Best Ever Popcorn Balls

Very easy to make & yummy! I made them for my child's class. 3 microwaveable bags of popcorn was sufficent for 20 servings. After popping, I placed them in 2 large casserole dishes & set them in a warm oven while I cooked the topping. Then poured it over the popcorn & stirred until well coated. Latex gloves sprayed w/Pam helped while forming the balls! Hope this helps!

Quick & easy! First time making popcorn balls, will definitly make again. I made them for my son's class~they loved them! A couple of tips that worked for me was using the gloves sprayed with Pam, break the popcorn into three or more batches(much easier to work with plus you won't have to work as quickly),forming the popcorn in the muffin tins (quick and gave them a place to set up), for the clean up I boiled water in the saucepan to melt the corn syrup mixture then poured that water into my mixing bowl to help clean up that bowl. I was able to make 36 popcon balls out of this recipe.

I have never eaten nor less made popcorn balls, ever!! I know, I was pretty clueless, but I wanted to make some for a church function today. My husband informed me that he really liked them so I made an attempt. I must say these were awesome!! I read previous reviews and they were correct on adding the vanilla. I added 1 1/2 tsp., used 3 bags of lightly buttered popcorn in microwave. NOTE: Have popcorn already popped and kernels removed a colander works great. Being organized helped too. Using the insert for crock pot sprayed w/cooking spray and 1 1/2 bags of popcorn, used 1/2 of hot syrup mixing w/sprayed spatula and 1 measuring cup for shaping balls as well as spatula. I just sprayed one hand and rubbed hands to help further shape if needed. The syrup mixture was then reheated and process was repeated. It came out perfect, little bigger than baseball about 22 servings. Used zip sandwich bags to hold and give out.

I was searching for a popcorn ball recipe that did not involve using a thermometer. I needed something quick and easy. Luckily, I found this one. I made two batches. The 2 batches made about 40 baseball sized balls. I'm sure they'll be a hit at the charity sale. It was so simple to make these. I would suggest making your popcorn before starting the sugar mixture. I went through my 3 bags(6 bags all together for the 2 batches)of popped natural microwave popcorn and got all of the unpopped pieces out before tossing it with the sugar mixture. A 13x9 baking pan and a dutch oven held 3 bags and there was room for tossing. I used a cooking sprayed coated spatula to mix and it worked great. We then rolled the balls using our hands. Be sure you spray your hands with cooking spray first. I then let the balls firm up and cool a bit before wrapping them in cling wrap and using a twist tie to close them. The scent and taste of them brought back memories of Halloween and the fall carnivals I went to as a child. Thank you very much for sharing this recipe. I highly recommend it.

So easy! I used marshmallow fluff instead of just marshmallows. This is the first time I made popcorn balls and it took me a little while to realize that you have to press REALLY hard on the balls to make them stick together. Thanks Kelli! I'll definitely make them as an autumn treat for guests!

This is wonderful recipe! I made them in about 15 minutes. They taste good and they don't get as hard as a rock after 15 minutes.

Sweet and chewy. I liked these very much. They didn't get hard like most of the others do. I used microwave buttered popcorn. I used almost 6 bags. Buttery sweetness..mmmmm! My kids LOVED them. I'm gonna make them for our church bake sale and for my son's school party's. What kid doesn't like to get popcorn balls? Once again....mmmmmm!

Bingo! I don't ever need to try another popcorn recipe again. After reader reviews and a few modifications this recipe turned out absolutely SUPERB. It's a classic! I didn't rate it 5 stars because a perfect recipe doesn't need to be tweaked. Here's what I did: Reduce confectioner's sugar to 1.5 cups Add 1/2 tsp salt Add 1/2 tsp Maple Extract Sweet & Salty, but not too sweet and there is flavor other than just sugar!

I made these for my 3rd grade daughters class pinic. They were tasty. Kids may have a problem handling the hot mixture to form the balls. Givin a chance to cool she had fun helping.

This is the ideal popcorn ball recipe because it is so adaptable. I've made the recipe as-is, and everyone loves it. Vanilla for a bit of extra flavor is nice, but what really makes this recipe a keeper is how many ways you can add to it. For example, my daughter and I made popcorn balls for her Girl Scout troop. Since it's almost Halloween, we added food coloring to the sugar mixture to turn the popcorn balls orange. We also stirred roasted peanuts, candy corn, and M&Ms into the popcorn. By adding a pretzel stick "stem," we had yummy popcorn ball pumpkins! We've made them for Christmas using holiday M&Ms, too. The kids love them, and even the grown ups can't resist. I pop the popcorn in a plain brown bag in the microwave with no oil or salt. About 1 cup of kernels makes enough for these popcorn balls, a little less if you're adding other candies or snacks to the mix. Using rubber gloves sprayed with Pam makes shaping the balls simple, and they set up on wax paper at room temperature pretty quickly. Individually wrapped and tied with ribbon, they are great for gifts or bake sales. Have fun!

We made these for my daughter's 1st grade class. She helped wrap them in colored plastic wrap. The next day, they were fresh and soft - the kids loved them!

Simply delicious! I read other reviewers comments before trying this recipe. Thank you all for your suggestions, it made the popcorn ball experience for my 8 year old daughter and I flawless!! We used 3/4 cup of unpopped popcorn, used a hot air popper, which made just a little under the amount we needed for 20 balls. The one tip I would make in addition to all the others is to place plastic wrap over a metal 1 cup measuring cup, place coated popcorn in it. Gather up plastic wrap, shape it into a ball and viola you have a popcorn ball with out much mess on your hands!! ENJOY! We are!!

These are good but I felt it needed about 7 quarts of popcorn, there was a ton of the coating. I got 9 2.5 to 3 oz. balls (about 3 inches). I added vanilla (right at the very end) and even some salt. **UPDATE** The second time I did use 7 qts. of popcorn and liked that better. I added 1/4 t salt and 3/4 t vanilla (vanilla at the end). I forgot the water the second time, not sure what it did but it's fine without. I got 14 baseball size balls. With the changes I've made this is a 6 star recipe. I like these so much I can't seem to bring myself to give them away, I want to eat them all.

These were easy and delicious! I read through all 181 reviews before I began. I followed the advice to use buttered popcorn, I did add popcorn salt. What I cut down was to use just 2 cups of powdered sugar. I left the rest the same, and did add 1 tspn vanilla after the syrup mixture was ready to come off the burner. I used 3 bags of microwave popcorn, and divided it up 1.5 bags for 1/2 the syrup mix to make it all easy to handle. For those who had a hard time making it stay in a ball, I wonder if you mixed it long enough and had let it cool down some, so that it was easier to set. ? Anyway, easy, easy for me. I did have a hard time getting the M&M's to stay put, so instead I made the popcorn balls and put different cookie-decorating type sugars in individual bags, and shook the decorations onto the ball, that worked great! I set them all out on wax paper, and wrapped in colored saran wrap. Very easy, and really delicious recipe. Not to sweet at all - I stayed away from the kettle corn, just because there was already so much sweet going in.

For me, this recipe is very good. However, you have to wait till the mixture comes to a soft ball stage. -Very soft if you want them to not be too hard! Soft ball stage & then mix with popcorn. Many times if the recipe says to just bring to a boil & then mix, it won't form balls & you get that big gooey mess I hear about. Hope this helps.

These popcorn balls were fantastic! I've never made them before but needed some for a bake sale & am SO glad I found this recipe. My kids & husband loved them so much that I did not leave the house with as many as I made for the bake sale! The only change I made was to use kettle corn instead of regular popcorn. Thanks for the recipe! UPDATE: I've been tinting the glaze with food coloring - makes it SO much easier to see if you've evenly coated all of the popcorn.

Oh yum! This recipe is PERFECT as is, but considering how stable and beautiful the topping is, if you prefer a gooier popcorn ball, it would definitely work to decrease the popcorn to 3 or 4 quarts. To those who would rather your popcorn ball not be smothered with butter or oil, dipping your hands in cold water and shaking them off before forming works wonderfully (you can usually form 2-3 balls before needing to re-dip).

I made these tonight for my daughter's 4th grade Halloween party. Take it from someone who has suffered through making traditional popcorn balls several times--this was a fun, quick, easy recipe. It reminds me of Rice Krispie squares. You'll have lots of time to make the balls, so don't panic--but DO squeeze them hard when you make them. I'll try these again with some changes...these were too sweet and gooey for my tastes, I'd cut the powdered sugar by about half and cut the marshmallow back about 1/3. The sweet and marshmallow flavors overpowered the popcorn, it should be more balanced. I used 'Homestyle' microwave popcorn which gave it more of an 'old-time' taste, I think--but next time I'll salt the dry popcorn a wee bit before mixing it with the cooked syrup. Popcorn balls NEED that salty/sweet quality. Sorting out the 'old maids' (unpopped kernels) is a MUST, as is keeping the popped corn warm in the oven. Buttering the bowl before mixing the popcorn & syrup keeps things from sticking. I got 35 baseball-size balls out of this recipe. An easy way to package the cooled & ready popcorn balls is to turn a ziploc baggie inside out, insert your hand into it, grasp a popcorn ball and then pull your hand and the ball back out, turning the baggie RIGHT side out again as you do--viola--no mess on the outside of the bag!

I have been making these for a few years now so I finally decided to add my two cents here in the reviews. I have never tried another recipe because they all sound so difficult with the candy thermometers and the crazy temperature requirements and whatnot. I use this recipe and simply reduce the amount of sugar because the suggested measurement makes them too sweet for my taste. I add about 1 3/4 cups of sugar. Then I add 2 teaspoons of vanilla, 2 teaspoons of sea salt and 2 teaspoons of vinegar because I like the sweet and sour combo. I made them to the recipe specifications and everyone thought they were too gooey and too sweet but my modified versions are a hit every time. Oh, and I use bags of pre-popped corn from Trader Joe's.

This was my first time making popcorn balls. I made them to add into my Christmas gifts for my family. I popped four bags of light butter popcorn (four because there are always a lot of left over kernels in the bag), and followed reviewers recommendations by adding in 2 tsp of vanilla to the sugar mixture. It boils fast so definitely have your popcorn ready and the kernels all sifted out. The best thing I took away from all the other reviews was to spray Pam on your hands before forming the balls. I sprayed my left hand front and back and had to have my husband do my right. I'm glad I did the backs - if I felt I was running low and the mixture was starting to stick I could get some more Pam from the back of my hand. I'll have to make another batch tomorrow as it only made 18 what I would consider to be small popcorn balls. I wanted them small - about 50% bigger than a golf ball, so I thought it would yield more, but it was less! It was easy though so all I have to worry about is cleaning my cookware to reuse. Washing with near scalding water immediately after took the stickiness right off - and then you can worry about them later! All in all - super easy and delicious!

I made these last year, and will make them again this year. They are YUMMY! Tip: These are not as good the next day. Day one they are a gooey ball of goodness, but they get hard on day two,so if you want to serve these at a party, I'd make them that morning.

Excellent and too easy to make. I had these done in 15 minutes. I bought a huge bag of popped popcorn. 4 cups equal 1 quart. I filled up my 5 qt crock pot that I had greased. The mixture came to a boil in no time. I did add a bit of vanilla. I am not normally a popcorn ball eater but these were great. I let them cool for a couple of minutes and then formed them with my greased hands. Pat them lightly. Do not crush the popcorn. I passed them to my 6 yr old who had sandwich bags open and ready for me. They held together well. No need to grease the bags. Will make again.

These are tasty and easy to make. You have to be VERY CAREFUL when you mix the marshmallow into the popcorn because I decided to dive right in with my hands and gave myself 2 blisters on my pinky finger. Instead, stir it together with a big wooden spoon and then let it sit for 5 minutes before you form into balls. You will think the popcorn will start setting, but don't worry, it won't...you'll still be able to make balls with it. Also, clean your marshmallow stove pan with hot water right away or you will have a hard clean up job later.

These were great! Nice and chewy but not too gooey! We used 3 bags of microwavable popcorn and it was perfect. This will be my go to recipe for popcorn balls!

Boy these are good! I bought popcorn just to make this recipe. On accident I bought kettle corn, but no matter, I just decreased the sugar by a tad since it's slightly sweet on its own. What I did do with the mixture is keep it on low to medium low and wait til the marshmallows melted all the way through, then bumped it up to medium to start a boil. The mixture was so creamy and delicious on its own (I may have snuck a taste from the tiny bits leftover ;D) and it held together so nicely. I had a little assembly line of plastic wrap already set up and it was a breeze! I had my husband taste, to which he said, "omg this is awful!" then gave me a wink and ate like half of it in one bite, lol. It was so tasty, easy and super fun to make that I can say this will be made again!

These are awesome! I put a chocolate kiss in the middle of each ball, then put them in a small bag and tied with ribbon. I gave one to each kid at the party and told them there was a surprise inside. Of course I had to eat one and I must say it was the best popcorn ball I've had since I was a kid :) I'll change the colors and hidden candy inside many times over for a variety of holidays to come.

Made these for my family for New Year's Eve. Very easy and oh so good. Nice and chewy soft and unlike other recipes, won't break your teeth biting into them. 5 quarts of popcorn came out to 20 cups.

I’ve made these for Cub Scouts and a second time for a Halloween party. These are quite messy to make, being organized truly helps. . I started by making 3 regular bags microwave popcorn per batch sorting out the hulls as I went, then making the syrup. I found double boiling the syrup easier than microwaving. I double boiled the syrup in a medium stainless bowl and added small amounts of syrup to the popcorn working the syrup in. When the syrup began to set up, it’s easily reheated. I mixed the popcorn and syrup in a large stainless bowl, when this began to set up, it could be put atop the boiling pot and reheat the entire concoction. As a result my balls were evenly coated and turned out beautifully consistent. I used my wrist to spray my hands with an aerosol vegetable oil spay. I did find the recipe only made about 12 smaller than tennis balls. Kids love them, and they are a huge hit. Kelli, thanks for sharing.

In terms of ease I say a 4 and flavor i would say 3.5 I was able to make 40 in about 45 mins in two seperate batches. I used other suggestions and added vanilla and popped 3/4 air popped pocorn all together. This way they weren't too sweet or gummy. Also added food coloring to make orange. Made these in the morning before work to pass out to the daycare costume parade and will probably use again for son's Harvest Party. TFS

Ooey, gooey, sticky, tacky, messy job. kids loved them. I found waiting for the mixture to cool made them easier to form into balls. I also made them golf ball size, considering the sweetness I thought that would be big enough.

My MIL used to make popcorn balls in the sink (once they got indoor pumbing on her farm.) This solves the "I don't have a bowl big enough" problem. DH says that clean up is easy--after you have put the leftovers in a ziplock, then fill the sink with hot water and put all the pots and utensils in it. When it is cool enough to put your hands in, the sugar has dissolved.

Tasted great, but mine were flat globs of goo. I used the butter on my hands to make them not stick to my hands, and even when I got them into semi ball shape, once I put them in the surran wrap and tied them up, the next day the bottom of the individually wrapped popcorn balls had a gooey mess in them, as the filler pooled at the bottom. Very tasty, but do not stick together at all. May try again sometime when I have some assistance to help me with the mess.

Very easy. Had to use a lot of shortening on my hands. I sprinkled orange sugar crystals and wrapped in a halloween bags to hand out at a halloween party.

This is the most fantastic recipe EVER!!!!I used microwave kettle corn. I adjusted the portion size down to 5 and instead of the 1/4 c of marshmallows, I changed it to 1/2. Then made 8 batches of greatness in less then 2 hrs!! It perfectly coated every where!!!!!!! Im no Suzie Homemaker for sure (I prefer to not cook anything at all) and this is the best and most tastey ever! If I could figgure out how to upload a pic you would see!! It took no time at all, and clean up wasnt bad. I did read other reviews about the powdered sugar being overwhelming, but I really cant tell at all! This recipe certainly makes this gal who burns everything look like a fantastic cook!!! Thank you very much!!!

I thought these were ok, not much flavor even with vanilla and salt added. I should go through my Mom's old Betty Crocker cookbook. These pale in comparison to the ones my Mom used to make.

I love popcorn balls, especially gooey, chewy ones but I've never attempted to make them myself until I found this recipe. It was very easy and for my first attempt I am very pleased with the result. I ended up with 18 small-medium sized balls that are are definitely gooey, chewy and delicious. Thanks for the recipe. Will definitely make again!!

I took some great advice from reviews. I used three bags of popcorn and did in three batches. I used a one cup measuring cup sprayed with Pam to make the balls and then tapped them out on wax paper. Then when they cooled I wrapped in plastic wrap. Very easy and very yummy!

I had never made popcorn balls before and figured it would be a fun activity for my sons' birthday party. All the kids loved it. I used parchment paper to grab a good chunk out of the pot and had candies in bowls across the table for the kids to add and their parents helped them roll it into a ball. Everyone had a great time making them and that was their treat to take home.

These were great! I made a different recipe the day before I made these and they stuck to your teeth so bad you couldn't even eat them! These don't do that. They taste great too! Also placing plastic baggies on your hands when shaping into balls is a big help..otherwise..ouch!!

Yummy and EASY!

Just did a batch of these. Fantastic! A couple things... 1 cup plain white sugar works if you are out of powdered. More than 1 cup is too sweet in my opinion. Our local Aldi is getting rid of halloween stuff, so I grabbed a few 10oz bags of Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows for .15 ea. 10 drops of red food coloring makes a deep candy red color that works great for the holidays. I will also do green. I also added a few dashes salt and a little bit of vanilla extract. I also picked up Almond and Peppermint, so I'm sure those will work good also. If you go too much on the Corn Syrup, the balls will be too gloppy at the bottom. Too little, and it won't bind when you ball them. I also found five minutes for cooling was not enough, as they started to fall apart once balled. 8 to 10 minutes leaves plenty of time for them to still warm enough for balling, and they form much nicer. I found that I could tear off a small sheet of cellophane, and drape it over the top of the ball, scoop it up, and wrap it all at once. I didn't see any point in using a cup, or trying to place sheets down first. Wetting hands in small bowl of warm water for each ball, let you pack it like a snowball firmly, each time. It didn't seem to dilute or wear off any of the coating. I may try the oil or shortening method just to be sure. This recipe is quick and easy.

This turned out good and were really easy to make using a greased measuring cup to form the balls. I also used vanilla to add some flavor.

Awesome and extremely easy!! My kids were amazed at how fast they were ready. I took the advice of another reviewer and added 1 1/2 tsp vanilla to it. My husband ate more of them than the children did!!

Thank you.. I was looking for a quick easy project with my girls, and this did the trick.

Great Recipe! I used a good nonstick pot to melt all of the ingredients together, used 4 bags of microwaved popcorn, substituted the marshmallows with fluff. I also used the ceramic insert of my 12 quart crock pot to mix the popcorn together. I used pam on my hands and was done in no time. Thanks! This one is a keeper

Just made these for my son's pre-school Halloween party. WoW, very yummy! I did add some food coloring to it while boiling to make it orange, and a little bit of vanilla. The recommendation to use latex gloves was helpful - the trick is to keep spraying on the Pam while forming the balls. I used almost three bags of microwave popcorn and it made 16 balls. Very messy, but well worth the effort. I have not had such chewy and tasty popcorn balls in years, and have missed them. Thank you so much Kelli!

Yummy! I made them as written and will make them again!

This is a great recipe and comes out perfect. I didn't have light corn syrup so I substituted flavored syrup (usually used to flavor coffee and itallian soda). It is a little runnier than light corn syrup so I eliminated the water. The flavored syrup added a hint of flavor (I used vanilla honey syrup) It worked great.

I made half a recipe using one bag of Orville Redenbacher microwave popcorn. It was very easy to make and came out great. I sprayed my hands with Pam before forming the balls. Be sure to pick out all the unpopped kernels before you add the syrup mixture. Good, fun recipe!

this recipie was awsome i made like thirty of them and i ate them all in one night i was like devaworing them

These were delicious. Thanks, also, for the hint of using rubber gloves. They made it a lot easier to form them into balls.

WAY TOO SWEET. The sugar needs to be cut way down in this recipe. I agree with the other reviewers that it should be a combo of salty and sweet and not just sweet. The marshmallows with the sugar and then corn syrup=sugar overload.! They stuck together great, but the flavor was over the top sweet. I used bagged kettle corn, which has a tad of salt but since the sugar was so overpowering, you couldn't even taste it. I will try again, using less sugar. P.S. for an easy and safe way to handle the popcorn mixture I lightly sprayed 2 sandwich baggies w/PAM, put my hands inside of them like gloves and the popcorn mixture was easy to handle and mold and no chance of burning your fingers.

These are so yummy! Fun, and easy to make...but messy! I packed them loosely and placed them in a muffin pan to dry. Using this method, I made about 32 popcorn balls. Would make again!

Wow, these are fantastic popcorn balls! I used my largest mixing bowl to put the popcorn in to mix with the syrup mixture and it was plenty big enough so I didn't need to mix this in two batches. I think that as the mixture cooled it was much easier to get the popcorn to stick together as I made all the balls and then went back again to squeeze each one tighter together and as they were cooling that worked much better than when the mixture was so hot. Be sure to oil your hands and I kept my Pam spray right there and sprayed a couple of times while pressing the balls. Will defininatly make these again!

X-lent! I've been married for 18 years, and this is the first popcorn ball recipe I have found that lived up to it's hype. It's wonderful, simple and simply delicious. I got exactly 12 huge perfectly round treats; and to top it off found another use for my Tupperware onion saver, just grease the inside and use pressure to mold the popcorn rounded!

I used 3 bags pop secret homestyle popcorn. Removed all old maids and put each bag in a separate bowl. I changed the powdered sugar to 1 3/4 cups and added 2 tsp. of vanilla for flavor. I separated the syrup mixture into 3 pans after it was done and kept one white and added green food coloring to the 2nd pan and red food coloring to the third pan. You have to move quick so it doesn't cool. That way I had red, green and white popcorn balls for Christmas! They turned out really good and so yummy!

I have to agree, they're the best ever! I was craving my grandmother's Halloween popcorn balls (an old family tradition), and found this recipe.... I hate to admit it, but these are better than Grandma's! They're super-easy, delicious (I added vanilla extract for flavoring), and fun to make. Thanks for sharing!!!

tried to make these and when it tells yout to combine all the ingrediants and then shape..... nowhere on there does it say let semi cool befor you shape yea got burnt doing it...... think recipe needs minor ajustment

Very good and easy to make. My daughter and I made these together. Did not stick to your teeth either. Definitely will make again.

Huge favorite. Definitely add a little vanilla and lightly salt the popcorn with popcorn salt.

Fantastic. These really are the best ever. I did add a teaspoon of vanilla, but they would have been great without it, because it was the chewy and crunchy texture that made these the best popcorn balls I've ever had.

We made these to give to the neighbors as gifts. Hubby has been gobbling up the few remaining ones like there is no tomorrow.

Great and easy! My corn syrup was old and so were the marshmallows (not hard). So I made 1/2 a recipe. Following other tips this is what I did for 1/2 recipe: added vanilla (instead of water), salt and used 1 cup powdered sugar. Simmered mixture 2 minutes after it came to a boil. Spooned it into a 12 cup sprayed muffin tin. Sprayed my hands once and formed into balls (next time I will make 10). No problems! Tastes great too!

Yummy!!! :)

This is a great recipe in its simplicity.The only thing I would note is it is worth it to try to pick out the unpopped kernals before you make and add the syrup. It is not any fun to chop down on one of those!

Stir in food coloring after you're finished cooking for colored popcorn balls! I used neon food coloring by I think betty crocker and made purple, green and orange balls for halloween parties!

Good stuff. I made a half batch and still got 15 baseball sized protions. That was plenty for us. I can't imagine trying to do a full batch. Would need a really big pot to stir it all in. Next time I will wear some sort of gloves so that I don't burn myself trying to put them together. These really weren't any more difficult than making Rice Crispy Treats.

Very good, however I used real butter and after removing the pot from the stove, I also added 2 teaspoons of Vanilla. Make sure you take all of the unpopped kernels out first! Try this savory add-in: 1/2 cup crisp crumbled bacon. (just stir into the corn syrup mix before pouring onto the popcorn)

these are really easy to make and taste great! there is no waiting for the syrup to harden like other popcorn balls and they are sweeter and not as dry as others.

This recipe reminds me of the popcorn balls my grandmother used to make. They were much easier than I expected and everyone thoroughly enjoyed them. The only drawback is that they get kind of messy!

This did not work out well for me at all. Forming them in to balls was almost impossible and the end product was not edible. Not sure where I went wrong...and I really did want this to work. Sorry.

Great treat! Helpful hint, use spray on Butter Flavor Pam on your hands instead of of butter.

These were absolutely wonderful! I had my husband pop the popcorn on the stove and he added some salt without thinking. I think the salty/sweet combo was great. We all loved them at our house. Thank you for the recipe!

I've never made them before, but this recipe was very easy. 3 bags microwave buttered popcorn. I did add vanilla for flavor and I used colored mini marshmallows for a little color. I used a muffin tin sprayed with pam to shape them, a 12 muffin tin made 36 balls. I shook them out over waxed paper, it was very fast and made it easy for my daughter to help.

Pretty good, but not my favorite. I wanted to try this recipe since it's a little different than others I've tried, but I didn't like how the flavor of the confectioners' sugar came through. Thanks anyway, it was worth a try!

Nice and chewy, but all I could taste was the confectioners sugar. Way too sweet, and not rich.

Mmmm... Soooo good! I finished making them about 20 minutes ago and I've already eaten 4!! My kids really enjoyed watching me make them.. and eating them too! I added some vanilla, seperated my popcorn into 3 batches, reheating my sugar mixture each time and I formed the balls in a muffin tin. They were so easy! I highly recommend!

My family and I never liked popcorn balls much but this recipie was a huge hit!!! I used real butter instead of margarine and it added a much better flavor. My daughters teacher wanted to take all the left overs home!

these taste great and were so easy to make, I made enough to give to all of my students (3 batches around 60) and it took me less than an hour. One hint is to make one batch at a time so you have enough time to form them.

Easy and awesome! Made no changes at all. I have made them 4 times now!

I will be making this recipe. Sounds great but I wont add so much sugar/corn syrup. I made popcorn balls a few yrs ago for a party. After forming the balls and letting them come to room temp., I wrapped them in different color saran wrap(blue and red/pink) and tied them with a ribbon. They looked and tasted so delicious. The kids and adults loved them!

This was my 1st attempt at making popcorn balls. Made them with my kids for my daughter's Halloween party. Thought it would be fun to stir in some Halloween candy to make them more festive, but the M&M's melted and turned the whole batch kindof 'muddy'-looking. To save the day... my daughter came up with a gross sounding name 'Black Cat Hairballs', we put them in plastic bags, made up some cute tags and tied the tags on with yarn. They ended up looking pretty cute and she was proud to hand them out to her classmates. One of the teachers even asked for the recipe. They were surprisingly easy to make and turned out soft & chewy. Would make again. Thanks for the submission!

I made these as a present for someone. He raved to everyone how fantastic they were. Of the others I gave them to, no one had a sour note to add. They went over so well, I think I had 5 or 6 ask for the recipe! Fun, easy, and extrememly good!

EXCELLANT RECIPE!!! I have NEVER made popcorn balls in my life, and my husband said that he would like some, so I decided to try it. I was very nervous and when I found this recipe it seemed pretty easy, and boy is it ever!!! I two batches of 10 the first batch I added M&M's... REALLY GOOD!!! The second batch I left plain... they are both really good!!! I wouldn't change anything about the recipe... PERFECT 10!!!

Love this recipe. I made them and I added nuts (Planters deluxe lightly salted mixed nuts) and plain M & M's ( I added these right before I started to form into balls cause they will melt). They turned out really good, I will be making these again and again.

made these for my son's 4th grade "Harvest" party on Halloween and threw everything into a crock pot to melt, popped the popcorn, mixed all together and had the kids' put on latex gloves sprayed them with PAM and they made balls. They were fantastic! Even us parents liked them! Not too sweet, just right. no sticking either with the glove and spray trick!

These are great popcorn balls! Gooey, delicious and not difficult to make. My only concern is I did not know how long to wait to make the balls and ended up burning my hands a couple of times. I did not want them to cool off too much and miss having the opportunity to put them together. I really like how simple this recipe is and reviewed it on my blog where you can see pictures of me making them.

If you are looking for your mom's popcorn ball recipe from when you were a kid, this is not it. However this is a great recipe. I have noticed that many people who give this recipe a low rating are complaining that they are not setting up. You have to let the candy mixture cool quite a bit. I used four bags of home style popcorn and it was the perfect ratio of popcorn and candy mixture. I made this in two batches, with two bags of popcorn and about 1 cup of mixture per batch. If after you mix the popcorn and candy mixture you find it too hot for a child to handle safely then you need to let it cool because it will not set. My four children, ages 10-3 were able to easily form these into balls. I also added vanilla instead of the water. Will definitely make these again.

Quick,easy and delicious! Very gooey and soft, held together perfectly. Used ziplock bags over my hands when making the balls - worked perfectly! Three bags of popcorn worked well.

This recipe is wonderful! The popcorn balls are soft and chewy. I doubled the recipe and used 6 bags of plain microwave popcorn. I also used margarine on my hands, instead of shortening, for rolling.

I must have done something wrong - these were very mushy and goopy and never set properly. I ended up throwing them away. I wish they had worked for me, but I'm not sure I'll go through the bother to try again.

Delicious and easy to make we used marshmallow cream and hot air popped popcorn. I enjoyed doing this with my 12 year old. This recipe is soft and yet crispy the perfect popcorn ball.

It was very fun to make. It was nice and chewy. I decided to go with Kettle Popcorn. I took them for a bake sale. And it went well. But ...my reason for only three stars. I thought it tasted too sweet. Any ideas on how to de-sweeten this treat??

First time ever making popcorn balls. It was sooooo easy and they were sooooooo so delicious, the best I've ever tasted. They were buttery and sweet and just a ball of total scrumptiousness. I used buttered Pop Secret microwave popping corn. Soft and chewy, not dry! So yummy!

These are the best ever! super easy to make and they taste fantastic. I tinted half of my mixture red for a school dessert swap and everyone loved them!

I made this with my kids. It was really easy to make and they loved them, especially knowing the marshmallow was in it. One quick note: measuring out 5 quarts of popcorn is kind of difficult. Definitely use three regular size bags of popcorn or you'll have too much sauce keeping them together...and instead of being lightly sweet, it's over powering and gets a cheesy taste.

I made these for a Halloween party. They do have the tendency to come across like a rice krispie bar because of the marshmallow, but I do like that they are not like rocks a few days afterwards. I'll make these again.

Wow do you know how much 5 qts are? That was way to much popcorn! Next time I will only pop 3 bags. This was my second time making popcorn balls, I know the kids will love um. I liked them and will make them again. I did use green food coloring, what a great idea for Halloween, with orange ribbion for the tie. My husband said I did not ball them up tight enough.

I ALSO USED THIS RECIPE FOR THE KIDS IN MY FAMILY THEY EVEN WANT MORE TO TAKE HOME!!!!!!GREAT RECIPE THANK YOU.