Popcorn Balls with Marshmallows

5 from 1 votes

Easy Popcorn Balls with Marshmallows are a soft bitable popcorn ball that tastes just as good as a rice Krispie treat in a seasonal popcorn ball that can easily be filled and decorated with candies like M&Ms. Color for any holiday or occasion, these sweet and chewy popcorn balls contain few ingredients but will become one of your all time favorites. Salty, buttery, and tons of marshmallows, you won't believe how easy these old fashioned gooey marshmallow popcorn balls are!

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Course: Dessert Recipes

Cuisine: American

Servings: balls

Calories: 738kcal

Author: Trisha Haas - Salty Side Dish

Ingredients

20 cups popped popcorn
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup butter plus 2 tablespoons softened butter for shaping
2 tsp. cold water
2 12 cups powdered sugar
1 cup mini marshmallows or 14 large marshmallows

Instructions

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and spray paper with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. Place popcorn into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
Add corn syrup, 1/4 cup butter, water, powdered sugar and marshmallows to a saucepan. Heat on medium high, stirring almost constantly until boiling and all marshmallows are melted.
Remove from heat and drizzle over popcorn. Mix well to evenly coat popcorn.
Butter your hands (not just your fingers) and carefully (mixture is hot) shape popcorn into balls, about the size of a tennis ball, squeezing gently to keep popcorn together.
Place balls onto prepared baking sheet. Reapply butter to your hands and continue until you have made about 16-20 popcorn balls.
Let stand to cool and wrap in plastic wrap to store at room temperature, or serve immediately.

Notes

Expert Tips:

My grandma used to make these and she used to clean out her sink really well and dry it. Pour all of the popcorn into her sink and then drizzle and mix the mixture in the sink. You do need a BIG mixing bowl for this or you could probably divide the popcorn into two bowls.
I have a stir crazy popcorn maker and I used 1 cup of unpopped popcorn and that was enough for this and I had some left over.
I also used butter on my hands, because it’s what we did with my grandma.
You have to be careful when shaping as the candy mixture is very hot.

Can you use pre-popped popcorn?

If you don’t own a popcorn maker, you can buy pre-popped popcorn. Look for varieties without a lot of added salt, as this can really affect the flavor of the finished balls. Skinny Pop, BoomChickaPop, and Trader Joe’s are all good brands.

How many kernels does it take to make 20 cups of popcorn?

Use a little under ¾ cup of whole kernels to get 20 cups of popcorn.

What’s the easiest way to remove unpopped kernels from your popcorn?

Leaving an unpopped kernel in your Popcorn Balls could cause a serious toothache, so you’ll want to be sure to remove any unpopped kernels. Pour finished popcorn over an oven cooling rack, and shake gently. Any unpopped kernels will fall through the wire rack.

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