When you’re planning a party (for Purim or for any day), it’s always extra special to coordinate your colors. Colored popcorn is a perfect way to bring your whole party scheme together. And for Purim, colored popcorn is a great snack to give out in your mishloach manot (goody bags).
Once you know how to create your own colors, the possibilities are endless. My sister-in-law dressed up her baby as a yellow smile and handed out buckets of yellow popcorn for Purim. If your 5-year-old insists on dressing as a policeman, blue popcorn is the perfect choice. And just because this is a great Purim treat doesn’t mean it doesn’t work year-round for other occasions. Colorful popcorn is always exciting! Pink or blue for a baby shower, green for your garden party…the rainbow is yours to create.
Colorful popcorn is fun to prepare and even more fun to eat. If you plan on buying popcorn to prepare this recipe, be sure to purchase only white popcorn. Yellow popcorn is already artificially flavored and the pink or blue colors will be off (the orange popcorn, through, will work fine).
To package the popcorn, I filled wide plastic 9 oz. tumblers and put them into cellophane bags, which I tied with a bow. It’s a great treat to-go!
You’ll Need:
14 cups of popped popcorn
2 cups sugar
¼ cup, about ½ box, gel dessert powder (Jello, or the kosher/vegan version: Kojel)
½ cup water
1 Tbsp oil
¼ tsp baking soda
1. Preheat oven to 250F.
2. Place the popped popcorn in a large bowl and set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan over high heat, combine the sugar, gel dessert powder, water and oil. Bring to a boil. When liquid boils, cook it for 4 minutes without stirring (swirl the pot occasionally).
4. Remove from heat and add baking soda. Pour over the popcorn and toss well to coat. Work quickly as the liquid will dry up.
5. Line two baking sheets with foil. Spread popcorn out on both pans. Bake for 1 hour. Stir occasionally.
6. Remove from oven and cool slightly before serving.
Color Variations:
Pink Popcorn: Use strawberry or cherry gel powder.
Orange Popcorn: Use orange gel dessert powder on yellow store- bought popcorn
Blue Popcorn: Use berry or unflavored gel dessert with 3 drops of blue food coloring.
Green: Use lime gel dessert powder. If the color is very light, you can add one drop of green coloring.
