Popcorn Balls - for those marshmallow lovers out there!

I cannot make these often.  Why, you ask?  Because I will eat them all very very quickly.  Which is probably not the best for my health.  So, I try to stick to once a year, maybe twice a year, preferably every week.  These are just fabulously delicious. A bit of popcorn, a bit of marshmallow, a bit of chewy deliciousness!  Anyone who has been lucky enough to try these has raved over them, usually wanting more- which I cannot give them because I've eaten them all.  Here are some Halloween-themed treats we made.

Popcorn Balls - for those marshmallow lovers out there!

Makes ~12 medium sized popcorn balls
These are SO delicious!

Make (in a very large bowl!):

~24 cups popped popcorn (I pop 1 cup popcorn kernels for this recipe.  1/2 cup unpopped = 12-15 cups popped (it kind of depends how you measure it, but I tend to measure heaping cups for popped popcorn)

In a saucepan, bring to boil over med-high heat, stirring constantly:

¾ cup light-colored corn syrup

¾ cup white sugar

Remove from heat.  Immediately stir in:

~ 3/4 cup marshmellow crème (really, it's insanely hard to measure gooey marshmallow creme, I generally just eye-ball somewhere around this amount)

1 Tbsp. butter

½ tsp vanilla extract

Stir until combined. 

Pour over popcorn, stirring gently to coat.

Let cool just slightly

If desired, mix in candies, like Reese's Pieces or M&Ms. Colored ones are fun for holiday themes.

With VERY VERY VERY buttered hands, shape into balls.  Wrap each ball in plastic wrap.  This is helpful to do w/ another person, one to make the popcorn ball, another to wrap.   If you're on your own, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place popcorn balls on the parchment until you've made them all and are ready to wrap them in plastic wrap.

They will store for 1 week at room temperature (if they last that long!)

Makes 12 medium popcorn balls.