Old Fashioned Popcorn Balls
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 here, while some recipes replaced the corn syrup with molasses. Both were great.
A few of my friends were talking about popcorn balls the other day and how the store bought ones are so hard to find anymore. My reply was that they didn’t need those store bought ones anyway, because homemade ones are so much better and they’re super easy to make. The only bad thing about this recipe is that it only makes about 5 medium popcorn balls. Therefore, if you’re making these to take to a party, I’d suggest making at least 3 batches.
This recipe is so simple, there’s really no need for illustrated steps, but here we go…
All I did in the picture below was cook a simple syrup..
I cooked it until it reached 250 degrees on my candy thermometer and I also tested it in cold water. The picture below shows what the mixture looked like once it reached the hard ball stage and was tested in cold water.
I simply drizzled the hot syrup in a thin steam over the popcorn while mixing it at the same time with a spatula. I made sure all the popcorn was covered with the syrup.
Then I used buttered hands to shape the popcorn into balls and I placed them on parchment paper. After 15 minutes, I placed each one in a sandwich bag and sealed it.
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Old Fashioned Popcorn Balls
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 10 Minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 5 Medium Popcorn Balls 1x
- Category: Snacks
Description
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!
Ingredients
- 7 cups popped popcorn, unsalted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup light corn syrup (or molasses for molasses popcorn balls)
- 1 teaspoon salt (If you use salted popcorn, omit the salt)
- 1/2 stick butter, unsalted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
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Instructions
- Sift through the popped corn and remove any unpopped kernels. Transfer popcorn to a large bowl and set aside.
- Add the sugar, water, corn syrup, salt, and butter to a medium saucepan and mix over medium heat until the butter has melted and all ingredients are combined.
- Cook to 250 degrees on a candy thermometer or when mixture forms a hard ball when dropped in cold water. Click the following link to see how to test candy in cold water, https://mycountrytable.com/test-candy-cold-water/
- Add the vanilla and mix to blend it in.
- Drizzle the hot syrup in a thin stream over the popcorn while mixing at the same time. Mix until all of the popcorn is covered with the syrup.
- Using buttered hands shape popcorn into balls and place on parchment paper. Allow popcorn balls to sit on the parchment paper for 15 minutes and place each one in a sandwich bag.
Popcorn balls will stay fresh for up to 5 days if kept in sealed sandwich bags.
Well sounds easy enough, I will let you know how it turns out. I always had some of these growing up. Sure miss those days.
These were wet and gooey with no crunch. I followed recipe an had a candy therm. Took it just over 250 and they were wet, soggy and no crunch.
Hi Donna, It sounds like the mixture wasn’t cooked long enough. You might calibrate your candy thermometer to see if it’s accurate. So are not.
https://mycountrytable.com/calibrate-candy-thermometer/
We made these with molasses instead of corn syrup and they were delicious! Next time we will cook the syrup a bit longer since it came out a little sticky, but the flavor was so yummy that nobody cared. They were gone in less than a day!
Hi Marissa, I’ll certainly have to try them with molasses.
Tastes good, but only 7 cups of popcorn? Is this a typo? It’s a lot of effort for only like 7 good-sized balls.
Hi Brandy, Yes…this is a very old recipe. You can double it if you prefer.
Can I use half sugar and half Stevia?
Hi Karen, I have not tried them using half Stevia. I’m not that familiar with using it. Please let me know if you use it and how it turns out.
I wasn’t sure how much 7 cups raw unpopped corn since your recipe doesn’t specify how much raw unpopped corn to start with. So I used 1/3 cup. I didn’t measure how many cups came out of that but it wasn’t quite enough popped corn. My ball came out slightly soggy but not horrible. They have good flavor. I used molasses and I may have had right at 1/3 cup or just under. It didn’t matter though they were tasty.
I didn’t use a candy therm. But I did use the cold water method and that worked perfectly for me. It’s been years since I’ve had a good popcorn ball and I thought it would be fun to try this recipe first. Anything old fashioned has good roots. Thank you. I will try this again and add more corn next time.
Hi Liana, If you’re popping popcorn on the stove top, 1/3 cup is equal to approximately 10 cups of popped popcorn. However, if you’re using microwave popcorn it’s different. Each bag equals approximatley 4 1/2 cups of popped corn. I hope this is helpful. 🙂
Which is preferable the ones with corn syrup or ones with molasses?
Hi Cynthia, I don’t know without taking a poll. My family, especially the kids, don’t prefer molasses.
Hello! I did this recipe twice. Once as posted and once only going to Firm Ball. For my personal taste I like doing the balls at Firm Ball. They come out gooey and sticky like marshmallows! Reminds me of being a kid. Just personal preference of course but I thought I would share.
Hi Paul, Thank you for your feedback and tip. 🙂
How long in time to boil the mixture
Hi, Please see step #3 on the recipe card.
If anyone is in the UK and having trouble sourcing corn syrup, I just made these and used golden syrup as a substitute and it worked beautifully and if I may say so an extra depth of flavor that tasted even better than the corn syrup ones my grandma used to make
These were easy to make, however, I should have used more than 7 cups of popped corn. These were a little to sticky for me. The taste was great, but would prefer. less sticky popcorn ball.
This is my Aunt Maudes recipe. It is dated 1958. It has always been a family favorite.
I tried these because I had some extra popcorn from a couple days before. I halved the recipe, and used about a tablespoon (maybe a bit less) of honey instead of the corn syrup or molasses (because I didn’t have those). No candy thermometer, but I used the cold water test. They turned out cronchy, buttery, with a lightly honeyed perfume!
By far the best popcorn ball recipe I have ever used. I’ll never use another one, this will be my go-to popcorn ball recipe from here on out. It’s easy and it’s delicious!
Just made these. Been making them since the 60’s. Best ever. Favorite treat for this 73 year old.
Made with molasses . No thermometer. Use cold water test. Turn out as suppose to.
Any thoughts on using puff corn vs pop corn? I have some dental work that really hates hulls
Hi Andi, I haven’t used puff corn. However, it sounds like a good idea. Let me know how it turns out if you try it.
Do you stir the syrup while cooking?
Hi Karen, No, once you place the candy thermometer on the pan you don’t stir.
I have been making these since I was a little girl with my Mother.I am 78 years old .They are great
I made this following the recipe and it did not work out well. There was to much syrup and made the popcorn soggy. Tried again the following day and used 11 cups and the syrup recipe for the first popcorn balls and it was perfect.
Really tasty. The sugar wasn’t cooked enough even though it past the hard ball test? Maybe hard crack would be better. The mixture is tasty enough.
It’s Popcorn Ball weather and date on the calendar! Made a batch this afternoon, used 1/2 cup unpopped corn kernels in my Whirly-pop pan. I didn’t measure the amount of popped corn, it just looked like plenty. Use a heavy bottom saucepan, candy thermometer over medium heat on my induction stovetop. I stirred mine as it boiled until 250 degrees and it made 9 balls. They turned out perfect. My hands weren’t even sticky after I ate one. I forgot the vanilla and it was sitting right next to the cooktop! Taste just like Mom’s recipe.
Thank you for posting this one. JlLKM
Hi Lurah, I’m so glad they turned out perfect for you! 🙂
I kept going over the recipe amounts, with so many comments about results being overly gooey & wet, it’s obvious to me that something could be wrong. I think the amount of popped corn should be measured to way more than 7 cups. I recall a recipe I used for many years, it just didn’t make it into our family cookbook. That recipe came from a fellow at work, they used 5 quarts of popped corn or 20 cups, or two batches of corn popped in your Whirly-pop pan or about a 1/3 cup raw kernels added to the popper each of two times.
Hi everyone,
If you’re having trouble with a candy recipe, one factor may be your weather. High humidity will make boiled sugar set up gooey when you mean it to be crisp. Candy is best made on days with clear skies. If you can’t wait for the weather, sometimes cooking a few degrees hotter helps, but sometimes there’s nothing to do but find another recipe to prepare that day.