Caramel Popcorn Balls

I wanted to try these for a halloween party but I really expected them to be a flop. I'm not very good at making candy. However, they turned out great and it didn't take long either! Thanks to those who said it took 3 bags of microwave corn and to use plastic baggies on your hands-that really helped. Next time, I have to keep the kernels out! Also, I think I will use a brown paper grocery bag to mix the popcorn because I had to coat the corn in shifts because I didn't have a large enough bowl! Excellent recipe-thanks!

This was fantastic. My whole family loved them. I used an air popper instead of cooking the popcorn over the stove. I also found it very easy to make into balls; I used ziplock sandwich size bags and put them over my hands. It kept the popcorn from sticking. This is one I will do again!

Unbelievably yummy... I use 3 bags natural flavor microwave popcorn and they turn out perfectly. The perfect treat for kids AND adults!

This was a quick, wonderful recipe. As some suggested, I used microwave popcorn, but I only needed 2 bags (it's probably just a personal preference of how "carmel-y" you want your popcorn balls, I like em' sweet). I used Orville Redenbacher's "Smart Pop" (to save the calories - he he). Seriously GREAT recipe! PS - I also used one of the recipes for Sweetened Condensed Milk found on this site and it worked better than the real stuff! (cheaper too!!)

I listened to the other reviews and used half of the amount of popcorn that the recipe called for and they turned out great.... I took them to a child's halloween party and both the kid and adults loved them!!!! My boyfriend asked to me to make another batch. This is a great recipe!!!

These were sooo good. My husband had a hankering for popcorn balls so we made these last week. I didn't have a candy thermometer on hand so I just guessed when the caramel was done. Maybe I just got lucky but it was perfect- made chewy popcorn balls just the way we like them. The caramel in this recipe is so good! I wanted to eat the whole pot without adding popcorn! We popped 1 cup of kernals and it made the perfect amount of popcorn for the caramel mixture. Baggies on hands was also a great idea for forming the balls. These are very sweet- you'll only need one!

I used half the popping corn asked for and I ended up with 17 popcorn balls. I still used the same amount of caramel, so they would be extra good. These will definitely be used for Christmas gifts.

These were absolutely delicious! Lightly buttering my hands was a great idea and I just took the rest of the half of stick from the recipe to do that. Also, I just used microwave popcorn--three bags of it--instead of fussing with popping it the hard way. This one is a keeper.

Very tasty & simple. I also used 3 bags of microwave kettle popcorn which made the recipe very quick.

These were very yummy! The carmel was quite hot, so it was kinda hard to make them into balls. Otherwise they were delicious!

This is a great popcorn ball recipe. I like that it is a carmel-flavored popcorn ball rather than the traditional candy. It is also pretty easy. Be sure to keep a close eye on the coating as it cooks. It needs to cook to a 'firm ball' stage. If you don't cook it long enough, it can be a little sticky and get in your teeth. Even if that happens, it tastes good and will likely be eaten up quickly. :) As with most popcorn balls, these are best fresh. They are also still pretty good a day or two later, but their shelf-life is not very long.

This is an excellent recipe. I did make a few changes. Instead of 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk, I used the whole can. (I don't like leftovers.) I used the Power Pop Microwave popper and did 5 batches of popcorn. I sprayed the pans that I used for the popped popcorn with Pam and then you don't need to butter your hands. I also kept the popped popcorn in the oven at 200 degrees until the caramel was cooked. I also cooked the caramel in the microwave until it was a medium hard ball when tested in ice water. This cuts the cooking time at least in half.

Followed directions to the T. Very easy. Taste was great. The directions did not indicate how much working time you had to make the balls before they hardened so I made the balls when mixture was warm. I had to go back and reshape the balls as they were falling apart. I would suggest letting the mixture sit for a few minutes before shaping the balls.

USE PAPER BAG FOR MIXING POPCORN AND CARAMEL! Cleanup a breeze. We used that tip and also used plastic bags on our hands...no messy butter, no burns. We also did let the mix sit for maybe 3-5 minutes in bag before forming into balls...any earlier and they wouldn't "moosh" well. This recipe was loved by all.

Good, not too sticky. Greased hands with crisco helped to mold them. Added M&M's to them to make it fun.

The flavor was good but the amount of popcorn far outweighed the amount of caramel. I made 28 popcorn balls and had two huge bowls of popcorn left with no caramel. Really easy to make though!

Great recipe. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of five is that the amount of popcorn in the recipe is WAY too much for the amount of caramel that you get. We used 1 1/2 cups air popped and it was a little too much. A full 2 1/2 would have been tons. That being said, air popped popcorn does end up with more volume per cup of un-popped kernels, but I still think 2 1/2 cups would be too much.

This recipe was great. Next time I would add salt to caramel mixture before pouring over the popcorn. I personally like a little bit of "salty" with my sweet. I air popped our corn, so probably if you were using microwave popcorn you wouldn't need to add salt. Also, the caramel was very sticky on the bowl after we scraped out all the popcorn we could, next time I will spray my bowl with pam before popping the corn into it and adding the syrup. We used sandwich bags on our hands and it worked great for keeping the popcorn from sticking!

Perfect!!! since this makes a lot I mixed it in a 13 gallon trash bag. I lined a 5 gallon bucket (just for support) then put the popcorn then let the carmel mixture stop bubbling before I poured it right in the middle of the popcorn. then I pulled the bag out of the bucket tied of the top then I just tumbled it around to mix it all over. really fast and I din't have to worry about the bowl. then I just buttered my hands and formed the balls and threw the bag out when they were done. I made about 30 balls and out them in little sandwich baggies. too many for my family so we had fun going aroung our neighborhood giving them to everyone we knew.Very Fun!!

Wow! Super good! I like lots of caramel, so I used 2 bags of microwave kettle corn. Cooked to a soft ball stage, as I also like them chewy. Definitely enough caramel by doing it this way! Thanks for sharing!

Please, please, please listen to those of uf who are telling you that you either need to cut the popcorn in half or double the caramel. I had 4 big pans of popcorn sitting out and divided the caramel amongst them. It was quickly evident I was not going to have enough caramel, so I just had to stir as best I could and ended up picking out the areas that had enough caramel to shape into balls. I ended up with a roaster full of popcorn leftover with no caramel on it. This is a rather thick caramel also and the popcorn balls I ended up with had more like blobs of caramel scattered throughout rather than an even coating. I would give this recipe 4 stars for the flavor and chewiness of the caramel, but I was so mad when I was trying to shape the dry corn into balls that I felt I had to deduct. Don't just assume, like I did, that a recipe with such a high rating has no major faults. I ended up with 26 4" balls even with all the wasted popcorn, so something is not right with the amounts since it supposedly makes only 15 balls.

Very easy to make and very delicious! The only things I changed was I used about half the amount of popcorn (if not less) than what the recipe calls for (we like our popcorn balls very, very caramel-y), and I only heated the sauce to 220 degrees F because we live at a high altitude and heating it to 238 degree made the caramel set up harder than we like.

These are soooo good! They stay soft and chewy. The caramel is so good on it's own. We made a batch and after we tasted them we immediately doubled the recipe. That way you can use your whole can of sweetened condensed milk. I used just shy of three bags of microwave popcorn - two bags made them too sweet.

my caramel go to recipie

My family and I LOVE LOVED these! I used the suggestions to use microwaved popcorn instead of popping it in the pan, and also used the baggies on my hands instead of buttering them. They turned out wonderful and made great Christmas gifts. Will DEFINITELY be making these again.

This was very easy to make! and a Huge hit! My hubby and kids LOVE them, Hubby took extras to work to share and could not part with them LOL..... thank you so much will be making these often!

So easy, and delicious. I like to wrap them in plastic wrap in tie them up with dental floss, which you usually need later.

This was GREAT and easy. Devoured by teenagers. Definately mix in a paper bag or clean up is a big pain.

I love these, my kids love these, people wait for me to hand them out every-year! I have made them with air-popped corn, pan-popped and microwave and all turn out well. If you air pop, be sure to add a bit of salt though. And do be careful to sort the unpopped kernels out though ;)

I loved these so much the first time I made them that I decided to try a gourmet version. I used half the amount of popcorn specified in the original recipe. Then added smoked sea salt, peanuts and a drizzle of butter to the popped corn. I also substituted a real vanilla bean in the sugar mixture (remove before adding to popcorn) YUM!

These were great! A little stickier than I remember Grandma making, but very good! I couldn't stand to see some of the condensed milk go to waste so, I "one-and-a-halfed" the recipe (if that's the right terminology?) ...Ended up using the whole can of milk this way. I already had my popcorn popped, so I used about 30 cups of popped popcorn. The best way to keep the caramel from sticking to my hands was to simply moisten my hands with water after every 3 or 4 balls, just had a bowl of water next to my work area. I also added some candy corn to about half of the balls - yum! I ended up making 46 "mini popcorn balls." I WILL use this recipe again! :o)

I changed the ingredients substantially, but this recipe is a great template!

delicious great big hit at church make sure you realize the balls arent going to be huge but plenty big enough with how sweet it is.

Recipe as-is is terrific. I added mint choc chips in at the end (for the holidays) and the chips got a bit melty, which was perfect, to make them have a chocolate-y appearance and a minty flavor. My only complaint is about the popcorn. Even after removing the kernels, we still found ourselves removing un-chewable popcorn pieces every other bite or so. But that is unavoidable, I guess. Otherwise, good recipe.

Very good. Only concern I had was that I forgot about the seeds that didn't pop and then I ended up with a bunch of popcorn balls with seeds. Some may have caught this but I would have appreciated the heads up. Thanks for the recipe!

We didn't care for these popcorn balls at all. I reduced the popcorn as suggested by other reviewers, followed the candy recipe exactly and they were still dry with a very hard coating. I'm looking for a recipe similar to my grandmothers, which made a much chewier, tastier ball.

OMG these are the best thing ever!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you thank you. My family loved them. I made them for movie family night this weekend and they were a huge hit. I would do this one again and again.

One can of condensed milk makes 2 batches of the carmel. I added a pinch of pumpkin pie spice in lieu of vanilla and added cashews to the final mix.

The popcorn popped enough for over 30 balls, so I had to double the caramel 'sauce' ingredients. Very good.

I found these to be just meh...I followed the directions exactly and found that heating the caramel for as long as the recipe called for made for very brittle caramel once it cooled. I don't like my popcorn balls to burst to pieces when you try to take a bite of it. I'm more of a truly chewy popcorn ball person. When it was still warm it was very good and it the taste is fine as well. I should have stopped just beyond soft ball stage and I've have been good. I used two bags of microwave popcorn and that was a bit too much. Three bags would have been WAY over what was needed for the amount of caramel called for.

This has a wonderful flavor. I couldn't find my thermometer, so I cooked to the soft ball stage by testing with water. I used 3 bags of microwave popcorn, but may use 4 next time. The balls were a little too soft and chewy, so I put in a 225 degree oven until they were a little crispy - about 30 minutes. They could have gone longer - they were still chewy, but not as soft. I cloroxed my sink & used it to put the popcorn in and mix - hot water cleaned it right up.

This recipe is delicious! These popcorn balls have the BEST caramel flavor. You won't be disappointed. I made them last year around Halloween for work and this year EVERYONE was asking for them again. I used 3 bags of Microwave Popcorn instead of popping my own kernels, as recommended on other reviews.

These are easy and wonderful. I slightly over cooked the syrup the second time I made these and prefer them to be chewy so will watch my temperature more carefully.

You're right. Kids love 'em even they haven't tasted yet this kind of popcorn. I used to buy popcorn from a nearby store/grocery when my kids ask me to. But I guess I don't have to buy anymore.

Pretty tasty, easy to make. Very sticky when eaten! I used the whole can of sweetened condensed milk, maybe that contributed to the stickiness. Only cooked 1 cup of popcorn and it was plenty.

great snack idea, these were really good i thought, kids said they needed alot more carmel. i will try doubleing the carmel if i make them again and see if they like it better.

This recipe has potential. The caramel is not enough to cover all of that popcorn though! Either 1/2 the popcorn or double the caramel. It is decent- my four year old loved them. However, it wasn't something to write home about. Still looking...

This recipe was awesome. I've made it several times and it's been no fail each time. My only comment is, much like other's comments, the recipe calls for way too much popcorn. We find it the perfect amount of caramel for one bag of microwave popcorn. And it's so easy to make too! Just make sauce in a pot, dump popcorn in a bowl and pour caramel over popcorn. I made it into balls for Halloween last year, but now we just eat it out of the bowl on movie nights.

I had been curious as to how to make popcorn balls, so I found this recipe and was pretty much pleased with the result I made these at work. There was none left of the first batch so I ended up making another batch. Good recipe.

I thought these were great!!

Great recipe, be sure to get the mixture to the set state so your popcorn balls actually harden and don't get sticky

I've been making this recipe for years and I always get rave reviews from people. I like it better than regular caramel popcorn. It's a great treat at Christmas.

Although these turned out fine, smelled like Halloween of my childhood and tasted good, they are a whole lot of work and mess for a fair treat. There's nothing wrong with the recipe, and if you love popcorn balls, this is a very good one(love the caramel!); however, I would not go through the mess in my kitchen for these again. I think I dirtied every pot and bowl in the place!

Great recipe! When your mixing the caramel into the popcorn it seems that there isnt enough - but there is, so dont worry if your trying this recipe.Yummmmmmy

This was a de-lish recipe. We made it for Halloween and had so much fun! Thanks for the reviewer who gave the great idea of mixing the popcorn and caramel in a big brown paper bag...that worked great but just suggest layer popcorn in the bag pour caramel mix, then layer more popcorn, caramel, mix etc. Turned out excellent except hard to get caramel to the bottom. Hopefully with layering technique should work better. DE-LISH!

Loved it. Cooked to soft ball stage (my thermometer was wacko.) Stayed soft. Only needed about 1 1/2 cups unpopped corn. Got over 20 balls. Yum! Will make again. Mild flavor.

Very tasty recipe, I made these for a Halloween party this year and they were a big hit even with the "grown ups". I used half of the popcorn called for in the recipe, and next time I will probably use even less. We like ours with a little extra caramel.

I had to double the carmel for that amount of popcorn. But tasted very very good.

I don't know if I did something wrong - but mine turned out way too chewy and have very little flavor. I followed the recipe as written but I'm going to have to rate my results as a flop. Glad to hear everyone else is having more success!

Yummy, gooey, and a treat treat!

These were sticky and gooey! Kids (and parents) had a blast making them! We only popped 1 cup of popcorn and it still made 20 balls...we happen to like sticky and gooey! Delicious and fun!!

Gooey and sticky...was looking for a hard caramel popcorn ball. This is not it.

What a great recipe! Kids love them! Perfect popping instructions too - thanks for sharing!

I love this recipe!!! Who knew that making caramel popcorn was so easy! I made this for my kids halloween party and I kept munching on them while I was forming them into balls. These are very addictive. I will definitely making them again for the holidays. My son suggested adding honey roasted peanuts next time. Very good recipe!!

Didn't use as much popcorn as noted by other reviewers... Caramel was super easy and delicious!!! Will definitely make it again for popcorn or as a sauce for apples, ice cream, etc. Yummy!

Turned out perfect! I used less than the amount of popcorn called for. I am a complete novice to candy making, and I did this with my kids no problem! So yummy!

Super Easy, use paper bag to mix popcorn and carmel sauce so clean up is a snap. Use baggies on your hands to form balls. Oops forgot the vanilla. Excellent Recipe!

These were good, but just wanted to note that I tried the suggestion of using a paper bag to coat batches of popcorn and a lot of it stuck to the bag. It was a waste of time & messier than it needed to be. I used ziplocks over my hands which made making the balls very quick & easy.

These popcorn balls were very good. The caramel coating was so good and easy to make. The only change I made was that I used only 1/2 the popcorn suggested. I can't imagine if I had used all the popcorn. As it was, the coating barely was enough to coat the amount of popcorn I used! Still, a very good recipe worth keeping to make again! Thanks!

Wonderful, everyone raved about this recipe!

I really like these a lot, I have made them twice now and I am sure I am not doing it entirely correctly as I dont have a candy thermometer so I just guess at the right temperature, but the finished product comes out great for me. I use less popcorn.

This was the first time I have ever made popcorn balls. I made them for a party at my daughters school they loved them and they were a lot easier to make than I had thought. I also reduced the popcorn in the recipe.One of the teachers liked them so well he asked if I could make a dozen for him so that he could give them to friends for christmas.Thank you for sharing that wonderful recipe.

I adore this recipe. I made it as a Christmas gift to friends it went over so well. I think next time though I might add walnuts to the mix.

love this recipe! I cut the popcorn in half so I could have extra caramel...my family loved it!

I tried this recipe with my 4 year old son for his Halloween Party. It was so easy to make. The popcorn balls came out so yummy. I used microwave popcorn, so easy

kids devoured them now i am making more!!

I became the hero of my son's class with these! I'm still working to perfect the process, but they're a great special treat!

Tastes great! I didn't have corn syrup so I didn't use it. I also didn't have a candy thermometer, just boiled it for about 5 minutes and it was fine. Don't use microwave popcorn, that stuff is ! Full of hydrogenated fat (even the American public has taken notice of how bad that is). Take 5 more minutes and make the real stuff!

Yummy. Easy to make and everyone loved them. Will make them again.

Awesome! My guests loved this treat! I found the cleanup easy -- as long as you have hot water on hand. I also used microwave popcorn and it was a cinch. I only baked it for 1/2 hour and found that to be enough time. It was a tad salty (could have been the popcorn I used though) so next time I'll use less salt or unsalted butter. VERY YUMMY!!!

Used only 2 bags of the large Microwave Kettle corn and mixed it in a large paper bag-avoided spills and a mess. Used two butter covered baggies and shaped the balls firmly. VERY YUMMY

great recipe! I agree with other reviewers that is way too much popcorn for the caramel. I used 1/2 cup popcorn, and the recommeded amount of caramel and they were delicious and still made about 10 balls. Baggies on the hands is the way to go, this would not have worked without them. Fun, delicious and easy clean up. Thanks for a great recipe

I would've liked these to be a tad sweeter and with more flavor. Just a tad bland. The only thing I changed was I cut the popcorn in 1/2 and I still got a full 16 balls out of the batch with double the caramel. Had I used the full amount of popcorn that the recipe calls for, there would've been very little caramel on the corn. Oh and I doubled the vanilla. Next time I may make a little more caramel with more brown sugar.

The kids and I just made these treats for Halloween. They were quite fun for the kids, and the caramel candy tastes wonderful! We used 3 bags of butter light microwave popcorn, and the ratio was perfect.

These are great, too great, I ate the whole whack after they were done. I like mine a little softer so I'll cook the syrup to soft next time.

These were so good! My kids LOVED them. Only use 1 to 1 and a 1/2cups of popcorn though!!

Love this recipe! I doubled the caramel mixture like some members suggested and it came out perfect:) I even made extra caramel to dip apple slices in. The whole family loved it. Winner all the way.

Just like my mom used to make when I was a kid. FANTASTIC :)

I tried this receipe and it was alright. i din't like the condensed milk taste in them. They didn't have enough flavor.

So, I didn't read all the reviews before I attempted this recipe. I ended up making a second batch of carmel sauce. I simply mixed the first batch in and realized it wasn't going to be enough then put the popcorn back in the oven to stay warm and made the second batch of carmel. I sure wish I had read the reviews and didn't make so much popcorn at one time. It was a mess BUT the result is wonderful and tasty.

My little sister and my grandmother love popcorn. I made them this treat and they LOVED it!

Excellent!! I teach an after school program for Jr. high students and they absolutely LOVED this! It was so easy for them to make and tasted delicious!!!

I think I should have listened to the others whocut the popcorn amount in half. just didn't seem like enough carmal to sufficiently coat the popcorn.

these are great my husband ate the caramel with a spoon I think I will make a batch of caramels with this recipe. I will make these again. and I also used microwave popcorn(3 bags)

I MADE THIS RECIPIE FOR MY KIDS HALLOWEEN PARTY AT SCHOOL,THIS WAS SO EASY TO MAKE AND I QUADRUPLED THE RECIPIE AND MADE 100 BALLS IT ONLY TOOK ME 1 HR...AND THEY TASTE SO GOOD MY MOTHER IN LAW EVEN APPROVES....AND IF SHE DOES THEY HAVE TO BE GOOD! I WILL MAKE THESE AGAIN....

We just made these and they are terrific. The kids had a blast making them and eating along the way. I sprayed their hands with Pam cooking spray and it worked out great.

Excellent. I didn't change a thing, however I wasn't exact with my measurements either! Good fun recipe to do with 2 kids and 2 adults.

I could not get the mixture to form balls, but it tasted good eaten out of the bowl. I'm pretty sure it was something I did. It seemed like it was too much popcorn and not enough caramel, so perhaps I made too much popcorn.

My Kids and husband loved these. Only used 1 cup of unpopped popcorn and we still got plenty. Warning: The carmel is really hot especially if you use extra carmel. I found that if I kept my hands buttered it didn't burn as much.