Description
Cotton Candy Popcorn is a fun and whimsical sweet treat that combines crispy popcorn with a sugary cotton candy flavored glaze. This recipe coats air-popped or lightly salted popcorn with a fragrant, colorful sugar syrup, creating delightful clusters perfect for parties or movie nights. The easy-to-make cotton candy flavored syrup adds a nostalgic carnival flavor, while the gel food coloring makes the popcorn visually enticing.
Ingredients
Scale
Popcorn
- 8 cups popped popcorn (plain, air-popped or lightly salted)
Syrup
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp light corn syrup
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cotton candy flavoring (or to taste)
- Gel food coloring (pink, blue, or your choice)
Instructions
- Prepare popcorn and baking sheet: Place the 8 cups of popped popcorn into a large mixing bowl. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside to cool the coated popcorn later.
- Combine syrup ingredients: In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the granulated sugar, light corn syrup, water, unsalted butter, and salt. Stir the mixture continuously until it begins to boil, ensuring ingredients blend uniformly.
- Boil to soft-ball stage: Stop stirring and let the sugar mixture boil for 3 to 4 minutes, or until it reaches approximately 235°F (soft-ball stage) on a candy thermometer. This stage ensures the syrup will coat the popcorn properly and harden correctly.
- Add flavor and color: Remove the saucepan from the heat. Quickly stir in the cotton candy flavoring and a few drops of gel food coloring of your choice to give the popcorn a vibrant appearance and irresistible aroma.
- Coat the popcorn: Immediately pour the hot sugar mixture over the popcorn in the mixing bowl. Toss gently but thoroughly with a spatula to evenly coat all the popcorn pieces. Work quickly before the syrup sets.
- Cool and set: Spread the coated popcorn evenly onto the prepared parchment-lined baking sheet. Allow it to cool completely at room temperature, which will let the coating harden into crunchy clusters.
- Serve: Once cooled and hardened, break the popcorn into clusters and serve immediately for a delightful sweet snack.
Notes
- Use a candy thermometer to ensure sugar syrup reaches the correct soft-ball stage (235°F) for perfect texture.
- Be cautious when handling hot sugar syrup to avoid burns.
- You can customize the flavoring and coloring to match any occasion or theme.
- Store leftover cotton candy popcorn in an airtight container to maintain crispness.
- Lightly salted popcorn adds a nice sweet-salty contrast, but plain air-popped popcorn works well too.
