Sweet and Savory Popcorn Balls

I am cursing myself for making these balls a week before Christmas.

I’m really skimping on the gifts this year, and focusing on homemade gifts, mainly ones that revolve around cooking or baking. Funny thing is, I’ve come to discover that 99% of Pinterest DIY gifts are painstakingly time-consuming and actually end up costing me just as much as mall-bought gifts. Sure, making gifts myself is a lot more rewarding than picking up some Target gift cards, but it doesn’t save me much time, energy or money.

These balls were super easy to make, but can be a bit on the costly side. Organic peanut butter, brown rice syrup, whole wheat squares and Earth Balance probably cost me about $18, even though I obviously didn’t use each of them completely.

But trust me, they are INSANELY delicious. Like, insane, insane. Completely worth the effort and money and I think my favorite people are going to absolutely love these come Christmas day. They’re getting the second batch though and that first batch is settling quite nicely in my tummy. And I loved every bite. I’ll gladly own up to all the calories too…AFTER the New Year 😉

8 cups air popped popcorn

2 cups organic whole wheat squares (organic cereal you can find at Whole Foods)

1 1/2 cups organic broken mini pretzels

1 cup organic roasted peanuts (add 1/2 tsp sea salt to mix if they’re unsalted peanuts)

1 cup organic brown rice syrup

1 cup organic peanut butter

1 cup organic puffed millet

1 cup organic brown sugar

1/2 cup Earth Balance vegan butter

1 tsp pure vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

• Mix together the popcorn, wheat squares, pretzels, peanuts and millet together
• Melt the butter over medium heat in a small saucepan or 2 minutes and stir in cinnamon and vanilla-pour over popcorn mix and stir
• In a medium saucepan over medium/high heat, combine peanut butter, brown rice syrup and brown sugar and stir continuously for about 5 minutes, or just before it begins to boil (it is VERY sticky and will be a pain to stir, but keep up with it or it will solidify!)
• Pour over popcorn mix and fold peanut butter sauce into it, using a wooden spoon or your hands when it’s cool enough (I stirred as best I could=, let it sit for a few minutes and then worked it in with my hands)
• Mold into baseball sized balls and refrigerate for an hour to let settle