Flavored Candied Popcorn

Flavored Candied Popcorn

I remember as a kid, one of my favorite things to get at the fair was candied popcorn.  Mixing the flavors and trying out new ones was all so much fun and tasty too.  So when I stumbled upon this recipe, I had to stifle my screams of joy.  This is such a fun treat to make for your kids, and you can play with the mixtures to color coordinate for holidays too (Think cherry and blueberry for Fourth of July).  So get creative with this and have fun!

Ingredients:
10 cups popped popcorn (if you like Kettle Corn, you can use buttered microwaved popcorn for a salty sweet taste, otherwise just use plain stove or air popped popcorn)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 3oz package your choice fruit flavored gelatin powder
1 tsp flavoring (same as gelatin flavor, or get creative and use a coordinating flavor such as coconut flavoring with pineapple gelatin to make Pina Colada popcorn)
1 tbl corn syrup
3 tbl water
Butter for greasing

Preheat oven to 300*
Grease a 1/4 sheet pan or 2 8x12 baking pans
Generously grease with butter a heavy 2 quart saucepan
Distribute popcorn evenly in baking pan and place in oven to keep warm
Heat greased saucepan over medium heat, and combine butter, sugar, gelatin, corn syrup, water, and flavoring.  
Cook until a candy thermometer reads 250*-265* or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a rigid ball
Remove popcorn from oven and pour mixture over popcorn, stirring so that it all is evenly coated.
Return popcorn to oven and bake 5 minutes.
Stir again, and bake 5 more minutes.
Remove from oven and pour popcorn out onto a foil covered surface.
Let cool completely and then break into clusters.
This can be stored in a airtight container in a cool dry place (that is, if your kids don't eat it all first)