Maple Pecan Popcorn Balls
Mark Boughton/styling: Teresa Blackburn
- Yield: 18 pieces
- Prep: 10 mins
- Cook: 15 mins
"Light" corn syrup doesn't refer to its calories; it's a reference to its color -- and its mild flavor. Here, it keeps the sugar from crystallizing in these chewy popcorn balls, spiked with maple for a fall treat. Have everything ready before you start as you need to work quickly.
Ingredients
- 4quarts (16 cups) freshly popped popcorn (made from about 2/3 cup popcorn kernels and 3 tablespoons canola oil -- work in batches if necessary)
- 2cups granulated sugar
- 2/3cup water
- 1/4cup light corn syrup
- 1/4cup maple syrup (do not use imitation maple syrup)
- 8tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), plus additional for greasing
- 2teaspoons salt
- 1/8teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1cup chopped toasted pecans
Instructions
- Lightly butter the inside of a large bowl. Pour warm popcorn into buttered bowl.
- Mix sugar, water, corn syrup, maple syrup, butter, salt and cream of tartar in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil, stirring often. Attach candy thermometer to the inside of the pan. Continue heating undisturbed until temperature reaches 268F (hard-ball stage), about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Remove pan from the heat; stir in nuts. Slowly drizzle sugar mixture over popcorn, tossing gently with a spatula.
- Working quickly and wearing rubber gloves that you’ve buttered, gather about 1/2 cup of the coated popcorn together at a time, and form into balls without compacting too tightly.
Recipe by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough.
Nutritional Info *per serving
- Calories 230
- Glycemic Load 18
- Fat 10g
- Saturated Fat 3.5g
- Polyunsaturated Fat 1.5g
- Monounsaturated Fat 4g
- Cholesterol 15mg
- Sodium 260mg
- Potassium 65mg
- Carbohydrate 36g
- Fiber 2g
- Sugars 27g
- Protein 2g
- Trans Fat 0g
- Vitamin A 4%
- Vitamin C 0%
- Calcium 2%
- Iron 2%
