Gluten Free Vegan Popcorn Balls That Will Steal Your Heart

Gluten Free Vegan Popcorn Balls That Will Steal Your Heart.

Intro

Popcorn is absolutely a snacking staple. It is great for movie nights, games nights, or really any night. So, a great way to elevate this already amazing snack is to make marshmallow popcorn balls. Don’t worry, they are both gluten free and vegan so everyone gets to enjoy this spectacular treat.

For this recipe, I personally decided to pop the popcorn myself. This meant that I wasn’t adding even more salt or sugar to this recipe (as I am adding marshmallows to the popcorn). I didn’t want to overwhelm my tastebuds, and my sugar levels. However, if you have a sweet (or salty) tooth that just won’t quit, be sure to use pre-sweetened, or pre-salted, popcorn from the shops. One benefit of using shop bought popcorn is that suddenly this recipe becomes even quicker and easier than it already was!

Let’s be honest it is so much quicker just to buy popcorn directly from the shops than actually pop it yourself 😂. This recipe is supposed to be yummy, and fun, so if you hate popping the popcorn I would never want to suck the joy out of this recipe!

I think this recipe is perfect for family fun, as it is a great way to entertain kids, and let’s be honest adults as well because we all like to make a fun snack!

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• Follow Gluten Free VIPs on Pinterest where I post every Monday
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Now… drum roll… onto the recipe…. 🙂

Recipe Sheet

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp Popcorn Kernels
  • 4 table spoons of popcorn kernels is approximately 50g.
  • Whilst majority of popcorn kernels are gluten free, make sure there is no cross-contamination warnings on the packet that you purchase. ❤️
• 3 tbsp Coconut Oil
• 105g Marshmallows

Instructions

Popping the Popcorn

1. Put the hob on a high heat and add in 1tbsp of coconut oil
2. Once the hob is hot and the coconut oil is completely melted add in 2tbsp of popcorn kernels
3. Once popcorn popped, move freshly popped popcorn to a large bowl and repeat the above two
   steps

Making the Popcorn Balls

1. Put the hob on a low to medium heat and add 1/2 tbsp coconut oil and 52g marshmallows
2. Once the marshmallows have melted, add in half of the popcorn bowl and stir in the marshmallows
   and popcorn.
3. Then separate the mixture into balls (careful as they are hot!) – repeat the two steps above with the
   remaining popcorn, coconut oil and marshmallows.
4. Enjoy!

Tips and Tricks

Popping the Popcorn is Completely Optional!!!

One of the reasons, why I love the recipe is that it is so simple. If you love the pre-salted or pre-sweetened popcorn that comes from the shops, please do not let me stop you from making your life much easier. I found popping the popcorn quite fun, however it means it takes longer, and there is also the washing up 😔. Additionally, as I am adding marshmallows I didn’t want salted popcorn, and I didn’t want to use sweetened popcorn as I thought that would make the recipe too sweet (for my personal taste).

The dream would be if you could find unsalted/ unsweetened popcorn at your local shops – so if you get that opportunity, take it!❤️

Giant Popcorn Balls

This recipe makes 8 giant popcorn balls, which while aesthetic and fun looking – it does make it harder to eat. So if you need them smaller, make them to the size measurements that you want!

Watch Out For The Tooth Breaker – The Unpopped Kernel

Make sure to either sieve or manually look through the popcorn before you make the popcorn balls to remove any unpopped kernels. As I tell you from personal experience, it is not fun to unexpectedly bite into an unpopped kernel.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I know it can be a bit frustrating when popping the popcorn in increments. But I added that purposefully, as adding a small amount of kernels at a time will prevent the popcorn from burning. Additionally, you would be surprised how much space the kernels will take up when they are popped – don’t underestimate their size and end up with burnt popcorn as the consequence!

Do Not Melt the Marshmallows & Stir the Popcorn and Marshmallows For Too Long!

Do not melt the marshmallows for too long as you do not want to burn them. Also start with a low heat for the marshmallows to prevent burning as well!

When mixing the marshmallows and popcorn it will set very quickly so make sure to give it a stir and form them into balls as quickly as you can (be careful as the mixture is hot!)

Using a Different Type of Oil

I used coconut oil for this recipe as I think coconut oil is a fantastic vegan alternative for butter. I chose coconut oil as I think it goes very well when making anything sweet. However, you are the expert of your own palate, so choose whichever oil you prefer. Just remember to be careful and as safe as possible whenever you are working with oil ❤️.

Mini Marshmallows

I used mini gluten free and vegan marshmallows as it was then quicker and easier to melt the marshmallows as they were smaller. If you only have large marshmallows available to you, you can always just cut them into scissors (or just tear them with your hands, they are going to be melted anyway so you don’t have to be aesthetic with it).

Decorations

I love decorating desserts. These can be decorated with so many things, as shown in the picture below I decided to decorate mine with gluten free vegan dark chocolate and white chocolate. It was delicious!

They would be the perfect snack to decorate for any holiday, from Halloween to Christmas – the sky’s the limit (have fun 😉❤️).

This tips and tricks section is really just about encouraging you Gluten Free VIPs to not be afraid to make this recipe your own and tailored to you and your tastes! Feel free to be fun and adventurous with your cooking! Enjoy!😊😊😊

To Salt Or Not To Salt…

When it comes to salting the popcorn balls, I personally believe it is a little unnecessary considering that the marshmallows are added. But, if you would prefer a salty and sweet experience, then I think it would honestly just be easier to buy pre-salted popcorn from the shops than manually add the salt yourself. The main reason that I wanted to manually pop the popcorn was to prevent having to have pre-salted or pre-sweetened popcorn, as I thought it would be a bit much. So, if you prefer to use salty popcorn, save yourself the hassle, and the washing up, of manually popping the popcorn yourself (I know I would😉❤️🍿).

However, if your heart is set on manually popping the popcorn, but you need that salty fix then make sure to only use a pinch of salt. I recommend no more than 1 teaspoon/ 1 light sprinkle over the top of the popcorn.

Thank You For Reading! 🙂

Thank you so much for reading my article on Gluten Free Vegan Popcorn Balls That Will Steal Your Heart. Hopefully, you will give my recipe a try and get to experience what it is like to eat the food of VIPs. Be sure to comment and tell me how the recipe went. Just a reminder that I do also have a Pinterest account, so be sure to give that a like and follow also to make sure that you never miss when Gluten Free VIPs post (but just a reminder that I post every Monday).

If you would like to try some of my other dessert recipes I have listed the recipes below:

• Gluten Free Vegan Brownies That Will Blow Your Mind
• How To Make Gluten-Free Double Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
• Easy To Make Gluten Free Cherry Crumble Recipe
• How To Make Gluten-Free Easy No-Bake Rocky Road
• The Best Ever Gluten-Free, Vegan, Easy Strawberry Parfait Recipe
• How To Make Epic Easter Gluten Free Cake Pops
• Gluten Free Flapjacks That Make For A Luxurious Breakfast
• Gluten Free Oat Biscuit/ Cookie Traybake Recipe
• Gluten Free Classic Banana Bread Recipe – Fit for VIPs
• Gluten Free Vegan Xanthan Gum Free Pumpkin Mug Cake
• How To Make Easy + Delicious Gluten Free British Pancakes
• How To Make Gluten-Free Mint Choc Chip Vegan Milkshake
• Gluten Free and Vegan Hot Chocolate Recipe with a Christmas Twist
• 9 Fantastic Quick and Easy Healthy Smoothies To Make
• How To Make Gluten-Free Strawberry Yoghurt Ice Lollies

Please keep an eye out for Gluten Free VIPs, as I will be making more dessert recipes soon. Just a reminder that Gluten Free VIPs makes smoothies but also, dessert, dinner, lunch and side dish recipes that are all gluten free (plus some that are vegan and vegetarian)!

Gluten Free VIPs

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