Christmas Favor

My friend Brooke made the BEST Peppermint Marshmallow Popcorn when we lived by them.

It's quickly become one of our favorite Christmas treats/snacks. So here I am, doing YOU a favor, so you can have this yumminess too.

Let me clarify something though........I'm not a bakey-bakey kind of person. Sure we make the pretzel/rolo treats and cookies, but it has to be REALLY yummy for me to cook EXTRA (on top of meals). 

And this. is. yummy.

(I don't normally like peppermint either!!! As an added bonus, it's made up of stuff you usually have on hand....minus the candy canes)

Ingredients:  

	1 cup margarine or butter
	1/2 c. corn syrup, light
	1 t. vanilla
1	16 oz bag of mini marshmallows ( if you can't find a 16 oz bag just use 1 1/2 bags of the 10.5 oz)
2	gallons of air popped popcorn....that equals two batches of Whirly-Pop for me. (or 3 bags of microwave popcorn,use very light butter)
30	miniature candy canes, crushed
	1  1/3 c. sugar

The candy cane part works out nicely when you have kids that LIKE to do those types of things

 (and that picture IS and is NOT so funny to me. I have ZERO counter space so I use the top of my freezer as counter space.....you can see the griddle over on it. Apparently Royce turned it on after this picture and when I had the hair clipper box from cutting Brooks' hair on top of it......so yes, this is one of those before-the-disaster kind of pictures)

Crushing candy canes....

Directions:

melt butter and margarine in a pot. add the sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla. Boil for 5 minutes of med heat. layer the pop corn, candy canes and marshmallows in a large bowl or pot. Pour the sauce over and mix well with a large spoon. It can bet hard to stir this sticky goodness but it is worth it! You can add more popcorn till it is the consistency you want. When you are done mixing pour it onto wax paper and spread it out to cool. You can store it in gallon zip lock bags. (the picture below is just one batch.....I usually make two if I'm giving some out and still want some leftover to eat. My family can down this batch easily)

This is an easy gift for Primary teachers, neighbors, or just to snack on. Every time I give this out someone asks for the recipe. Soooooooooooo, now YOU have it. And you're welcome.

Don't forget to stock up on candy canes after Christmas for when you NEED this during the rest of next year!!!!