parties, classroom treats, and anytime a special colorful treat is needed.