The recipe for the Zombie Boogers popcorn is super, duper easy and is sure to make your guests shriek with delight. The treat bags are available for purchase in my Etsy shop. Enjoy!
"Zombie Boogers" Green Candy Coated Popcorn
Recipe Difficulty: Easy
Serves: 8-10
Time: 1 1/2 hours
16-20 cups of popped popcorn
Mixture:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoon green food coloring
1 teaspoon baking soda
(Depending on how coated you would like the popcorn, I recommend making a double batch of the mixture to achieve the same look of the popcorn as in the photo.)
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (95 degrees C).
Place your popcorn in two large shallow baking dishes.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt buter. Stir in sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to boil while stirring consistently. Boil without stirring for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and green food coloring until the mixture is evenly colored and combined. Stir in baking soda. Mixture will double. Pour the mixture over the popcorn and stir to combine and evenly coat.
Place the popcorn in the oven. Stir the popcorn every 15 minutes for 1 hour. Remove from the oven. Let cool for about 5 minutes and then break into pieces. Be careful popcorn will still be hot.
(Editor's Update: I've had several comments and emails from readers saying that they had to adjust or tweak the recipe. I've updated the recipe slightly due to these suggestions. Also, please note that I cook at altitude (above 5,200 feet). Depending on your location, you may need to adjust the recipe slightly to achieve the same serving size.)
24 comments:
Love the package, so creative, and thanks for the recipe!
Love it!
Do you mean 3 cups of popped corn? My mixture did not double?
@Anonymous Hmmmm... Nope, I didn't mean 3 cups of popped corn -- that wouldn't be enough for 8-10 serving. When you add in the baking soda, it will cause a reaction and the syrup mixture will double almost immediately. Try keeping the mixture over the heat and see if that helps.
How well does this keep... will it become stale within a day or so ?
Can I use microwave popcorn? If so, how many standard size bags?
awesome!!!
Thank you soo much for sharing this recipe! Iam making this right now to take to my witches party this weekend.
The only problem i have had with the recipe is that i have to double it so all the popcorn would be coverd in green!
@unknown It stays good for up to two weeks, although not as good as when it's first made. But I live in Colorado and the climate here is very, very dry. In more humid climates, the popcorn will go stale quicker.
@ The Stewart's I don't see why you couldn't use microwave popcorn! Although, I would recommend using a plain popcorn or slightly buttered kind. Since I didn't test the recipe with microwave popcorn, I am uncertain how many standard size bags you would need. But my serving size for the recipe was about a 1 1/2 cup - 2 cups of popped popcorn for every serving. I hope that helps you!
I had to double the syrup recipe and only use 1 cup of popcorn so it was as green as in the picture. I didn't have corn syrup and substituted it with honey. Maybe that is why.
For anyone who is having a tough time with the candy mixture, this is a standard caramel corn recipe with white sugar instead of brown and food coloring added. If you're having trouble with the high altitude recipe, just google "caramel corn recipe" and replace the brown sugar with white and add food coloring as suggested above.
For the anon using honey, substituting honey will not work to make proper caramel.
@ The Stewart's I googled popcorn. It says that 1/2 cup unpopped corn = 16 cups popped corn. So 2 cups unpopped corn = 64 cups popped corn. That's a lot of popcorn. LOL! I have the ACT II brand from Wal-Mart and couldn't find anywhere on the pkg. what it yields, but I wouldn't think that there would be more than 2-3 cups popped corn in a bag. Hope this helps.
@Ninny 123 - This recipe does yield a lot of popcorn, but you do make a make a good point about the amount of popcorn kernels. I switched the recipe from kernels to popped corn so that you can make enough according to my serving size.
I also had a bit of issue having enough caramel to cover the amount of popcorn to make it look like the photo. I am at 2800 feet. how long after you add the baking soda do you wait to pour it over the popcorn?
@ Anonymous - After adding the baking soda, it should double within a matter of seconds. I then immediately poured it over the popcorn.
I've had several emails and comments from other readers who have encountered the same problem. When I created the recipe, I had to pop a lot of popcorn to get to my recommended serving size. But many readers did not encounter the same problem as I had. I did a bit of research about popped popcorn ratios, and have subsequently adjusted the recipe accordingly. Hopefully, the updated recipe will give you a better popcorn to caramel ratio.
HI!
I was wondering that is the cup measure you are using? I'm from a country that uses only decilitras, grams etc.. theres so many different cup sizes in internet,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cup_%28unit%29
I assume you mean 1 cup= 240 ml?
@ Anonymous - I didn't realize there were that many cups sizes! I think the 1 cup = 240 ml is a good assumption.
I've made this recipe a couple of time without measuring exactly, and it still turned out great. The only step that you need to follow exactly is leaving the popcorn in the oven for over an hour at the right temperature. If you take it out too soon, the candy coating will not harden correctly.
Hi there! Great recipe! I also had to tweak the recipe a bit to get it just right. I actually added in a 1/4 cup of water so that that consistency was not too thick. This made it easier to mix it in with the popcorn and I also did not put the popcorn in the oven for the full hour, 20 minutes seemed to work for me. Thanks for wonderful, creepy recipe. The perfect touch to my Halloween party and tastes delicious!
Just wanted to thank you for this recipe. I used it in our recent Minecraft party.
http://sunnybydesign.blogspot.de/2012/11/minecraft-inspired-birthday-party.html
I didn't change the recipe and it turned out great as you can see in the pictures. Everyone loved the idea of green popcorn. So creative thanks again.
can you make popcorn balls with this?
@ Anonymous Yes, you can easily make popcorn balls out of the recipe. Although, I recommend letting the mixture cool for a minute or two (as it's very hot in the oven), and then cover your hands with a little butter to prevent sticking when you form the balls. You will need to work fast. Once the mixture cools it's difficult to shape.
I tried it with different colours including red and yellow food colourings. My kids loved the colourful popcorns.
If I wanted to flavor the popcorn, could I add flavored extracts? If so, do you have an idea for about how much extract to add to the recipe? Thanks! :)
@ Jackie Chappell Yes! Right now the recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, but you could easily substitute it for any flavor you would like.
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