Old Time Popcorn Balls Recipe

Learn how to make popcorn balls the traditional way with homemade caramel. Fun and easy to make, these delicious, sweet, and crunchy balls of popcorn make a perfect snack or gift for the holiday season. A new Halloween tradition the whole family will enjoy.

Popcorn balls are an American classic. They started in the mid-1800s and probably peaked in the 1950s when I was trick or treating.

We all have certain things associated with certain holidays. Well, for me, Halloween means a popcorn ball from Martha Cackler. I grew up in a town of 25 people, so Halloween had 4 or 5 stops, and that was it. Mrs. Cackler made the popcorn balls... I loved them so.

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I had done popcorn balls many times in my younger years, but it had been decades. I knew the taste and method I wanted, so first, off to the authority, Betty herself, and her classic 1972 cookbook.

After some trial of other recipes, the Betty Crocker was the best. With a few simple modifications, I had the 1950s in my kitchen.

You can use an air popper, microwave, or any other way to get your popcorn, but it needs to be fresh and shifted well for un=popped kernels.

Old Fashioned Popcorn Balls With Molasses

This is the old-fashioned stovetop method for popping corn. It seems right for this recipe. It is more specific than is probably needed, but that is to keep the number of unpopped kernels to a minimum.

Caramel is basically melted sugar that has broken down some to form a different structure that is sweet and nutty with a brown color. Other ingredients are added to affect to final results.

While similar to the browning call the Maillard reaction and the results are frequently similar, caramelization is entirely based on changing carbohydrates while the Maillard reaction involves the amino acids of proteins.

Old Time Popcorn Balls Recipe

Please be very, very careful, and if you don't feel safe, don't do it. You are responsible for not getting burnt here, and I can't help you. Do not let children do this.

This is HOT, so be careful!!!! You need to form the balls by hand while still hot. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes before touching it.

These are plain popcorn balls. You can add about 1 cup of extras like nuts or candy. But please remember your audience may have allergies and do not hand out homemade or unsealed treats to strangers on Halloween.

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Place ¼ cup oil over medium-high heat with three kernels of corn. As soon as the corn pops, remove from heat, add ½ cup of un-popped corn and cover with a lid. Allow to set for 20-30 seconds for the kernels to come up close to popping temperature. Place back over medium-high heat and pop the corn shaking the pan occasionally.

You need 8 cups of popped corn. Spend little time getting rid of un-popped kernels. The easiest way is to shake the container and moving the top layer to another pan.

Prep a large pan and a wooden spoon or rubber spatula with PAM and transfer popcorn to the pan. This is the point to add nuts or candy if desired—about 1 cup and mix in well.

Easy] Molasses Popcorn Balls

In a non-stick pan, add ¾ cup white sugar, ¾ cup brown sugar (light or dark), ½ cup light Karo corn syrup, ½ cup water, one teaspoon white vinegar, and ½ teaspoon salt.

Place over medium-high heat with a candy thermometer and cook to 260°, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add ¾ cup butter, ½ teaspoon vanilla and place back over low heat until butter melted.

Continue to stir for a few minutes until cooled some. Spray your hands with PAM or coat with butter. Be VERY CAREFUL since you can get burnt so test very carefully before proceeding and only proceed if you feel safe. Keep the cold water running in the sink.

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Form the popcorn into balls of about 1 cup each by scooping with a measuring cup with a heavy coat of PAM. Place on wax paper or cooking mat to shape. Work quickly and use more PAM as needed - about every two balls. So scoop, dump, shape, cold water on hands if needed, a spray of PAM if needed (cup and hands), then repeat QUICKLY until done. DO NOT OVER-COMPRESS AND MOVE QUICKLY.

Learn how to make popcorn balls the traditional way with real caramel you make yourself. A fun and delicious treat for the holiday season made easy with these simple directions. A new Halloween tradition the whole family will enjoy.

See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print. Your Own Private Notes

Old Fashioned Popcorn Balls For All Ages

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You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

Calories : 408 kcal (20%) Carbohydrates : 63 g (21%) Protein : 1 g (2%) Fat : 18 g (28%) Saturated Fat : 11 g (55%) Polyunsaturated Fat : 1 g Monounsaturated Fat : 5 g Cholesterol : 48 mg (16%) Sodium : 148 mg (6%) Potassium : 108 mg (3%) Fiber : 1 g (4%) Sugar : 46 g (51%) Vitamin A : 550 IU (11%) Calcium : 20 mg (2%) Iron : 0.5 mg (3%)

Easy Marshmallow Marshmallow Popcorn Balls

Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.

© 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.With Halloween just around the corner and my recent exploration into the history of popcorn, I was tempted to make a vintage popcorn treat. Popcorn balls were a fixture at Halloween parties during the 1950s, a time when treat-or-treaters regularly enjoyed homemade treats rather than packaged store-bought candies. The first recipe for popcorn balls was published in 1861 in E.F. Haskell’s Housekeeper’s Encyclopedia, and by the turn of the century many cookbooks included popcorn ball recipes.

This recipe comes from an absolutely adorable 1940s vintage cookbook called the Children’s Picture Cook Book by Margaret Gossett and Elizabeth Dauber. It’s written for kids in the kitchen, with every recipe and cooking step illustrated. I couldn’t resist sharing the step-by-step pictures for this recipe. They’re too cute!

Old Fashioned Popcorn Balls Recipe

These popcorn balls were really easy to make (not surprising, since the recipe comes from a children’s cookbook). I’ve given you the old-fashioned stovetop method for popping the corn, but you can feel free to use an air popper or another popping device if you prefer. Make sure you have a candy thermometer on hand, the syrup temperature is very important here. Otherwise it’s a really straightforward recipe. It’s also a fun one, especially at this time of year. The smell totally takes me back to my childhood. Enjoy!

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You will also need: large pot with a lid, very large mixing bowl, heavy saucepot, oven mitt, candy thermometer, rubber spatula, non-stick cooking spray, wax paper or parchment

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Note : we have reduced the amount of water from the original recipe printed in the vintage book to just 1/2 cup. This will cut the amount of time needed for the temperature to rise significantly, and should not effect the finished result.

Nutritional information should be considered an estimate only; please consult a registered dietician, nutritionist, or your physician for specific health-related questions. Read more here. Please note that the recipe above is published using a recipe card plugin, with preexisting software which can auto-calculate metric measurements, as well as change the number of servings. Metric conversions and changes to the number of servings (resulting in different ingredient amounts) will only appear in the ingredient list, and are not changed within the step-by-step directions of the recipe.These Old Fashioned Popcorn Balls are buttery and molded together with a sweet simple syrup. A reminder of Halloweens years ago, when kids were allowed to receive wonderful homemade treats. Make these wonderful little treats for the little goblins in your life!

When I was a kid we had lots of bake sales and lots of great treats like these old-fashioned popcorn balls. All of them were made by cooking a simple syrup. Some had a good dose of corn syrup in them like the ones

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