4th of July Kool-Aid Fruit Drink Popcorn

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. #CollectiveBias

In our house, the 4th of July and candied popcorn go hand in hand. There is nothing like eating crunchy, fun popcorn at a BBQ or while watching a parade. It is one of my family’s favorite treats and making it is actually really easy to make at home. All you need it some plain popcorn, some powdered Kool-Aid Fruit Drink packets and a little sugar and corn syrup. This popcorn recipe mixes up in less than an hour, requires minimal baking skills and it goes perfectly with Kool-Aid’s new 96 oz Ready-To-Drink bottles.

 You will need:

• 10 cups of plain popcorn (a little less than 1/2 cup unpopped)
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 package of Kool-Aid (For red, you need Cherry and for blue you need Mixed Berry)
• cooking spray

Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and then measure out 10 cups of popped popcorn into it. Set aside. Mix the corn syrup, sugar and Kool-Aid powder in a sauce pan until smooth. Bring to a boil and then stir constantly over medium heat for five minutes.

Remove the mixture from heat and add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. Stir the baking soda in until the mixture expands.

Add the mixture to the popcorn and stir quickly to cover the popcorn. The mixture tends to settle at the bottom of the bowl, so make sure you stir from the bottom to avoid large pools. Add the popcorn to a glass baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 225 to help dry out the popcorn. Remove from the baking dish immediately and place on parchment paper to cool.

 Tips for making the popcorn:

• The baking soda lightens the color of whatever Kool-Aid package you use, so you need something darker to start with. Watermelon or Strawberry Kool-Aid will give you pink popcorn, not red, but they are really delicious.
• Clean your pots and bowls immediately after use, or at least soak them in hot water immediately.
• If you end up with mixture stuck in your sauce pan, fill with water and boil on the stove until the mixture dissolves.
• For white popcorn, don’t add the Kool-Aid to the mixture.
• Use a sturdy spoon or spatula.

This 4th of July, Kool-Aid is celebrating their new  96 oz Ready-To-Drink bottles which are perfect for bringing to your celebration, no preparation needed. Find the bottles near the fruit juices in your local Walmart.  If you live in South Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama or Tennessee, you could have the chance to meet professional fisherman Jim Dillard as he comes to your local Walmart to promote the new Kool-Aid bottles with giveaways, t-shirts and activities!  Look for your store below:

I am going to send my nephews, who live in South Carolina to their local Walmart to join in the fun this summer. How are you going to #KoolOff with Kool-Aid this 4th of July?