Candy Coated Popcorn Recipe: Popcorn Balls

Sweet and salty candy coated popcorn recipe. Candy corn popcorn balls are perfect to enjoy during fall and holiday seasons.

Easy to make and hard to stop eating.

What Makes This Treat So Good

• Candy corn popcorn balls are portable, so it’s a great option to bring along wherever you’re going.
• It’s like eating caramel corn but sweeter because of the addition of candy corn.
• The candy corn are whole and easy to see.
• The popcorn balls hold together very well.
• They aren’t overly hard either.

What to Know Before You Start

• You’ll need to cook the sugar to the soft-crack stage (270°F) for this recipe. This will make the candy corn popcorn balls hold together. Cooking them longer than this will take the sugar to the hard candy stage.
• You need to use a candy thermometer with this recipe. You can’t really guess at the temperature. They aren’t expensive. You can find a perfectly acceptable candy thermometer for less than $10.
• This is a recipe where it’s helpful to read through the whole thing first. There’s no standing around while you make this recipe. That’s why I like to pop the popcorn before starting to heat up the syrup. You’ll be glad you have it ready to go as soon as the syrup comes off the burner.
• Coat your hands with butter before forming the candy corn popcorn balls. Line up some wax paper, also coated with butter before scooping out portions of popcorn. Believe me, I’ve tried making these without buttering everything in sight and it’s a sticky, gooey mess without it.

Candy Corn Popcorn Balls

If you’re craving candy corn but don’t want to make an entire batch of candy corn recipes, these candy corn popcorn balls will scratch that itch. They’re quick and easy to make, too.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of light corn syrup, which gives them a slightly more chewy texture, helps give that shine, and helps bind everything together
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar, which helps to prevent the sugar from crystallizing
• 1/2 tablespoon butter – use real butter, not margarine. This helps them stay together, coats them more evenly, and adds richness.
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 quarts plain, popped popcorn, or about 12 cups of popcorn – 1 standard sized bag of microwaved, plain/slightly salted popcorn OR about 3 standard sized batches in a hot-air popper
• 3/4 cup candy corn, regular sized
• More butter for your hands as necessary. You’ll be thankful you’ve got your hands hovering near that stick.

Step 1: Cook the Syrup

• When you combine the sugar, corn syrup, cream of tartar and butter, it’s ok if the butter doesn’t melt. Just toss all of it into the medium saucepan. Attach the candy thermometer to the side of the saucepan, place it all over a medium-low burner and wait for everything to melt together. Stir constantly. The mixture will begin to bubble and will be cloudy and grainy at first, but once the sugar has dissolved, it will be clear and shiny. Keep stirring and cook until the mixture reaches 270 degrees. Depending on the strength of your burner, this can take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes. Don’t try to hurry this process by turning up the heat, the sugar could seize.

Step 2: Add the Baking Soda and Pour

As soon as the thermometer reads “270 degrees”, take the saucepan off the burner. Stir the baking soda into the mixture, then immediately pour it over the popcorn.

Mix vigorously and safely with a wooden spoon or spatula to ensure an even distribution of syrup. This step is very important as it must be done quickly, before the syrup begins to harden.

Use a LARGE bowl so the syrup doesn’t just settle on the bottom.

Step 3: Cool Briefly, Then Add Candy Corn

The candy corn popcorn balls will need to sit for 60 to 90 seconds in order for the syrup to cool enough to work with, but the mixture shouldn’t get a chance to harden either. Give the bowl a few shakes so the unpopped kernels fall to the bottom, making it easier to remove them.

Once the mixture has cooled for about a minute, add the candy corn and mix until evenly incorporated. Be gentle here so you don’t break apart too much of the popcorn.

Step 4: Shape the Balls

Using plenty of butter on your hands, take fist-sized handfuls of popcorn, pack them together FIRMLY so the balls don’t fall apart as they finish setting, and shape them into balls. Keep working until all of the mixture has been incorporated into balls, enough to make 3” diameter balls.

Leave the popcorn balls undisturbed for another 15-20 minutes. You should be rewarded with about 12 to 15 Candy Corn Popcorn Balls.

Helpful Tips

• When you’re shaping the popcorn into balls, make sure to really press them together so they don’t break apart later. Use lots of butter on your hands and pack them tightly.

If you find that your mixture is already stiffening up or if you’re using microwave popcorn that has been sitting around, you can place the bowl in a 200°F oven for 2-3 minutes, then remove and try shaping again. It will have lost its magic ingredient, HOTNESS, but should be slightly more manageable.

Butter hands liberally before attempting to shape into balls; otherwise, the mixture will be VERY sticky. Also, don’t be tempted to use water, as the syrup will adhere to the water on your hands and coat them, ruining your hard work.

One batch will yield about 15 balls. You won’t be able to make a double-batch unless you have a helper because it sets up too fast to do it solo.

Add candy corn or mini M&Ms, which are prettier and don’t weigh the balls down, directly into the popcorn, saving some to press onto the outside of the balls when shaping. Pressing onto the outside makes for neater balls and lets you see the pretty colors better.

Stray sugar crystals on the edge of the pan will contaminate your syrup and turn it white and grainy. Keep an eye out for any on the edge and dip a pastry brush in water and give the sides a wipe down as you’re making your syrup.

You want it nice and clear and shiny.

Take syrup off the heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla (optional), which cuts down on the sugariness. THEN add the baking soda and stir until fluffy.

Immediately empty the syrup over the bowl of popped corn. Mix thoroughly.

Holiday variation: For a splash of color, stir in 1-2 tablespoons of decorative sprinkles just before forming into balls. They won’t add much, if any, flavor, just color and pizzazz.

Adult variation: For a sweet-and-salty snack more geared towards grown-ups, stir in 1/2 cup of peanuts or cashews along with the popcorn before adding the syrup.

Once cooled, you can wrap the popcorn balls individually in plastic wrap, twisting ends like a bon bon, which helps them maintain their shape and not stick together, making them perfect for gifting or placing in a basket or decorative tray.

What You’ll Need

• You’ll need a candy thermometer, like this inexpensive and reliable Taylor glass candy thermometer, to make sure you get the syrup to the right temperature.
• For best results, use popcorn without oil or butter. Popcorn popped in a hot air popcorn popper is a great option. Added fats and oils interfere with the syrup’s ability to adhere.

How do I store them?

• Once cooled, wrap the popcorn balls individually in plastic wrap, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. After that, the balls won’t be as crunchy and the coating will be a little sticky.

Can I make them ahead of time?

• You can make the popcorn balls up to 2 days ahead of time. Make sure they’re cooled all the way through and wrap them well. They’ll be the same on day 2 as they are day 1, holding their shape and their flavor.

Can I freeze them?

• Do not freeze the popcorn balls. Frozen popcorn loses its crunch and its texture softens.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why won’t my popcorn balls hold together?

If your popcorn balls crumble apart, the syrup was likely not hot enough when poured over the popcorn and/or had gotten too cool when shaping. The syrup needs to be brought to 270°F, or the soft crack stage, for it to adhere and hold the popcorn together as it cools.

Shape the balls as soon as the popcorn has been coated with syrup. If the popcorn is coated with syrup that isn’t hot enough, the coating will be sticky and won’t set up hard.

What kind of popcorn should I use?

You can use microwave or homemade. If you’re using microwave popcorn, be sure it is a plain or lightly salted version, as syrup might not adhere to butter popcorn.

For the best results, use plain, air-popped corn, because the coating will adhere better than it will to microwave popcorn.

Why add candy corn to the mix?

I’ve been asked if you can use other kinds of candy besides candy corn in this recipe and the answer is absolutely. Mini M&Ms or Reese’s pieces would be great.

Any kind of mini or small candies that won’t overpower the popcorn would be good to use. Candy corn and M&Ms are the most heat proof.

Some small gummy candies could be used, but they might stick together as time passes. If you add the candy corn to the popcorn before it’s had a chance to cool down, not necessarily room temp, but a minute at least after taking it off the heat, they’ll melt a bit and not retain their shape, but they’ll still taste good.

Can my kids help me make candy corn popcorn balls?

Sugar at 270 degrees F. is a parent-only zone. It’s important that an adult pay close attention to this recipe because it does include dangerous, boiling sugar.

Kids can help once the mixture is done, especially after it’s been coated with syrup and had a chance to cool down a bit. You’ll need to make sure they have butter on their hands to help the mixture come together.

Don’t worry about making perfect, little spheres. Imperfect balls taste just as good.

My syrup turned out grainy/cloudy.

What went wrong?

Sounds like your sugar may have started to crystallize, which can happen for a couple of different reasons. If any of the sugar on the rim of the pan fell back into the pan, that can happen.

Cream of tartar is a common addition to recipes that call for heating up sugar to keep it from happening. Stirring too much could also lead to this happening, but I’d be more likely to think it’s from crystals on the rim of the pan.

Next time you could wet a pastry brush and brush the rim of the pan to prevent crystals from getting into the mixture. Crystallized syrup will coat the popcorn unevenly and make for a less-than-optimal popcorn ball.

So unfortunately I’d say start over.