Popcorn Halloween Treats with Spooky Candy Eyes
Halloween is my family’s favorite holiday! On top of getting to dress up in fun costumes, you also get to eat tons of sweet treats! What could be better than that? Popcorn balls are a Halloween tradition in my family. This year, I dressed up our plain popcorn balls with some spooky additions. These adorable popcorn Halloween treats are perfect for a Halloween party or just a fun Halloween snack at home.
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One of my favorite ways to dress up my Halloween treats is by adding candy eyes. And when you add candy eyes to these fun Halloween popcorn treats, you get some adorable monster popcorn balls that your kids are sure to love.
On top of being so cute, these fun popcorn balls couldn’t be simpler to make! All you need are a few simple ingredients, a bunch of Halloween sprinkles, and some candy eyes to create your own Halloween popcorn treats.
Planning on spending Halloween at home this year? Check out all these fun Halloween at home ideas to have an amazing at-home Halloween with your kids!
Cute Popcorn Halloween Treats
To make these fun popcorn Halloween treats, you’ll start with a popcorn ball base. Then, you can add some fun decorations, like food coloring, sprinkles, and candy eyes.
To make this easy recipe for popcorn Halloween treats, you’ll need:
- Popped popcorn
- Butter
- Marshmallows
- Purple food coloring
- Halloween sprinkles
- Candy eyes
With just a few simple supplies, you can transform boring popcorn balls into adorable Halloween treats for your kids.
The first step to making your popcorn treats for Halloween, you’ll need to pop the popcorn. I popped my popcorn in my air popper, but you can make yours any way you would like. Even microwave popcorn works well for popcorn balls. Just be sure to pick a flavor that’s lightly salted without much additional butter flavoring added in.
After the popcorn has been popped, you can start getting your other popcorn balls ready. Add some butter to a large stockpot and heat it over medium heat until it’s melted. If you’re using air-popped popcorn, try using salted butter to add a little more flavor to your popcorn balls. Otherwise, unsalted butter is a good option to keep your popcorn treats from becoming too salty.
When the butter is melted, add the marshmallows. Stir the butter and marshmallows constantly to keep them from sticking to the pan as they melt.
Continue stirring until all the marshmallows are melted, then add the food coloring. I love the bright purple color of these Halloween popcorn treats, but you can use any color you want! The only suggestion I have is to use gel food coloring. It provides a brighter color, which you’ll need when you start mixing in the popcorn.
Now that you have the food coloring mixed into the marshmallows, you can add the popcorn. Just pour the popcorn into the stockpot and stir carefully. Try not to press the popcorn into the marshmallow or you’ll risk crushing your popcorn. Instead, stir slowly, pulling the marshmallow from the bottom of the pan up and over the top of the popcorn. Continue stirring until all the popcorn is coated in marshmallow.
Decorate the Halloween Popcorn Treats
Now it’s time for the fun part — decorating! To create these bite-sized Halloween popcorn treats, I scooped heaping tablespoons of popcorn mixture and rolled them into a ball between my hands. To really get the popcorn to stick into a ball, you’ll have to squeeze the ball between your hands until it’s firm.
After the balls are formed, roll each ball in the Halloween sprinkles. You’ll need to do this when the popcorn balls are still warm to help the sprinkles stick to the marshmallow mixture. After the balls are coated in sprinkles, press them between your hands home more time to make sure the sprinkles are stuck to the popcorn treats.
Next, it’s time to add the finishing touches to your Halloween treats. Cut some paper straws in half and carefully press them into the top of each popcorn ball. Then, press a few candy eyes into the balls to add a little bit of spookiness to your Halloween popcorn treats.
Tips for Making Popcorn Balls
Making the perfect popcorn ball takes a little bit of practice and a lot of patience. These simple tips will help you create the best popcorn balls!
Pick the right pan. The key to making these popcorn treats is to make sure you start with the right pan. Since popcorn takes up a lot of space in the pan, you’ll need to start with the biggest pan you have. For me, that was a stockpot. You could also use a dutch oven for your popcorn balls. Or heat the marshmallows in a large bowl in the microwave if you don’t have a pan big enough to accommodate all the ingredients.
Grease your spoon before stirring. Stirring the popcorn into the marshmallow mixture can bet a bit sticky. To keep your spoon from sticking in the marshmallows, spray a little bit of nonstick cooking spray on both sides before you put it in the stockpot.
Grease your hands, too. When you’re ready to start rolling up your popcorn balls, spray a little bit of that nonstick cooking spray on your hands. This will keep you from getting covered in stick marshmallows as you’re making your balls.
Halloween Popcorn Treats
These fun Halloween popcorn treats are a cute way to celebrate the holiday!
Ingredients
- 16 cups popped popcorn (around 2/3 cup kernels)
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 1 16-ounce package mini marshmallows
- Purple gel food coloring
- Halloween sprinkles
- Candy eyes
- Paper straws
Instructions
- Heat the butter over medium heat in a large stock pot.
- When the butter has melted, add the marshmallows and stir until melted.
- Remove the pan from heat and add three to four drops of purple gel food coloring. Stir until well mixed and the marshmallows are bright purple.
- Add the popcorn to the pan and stir to coat.
- Allow the mixture to cool slightly. When it’s cool enough to touch, spray nonstick cooking spray on your hands and scoop out heaping tablespoons of the popcorn mixture. Roll the mixture between your hands to form
a ball, then squeeze the ball until it’s compact. - Roll each popcorn ball in sprinkles, then decorate with candy eyes.
- Stick a paper straw into the top of each popcorn ball and allow to cool completely before serving.
More Fun Halloween Recipe Ideas:
25 Spooky Halloween Appetizer Recipes
Adorable Halloween Monster Marshmallows
Cheese Stuffed Mummy Breadsticks
Fast and Easy Halloween Pretzels
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Emily is a midwestern mom of two boys. She loves all things DIY — from home renovations to kids birthday party planning. Whether she’s making a new farmhouse craft for her home or helping her kids with a cool activity, you can bet she’s in the middle of some kind of DIY project (or three) right now!
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