How to Make Pink Strawberry Popcorn Balls

Childhood Memories

My husband and I loved rainbow-flavored popcorn as kids. I have fond memories of my parents buying it at the mall for my sisters and me when we were much younger. These days, I can't find it anywhere. My husband and I were recently reminiscing about it as well as the microwave variety that you could pop at home. With a giant craving for it, I got to work. The best part is that this snack will cost you under five dollars to make.

Here are the ingredients you'll need for this recipe.

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Cook Time

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 bag (10 ounces) mini marshmallows
• 12 cups popped popcorn
• 1 small package Jell-O (any flavor), 4 servings size

Now, place the butter and marshmallows in a bowl and nuke 'em.

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Instructions

1. Place butter and marshmallows in a large microwaveable bowl and place in the microwave. Cook for 90 seconds up to 2 minutes, until marshmallows are puffy.
2. Add dry Jell-O and stir.
3. Pour mixture over popcorn. Stir quickly to coat well.
4. Spray hands with cooking spray and work quickly, forming into balls.

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Marshmallows in Action!

This was the first time I'd ever put marshmallows in the microwave and it was actually pretty interesting. They puff up quite a bit, so make sure your bowl will accommodate them when they grow 200% or more. It's fascinating to watch them expand and then quickly deflate. I took the video below to give you an idea of what this step is like.

Add Jell-O mix to the melty marshmallows and stir.

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Tips

• If popping your own popcorn, you'll need about 3/4 to 1 cup of kernels. I used 1 cup and had a little extra to snack on. Pop just a little at a time, unless your popcorn popper is fancy-schmancy. I have to go easy on mine or some will get burned and others won't fully pop.
• Make sure all your kernels are popped or remove the ones that didn't make it. No one wants to unknowingly bite into a hard kernel—no matter how yummy its new coating is.
• I used a mixture of white and yellow corn kernels, although use whatever you'd like.
• Use your favorite flavor of Jell-O.
• Work quickly. If you slack off, you're going to have a hard time with this recipe.
• Spray your hands more than once (every few balls).
• Keeping these in the fridge helps combat the stickiness (I keep most stuff in the fridge these days due to a case of the summertime kitchen ants).

Heather Says: Now that I see how simple these are to make, I'm going to be making these often. I love how nicely the Jell-O spectrum lends its rainbow to the endless possibilities of this recipe. Mix and match colors for holidays (red and blue for the 4th of July or red and green for Christmas). This stuff is delicious and pleasing to the eye . . . but beware, this stuff is sticky. I never realized how sticky an entire bag of mini-melted marshmallows could be! Grease your hands often. I didn't at first and I felt like a Ghostbuster trying to fling ectoplasm off of my fingers!

Enjoy!

More Recipes from the Kitchen of Heather Says

• Summertime Fried Veggie Cakes
  A spin on a traditional potato pancake recipe, incorporating fresh veggies. Super easy to make and deliciously yummy.
• Turkey Sausage and Green Pepper Egg Pizza
  This dish is yummy any time of day, with any meal, and is a great way to use leftovers. Use your favorite pizza toppings for a new spin on an old favorite or experiment and have fun!
• Strawberry Jell-o Cake with Fresh Strawberries
  Jell-O + Cake = Jell-O Cake. It's as easy as it sounds. This is a great way to turn a boxed cake mix into something spectacular. It only adds a few minutes to the prep time that you would normally spend baking and frosting a cake from a mix.