Soft Caramel Popcorn Balls aka Caramel Corn

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Have you ever wondered how to make those soft caramel popcorns balls for scratch? Let me show you how to make this old fashioned treat for kids of all ages! It's so easy! Popcorn mixed into homemade caramel sauce made with sweetened condensed milk for that chewy texture you crave!

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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Ingredient Notes and Expert Tips
How to Make
Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips
Related Popcorn Recipes
Soft Caramel Popcorn Balls aka Caramel Corn Recipe

Why You'll Love This Recipe

No candy thermometer needed!
Delicious caramel sauce from scratch so NO unwrapping a million little caramels!
Individually wrapped making these perfect treat for a Halloween party or for trick treaters!
Not a fan of crunchy caramel popcorn? You'll love this chewy caramel corn version!

Ingredient Notes and Expert Tips

Brown Sugar - I use light brown sugar but if dark brown sugar suits your tastes more you can substitute it.
Light Corn Syrup - Many people cringe at the thought of using corn syrup however, it does serve a purpose. Corn syrup keeps the sugar molecules in the brown sugar in balance to prevent a grainy caramel sauce. If you absolutely must, you can substitute honey or agave for the corn syrup.
Sweetened Condensed Milk - Please note that sweetened condensed milk is not the same as evaporated milk and cannot be substituted for it.
Butter - both unsalted butter and salted butter work for this recipe.
Popcorn - This recipe is for air popped popcorn not microwave popcorn. If you don't have a popcorn popper see this post on how to make Stovetop Popcorn. If you have the kernels and a brown paper bag you can even pop the Popcorn in the Microwave! Or did you know you can even Make Popcorn in an Instant Pot?

Brown sugar, popcorn kernals, corn syrup, butter, sweetened condensed milk — Everything you need to make these fun treats!

How to Make

Pull out your air popper and pop ½ cup of popcorn kernels the old fashioned way and set it aside in a large bowl.
Measure the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup into a medium pot and place it over medium heat on the stovetop. (Please note that I was making a double batch so picture 2 shows twice the amount of butter and brown sugar called for in the recipe)
Once the butter is melted, the contents in the pot are mixed together and begins to boil, turn down the heat to a medium low heat and boil the caramel for 3 minutes. This will slightly thicken the sauce while the sugar dissolves.
Remove the pot from the heat and immediately whisk in half a can of sweetened condensed milk.

Pop the popcorn and whip up the caramel mixture!

Pour the hot gooey caramel sauce over the popcorn and mix until all the popcorn pieces are well coated.
EXTRAS - If you're planning to add mix ins like seasonal sprinkles, a cup m&m candies, or peanuts this is the time to add them.
TIP - It is helpful to use a rubber spatula or a silicone spatula for this instead of a wooden spoon for easier cleaning.
Spray the inside of a 1 cup measuring cup with non stick cooking spray.
Scoop 8 cupfuls of caramel popcorn onto a sheet of wax paper spacing the piles out so they don't touch.
TIP - as the caramel is very moist parchment paper doesn't work near as well as wax paper because it gets a little soggy.
If you have popcorn left in the bowl divide it up among the 8 piles.
Spray your hands lightly with non stick cooking spray (this keeps the caramel from sticking to your hands) and press each pile into a ball.
The popcorn ball tends to re-expand a bit with the first pressing. I usually go back and re-press them into tighter balls after I've shaped them all the first time.
The balls of caramel popcorn should be roughly 3-inch balls (a little smaller than a softball).
Allow them to set and cool completely before wrapping each ball in plastic wrap, putting them in individual holiday bags or simply placing them all in an airtight container.

Pour the caramel over the popcorn and shape the popcorn mixture into homemade caramel popcorn balls!

Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips

Best way to store popcorn balls?

These are best when wrapped individually in plastic wrap or bagged in individual treat bags. You can store them together in an airtight container however they may stick to each other a little bit.

Why won't my popcorn balls stick together?

If your popcorn balls aren't sticking together it's likely because you have too much popcorn. Be sure to measure the popped popcorn so you don't accidently use too much.

How do you keep caramel popcorn from getting soggy?

Sogginess is caused by way too much caramel. Once again be sure to measure the popped popcorn so you don't have too much or too little. However, this issue is easier to fix than having to much popcorn. If you feel you need more popcorn just pop a little more popcorn and mix it in. 1-2 cups of additional popped corn should do it.

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