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5 from 3 votes

Popcorn Ball Recipe

Marshmallow Popcorn Balls are SO easy and fast and they're totally foolproof. These are a perfect classic childhood treat that you can dress up for any holiday or occasion.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 20 servings
Calories: 738kcal
Author: Dorothy Kern
Cost: $8

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup (177ml) light corn syrup
  • ¼ cup (57g) Challenge Unsalted Butter plus more for greasing your hands
  • 2 teaspoons (10ml) water
  • 2 ½ cups (283g) powdered sugar
  • 1 cup (50g) mini marshmallows see note
  • 20 cups (140g) plain popped popcorn see note
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Place popcorn in a large pot or bowl.
  • Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add corn syrup, water, powdered sugar and marshmallows. Heat and stir the mixture until it boils. Remove from heat and stir in salt and vanilla.
  • Pour the mixture carefully over the popcorn and stir to coat each kernel. Do this carefully – the mixture is very hot.
  • Grease your hands with additional butter and shape coated popcorn into popcorn balls. Work quickly to make all the balls before they cool.
  • Wrap each ball in plastic wrap. Decorate as desired. Store at room temperature.

Video

Notes

Popcorn Conversions: 20 cups of popcorn is about 5 quarts. (One quart = 4 cups popped popcorn.) 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) of kernels makes approximately 4 cups or 1 quart of popcorn).
To pop your own popcorn: Pop 2/3 cup kernels either on the stove or in your popcorn popper according to package directions. Remove any un-popped kernels before making popcorn balls.
To use microwave popcorn: Microwave bags of popcorn vary across brands but a 3.5 ounce package is approximately 6-7 cups. Make sure you remove all unpopped kernels before measuring out popcorn, some bags end up popping more than others. You’ll need 3-4 bags of popcorn to get the right amount of popcorn for the recipe. Omit the salt from the marshmallow mixture as microwave popcorn usually comes buttered and salted.
Note about marshmallows: it’s best to use fresh marshmallows when you’re melting them. Fresher marshmallows will melt faster and easier than old ones.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 738kcal | Carbohydrates: 148g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 51mg | Potassium: 449mg | Fiber: 21g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 71IU | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 5mg