The 4th of July calls for everything patriotic so how about festive Patriotic Popcorn! It’s the perfect treat while watching the fireworks.

Patriotic Popcorn

We love popcorn. You can make popcorn for just about any occasion and we can’t think of a better time than for the 4th of July. This red white and blue popcorn is such a fun treat to make to add to your party. It makes for the best snack for everyone watching those beautiful fireworks. With just a few ingredients and some food coloring you will have some red, white and blue popcorn that everyone will love.

What you need to make Patriotic Popcorn:

12 cups popped popcorn (1/2 cup popcorn kernels and 6 tablespoons vegetable oil)
2 cups of sugar
2/3 cups of whole milk or half and half
2 tablespoons of corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 drop red (super red) gel food coloring or enough liquid food coloring to get a good red color
1 drop blue (royal blue) gel food color or enough liquid food coloring to get a good blue color

How to make Patriotic Popcorn:

Pop the popcorn on the stovetop: In a large pot with a tight fitting lid, add the 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil and 2 kernels of popcorn and heat over medium heat, uncovered. When the 2 kernels pop, add the remaining 1/2 cup of kernels and fit the lid on the pot. Shake the pot on the stove to heat the kernels. Shake a few times and keep the kernels moving. When the kernels start popping keep the pan moving until the pops are about 2 seconds apart and slowing down (it will take a few minutes to get up to heat, but don’t be tempted to turn the heat up or you’ll scorch the kernels).
Remove the popcorn from the heat and divide into about 4 cups per bowl in 3 large bowls and set aside.

In a medium sized saucepan combine the sugar, milk or half and half, corn syrup and salt. Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then bring the mixture to a low boil until the temperature reaches 230 degrees F (soft ball stage – this is where if you drop a small drop of the sugar mixture into a very cold cup of water it should form a soft ball in the water that flattens out when it is out of the water. Don’t rush this part of the process or turn your heat up and get impatient because you’ll end up with caramel instead of a well cooked sugar syrup that you can color with the food coloring. Still delicious, but not what we want for this recipe. This part of the cooking process took about 15 minutes on medium high heat.

Once the sugar syrup has reached the soft ball stage at 230 degrees, stir in the vanilla extract. It will bubble, once it is all stirred in, pour 1/3 of the mixture into a small heat proof bowl. Add another 1/3 of the mixture from the pan into another heat proof bowl. Add the red food coloring to one of the bowls and the blue food coloring to the other bowl. Whisk the food coloring quickly and carefully into each bowl separately to make the colored syrups.

(NOTE: Please work carefully with the hot sugar syrup – it is so hot! Don’t worry too much about any little spills – the nice thing is that sugar dissolves easily with a wet towel, so don’t try to wipe it up when it’s really hot to avoid getting burned.

Working as quickly as possible so the syrup doesn’t cool too much, pour the colored sugar syrup over each of the bowls of popcorn you separated earlier and use a rubber spatula to fold and stir the candy over the popcorn to coat. Repeat with the other two syrups in the other two bowls – if your syrup has cooled too much to pour, you can warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds to make it more pourable, but not enough to bubble up – it should be about the consistency of corn syrup and still warm.
Spread the stirred and coated popcorn out onto a large piece of parchment to cool and dry for a few minutes.

How to package and serve this Red, White and Blue Popcorn:

Now for the fun part, there are so many fun ways to serve this fun red, white and blue treat. …you can line them up on a pan in stripes of RED WHITE AND BLUE to serve, or you can toss the colors together for a cute mix. OR you can use a cellophane bag and fill with some of the patriotic popcorn and top it off with our 4th of July free printable. You can also fill some disposable 4th of July themed ice cream cups for festive individual servings. Any way you choose to serve this treat, everyone will love it.

MORE Red, White and Blue party ideas:

–Festive food for the 4th
–Easy DIY candy buffet for the 4th of July
–All American fruit flag

What are you serving for the 4th of July?

Patriotic Popcorn

A delicious red, white and blue treat for the 4th of July

Author Kami - NoBiggie,net

Ingredients

12 cups popped popcorn made from 1/2 cup popcorn kernels and 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2/3 cups whole milk or half and half
2 tbsp corn syrup
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 drop red (super red) gel food color or enough liquid drops to make a good red color
1 drop blue (royal blue) gel food color or enough liquid drops to get a good blue color

Instructions

Pop the popcorn on the stovetop, in a large pot with a tight fitting lid, add the 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil and 2 kernels of popcorn and heat over medium heat, uncovered. When the kernels pop, add the remaining 1/2 cup of kernels and fit the lid on the pot. Shake the pot on the stove to heat the kernels. Shake a few times and keep the kernels moving. When the kernels start popping keep the pan moving until the pops are about 2 seconds apart and slowing down (it will take a few minutes to get up to heat, but don’t be tempted to turn the heat up or you’ll scorch the kernels).
Remove the popcorn from the heat and divide into about 4 cups per bowl in 3 large bowls and set aside.
In a medium sized saucepan combine the sugar, milk or half and half, corn syrup and salt. Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then bring the mixture to a low boil until the temperature reaches 230 degrees F (soft ball stage – this is where if you drop a small drop of the sugar mixture into a very cold cup of water it should form a soft ball in the water that flattens out when it is out of the water. Don’t rush this part of the process or turn your heat up and get impatient because you’ll end up with caramel instead of a well cooked sugar syrup that you can color with the food coloring. Still tasty, but not what we’re going for here. This part of the cooking process took 15 minutes on medium high heat.
Once the sugar syrup has reached the soft ball stage at 230 degrees, stir in the vanilla extract. It will bubble, once it is all stirred in, pour 1/3 of the mixture into a small heat proof bowl. Add another 1/3 of the mixture from the pan into another heat proof bowl. Add the red food coloring to one of the bowls and the blue food coloring to the other bowl. Whisk the food coloring quickly and carefully into each bowl separately to make the colored syrups.*
Working as quickly as possible so your syrup doesn’t cool too much, pour the colored sugar syrup over each one of the bowls of popcorn you separated earlier and use a rubber spatula to fold and stir the candy over the popcorn to coat. Repeat with the other two syrups in the other two bowls – if your syrup has cooled too much to pour, reheat it quickly in the microwave for a few seconds to make it more pourable, but not enough to bubble up – it should be about the consistency of corn syrup and still warm.
Spread the stirred and coated popcorn out onto a large piece of parchment to cool and dry for a few minutes. Toss the colors together (or line them up on a pan in rows of RED WHITE AND BLUE) and serve.

Recipe Notes

*Please work carefully with the hot sugar syrup – it is so hot! Don’t worry too much about any little spills – the nice thing is that sugar dissolves easily with a wet towel, so don’t try to wipe it up when it is really hot to avoid getting burned.

Making This Recipe? Tag us on Instagram: @NoBiggie using the hashtag #NoBiggieRecipes, so we can see what you are making in the kitchen!