Old-fashioned Popcorn Balls

Submitted by Hey Jude

"These are a fun treat and a little different from the usual popcorn balls with the addition of the nuts and coconut."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Yields: 16 popcorn balls

ingredients

• 1 cup pecans
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 1⁄2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
• 16 cups popped corn
• 1 1⁄4 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 1⁄4 cups dark corn syrup
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda

directions

1. Heat oven to 350°; place pecans and almonds into a large roasting pan; place coconut into a jelly-roll pan; place pans on 2 oven racks and bake 10-15 minutes or until toasted, rotating pans between upper and lower racks halfway through and stirring occasionally; stir nuts into coconut in the jelly-roll pan and cool completely.
2. Line a large cookie sheet with foil; spray lined sheet and the roasting pan the nuts had been in with nonstick cooking spray; place popcorn in the roasting pan; discard any unpopped kernels; sprinkle nut mixture over the popcorn.
3. In a heavy 3-quart saucepan, heat brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, and salt to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring frequently; reduce heat to medium; boil 5 minutes; remove saucepan from heat; stir in vanilla and baking soda (don't be alarmed when it foams up, it's supposed to); pour hot caramel syrup over popcorn mixture; with 2 forks, toss popcorn mixture while hot, until evenly coated with the caramel.
4. Working quickly, scoop up hot popcorn mixture by level cups; place popcorn mounts on prepared sheet; when popcorn mixture is cool enough to handle, coat hands with nonstick cooking spray; shape mounds into balls, pressing lightly so they hold together.
5. Cool completely; wrap each ball in plastic wrap and store in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 1 week.