Candy Popcorn Balls are a great way to use up some of your leftover Halloween candy for repurposed treats everyone will love.
Candy Popcorn Balls #SundaySupper
By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime
Halloween is upon us! And if you haven’t had the Trick-or-Treaters yet, you soon will. Sometimes it’s hard to tell how many treats to have on hand. One year can be pretty busy and the next year…zip. I almost always have some sort of candy leftover, and usually it gets pawned off as giveaways at the workdesk. But even so, if you have kids, and they came home with a particularly heavy haul, there is always going to be something left.
One of the things I used to get when I was a child isn’t something kids can get while out on Beggar’s Night anymore. And that is old-fashioned popcorn balls. And sometimes those can seem a little plain when made at home, but if you have a few cups extra of candy, you can mix it in. I’ve used some caramels, candy corn, peanuts and payday bars. But you could also mix in peanut butter taffy and things like those Brachs type filled caramels (or the like). Chocolate will get a little messy. But it would also work. This is just no place for things like bubblegum or hard candy. I’m sure you can look through what you have and figure out what you will use.
You will need a candy thermometer for this to get it to the right temperature. And this isn’t really the kind of recipe small children should be helping with. The toffee is extremely hot, so be careful not to burn yourself, and kids just let them enjoy eating the popcorn balls when those are ready.
Until next time-
~Sue
Candy Popcorn Balls
Ingredients:
- 12 cups popped popcorn
- 2 cups light corn syrup
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup candy corn
- 1 cup dry roasted peanuts
- 5 ounces caramels, chopped
- 5 ounces Payday candy bars, chopped
Method:
- Pop your popcorn and get it ready- I did mine in a microwave popper without oil or salt.
- Stir together the corn syrup, vinegar and salt in a saucepan.
- Heat syrup over low heat until the temperature of it reaches 250ºF. on a candy thermometer.
- Pour hot syrup over the top of the popcorn in a heatproof container (it ill be very hot so I don’t recommend a plastic bowl).
- Sprinkle some of the candy and nuts over the popcorn and stir, then add in the rest of the candy and nuts.
- Shape popcorn into balls as soon as you can, being careful not to burn yourself.
- Allow popcorn balls to cool completely, then wrap in plastic rap until needed.
From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com
Sunday Supper
Recipes That Use Leftover Halloween Candy
Bars
- Candy Bar Blondies by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Halloween Hangover Blondies by Cricket’s Confections
- Leftover Candy Peanut Butter Chocolate Crunch Bars by Books n’ Cooks
Brownies
- Gooey Candy Bar Brownie Cups by Desserts Required
- Leftover Candy Stuffed Brownies by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
Cakes
- Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Cake by Sew You Think You Can Cook
- Pumpkin Chocolate Cake by NinjaBaker
Confections
- Candy Bar Truffles by The Crumby Cupcake
- Candy Filled Lollipops by The Freshman Cook
- Nutty Candy Bar Fudge by And She Cooks
Cookies
- Butterfinger Biscotti by The Redhead Baker
- Candy Bar Oatmeal Cookies by Cosmopolitan Cornbread
- Full of Secrets Chocolate Chip Cookies by What Smells So Good?
Snacks
- Candy Popcorn Balls by Palatable Pastime
- Inside Out Caramel Apple Muffins by Caroline’s Cooking
- Under the Sea Snack Mix by Pies and Plots
Supper
- Lemon Drop Chicken Chow Mein by Mindy’s Cooking Obsession
- Snickapplebutterway Salad by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
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Popcorn balls!!! I haven’t had those since I was a kid!
Ooh, I love Paydays and even better now that they are non GMO. Popcorn balls are so fun to make.
I adore Popcorn Balls!! What a fun recipe! YUM!!!
Your popcorn candy balls zip me right back to childhood! Yours look especially yummy, Sue. Funny how the tide of trick or treaters waxes and wanes =)