Colorful, fun, and whimsical, these Halloween Popcorn Balls are the perfect Halloween treat! Follow my easy step-by-step instructions and you’ll be munching on your own gaggle of witches in no time. This is a great recipe to get your kids involved in cooking with you!
I’m having a lot of fun this year creating all kinds of Halloween recipes! This easy popcorn ball recipe took me a few weeks to figure out, but I think this fun treat turned out so well and it may become my personal Halloween favorite.
Perfect for Halloween parties or a spooky movie night, these easy popcorn balls are made with a few common ingredients from my local grocery store: popcorn, marshmallows, chocolate, Hershey’s kisses, butter, vanilla, food coloring, and sprinkles. The candy eyes and mouths are in most large supermarkets in the UK, but if you can’t find them, check below for substitutions in the “Other decoration ideas” section.
The witches’ hats can be made with or without the Oreos. They sit a little better without the Oreos but, I love the taste of the Oreos when they’re there! I like to call the deluxe version.
❤️ Why you will love this recipe
- Easy recipe: There are 2 main steps, but they’re much easier than they look. Trust me, if I can pull this off, anyone can!
- Tasty: Chocolate, vanilla, marshmallow, and popcorn; this is a winning flavor combination.
- Fun: These fun Halloween treats are colorful and (slightly creepily) cute! Kids and adults will love seeing these special treats on your next Halloween Party table spread.
- Kids can help too! Get those kiddos in the kitchen! They can help form the popcorn balls, add the faces, and even help (with some assistance) on the witches’ hats!
🗝️ Key Ingredients & Substitutions
Popcorn Balls
- Plain popcorn: Unpopped kernels are so easy to cook in a pot on the stove, and much more economical than microwave popcorn. If you don’t want to make your own popcorn you can substitute 6 cups of popcorn (popped) or kettle corn.
- Olive oil: I popped my popcorn in olive oil, however, any healthy oil that can take the heat will be fine like coconut oil.
- Marshmallows: Just like traditional popcorn balls, mini marshmallows are ideal for Halloween popcorn balls. They’re easy to measure and melt quickly too. You can substitute another size if desired. I haven’t tried these with vegan marshmallows yet.
- Butter: This adds a ton of flavor and richness. Dairy-free butter can be substituted if needed.
- Flavor extract: Just for a little extra warmth and to bring out the sweetness I added vanilla extract to half of the batch of popcorn balls, and to the other half I added salted caramel extract. Skip these if desired.
- Food coloring: To make the marshmallow popcorn balls green and purple, I added a few drops of natural food coloring from PME. Any brand will work for these festive Halloween popcorn balls.
- Candy eyes and mouth: I used “Edible Eyes” and “Crazy Faces” by Cake Décor. If you’re in the US, this decorating kit from Wilton is perfect!
- Cotton candy: The witch’s hair is made with cotton candy. It’s edible and fuzzy, perfect for these colorful popcorn balls.
Witches Hats
- Chocolate: I used melted semi-sweet chocolate chips. Your favorite milk or dark chocolate will work too!
- Marshmallows: Regular-sized jet-puffed marshmallows are just the right size and shape.
- Sprinkles: I added some Halloween candy sprinkles to the marshmallow to add a little flair to the hat. You can skip it or use any color of sprinkles.
- Hershey’s Kisses: I chose the almond kisses because they are my favorite, but any milk chocolate kiss will work for this fun fall treat.
- Oreos: This is optional, but you can use an oreo for the base of the witches hat, or just use melted chocolate in a mini cupcake paper liner. I used gluten-free Oreos, but regular would be fine too!
🥣 How to make easy Halloween Popcorn Balls
Popcorn Balls
1. Pop the popcorn: Add the oil to a large pot with a lid along with 3 unpopped popcorn kernels. When the 3 popcorn kernels have popped, add the rest in and allow them to pop. Make sure the lid is on or they will pop everywhere! When the popping had reduced, turn off the heat.
2. Melt the marshmallow mixture: Add the butter, mini marshmallows, and vanilla extract to a large saucepan and cook until the marshmallows have melted.
3. Divide and add color: If you’re making 2 different colors of popcorn balls, move half of the melted marshmallows to a large bowl. For purple add 2 drops of red to 1 drop of blue food coloring. From green, it’s 2 drops of yellow to one drop of blue food coloring.
4. Mix with the popcorn: Divide the popped popcorn between the two colors and mix well with a wooden spoon. They will look a little like krispy treats.
5. Form into balls: Form 4 3-inch balls of each color by wetting your hands with water and then scooping up the popcorn mixture. Wetting your hands prevents them from getting into a sticky mess. Once you have the ball shape formed, press it firmly together and place it on a piece of parchment paper or a greased baking tray.
Witches Hats
1. Oreo or no oreo? Decide whether you want to make the hats on top of an oreo or in a mini cupcake paper liner.
2. Melt chocolate: Add melted chocolate to a bowl and place it over a pot of water, over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the chocolate has all melted. You can also melt chocolate in the microwave in 10-second intervals.
3. Dip oreo or spread on liner: If you’re using the oreos, dip one flat side into the melted chocolate and place it on a large baking sheet or parchment paper, melted chocolate side up. If you’re skipping the oreos, add a little melted chocolate to a flattened mini cupcake liner, and make a circle shape as best you can.
4. Dip the marshmallow: Add the marshmallow to a toothpick (pierce the smaller side first) and dip it into the melted chocolate, covering it completely, shaking off any excess. Dip the rim of the bottom of the marshmallow in Halloween sprinkles, turning it as you go. Place the marshmallow on top of the oreo or cupcake liner.
5. Add the kiss: Dip the flat side of the Hershey’s kiss in the chocolate and add it on top.
Assemble
1. Make a face: I like to look at the popcorn ball and find a piece of popcorn that sticks out around where a nose would be. I then add the 2 eyes and mouth around it.
2. Add the hair: Next, make sure your hands are clean and very dry, and gently pull some of the cotton candy from the container and add it to the top of the head. It should just stick onto the marshmallow.
3. Top it with a hat: Add the hat directly on top, or add a little melted chocolate to make it stick if desired.
🫙 Storage Instructions
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
🪄 Recipe Notes & Tips
- Chocolate: If you find the melted chocolate is too thick, add 1-2 teaspoons of refined coconut oil to thin it out a little. It’ll still set perfectly.
- Popcorn: Use 6 cups of popped popcorn, kettle corn, or microwave popcorn if desired.
Pro tip: Wet your hands with water before handling the marshmallow popcorn balls. This prevents them from sticking to you and is so much easier than using nonstick cooking spray or butter. This is a great hack for Rice Krispie treats too!
✨ Other decoration ideas
- Eyes: Candy eyes are the best, however, I think M&M’s or Reese’s pieces would look great in a pinch too!
- Mouth: Try placing strand sprinkles to make a smile, or pipe some chocolate on the face. If I can’t find the candy faces packet, I sometimes just skip the mouth altogether.
- Nose: Candy corn can be added to make the witch’s nose more prominent if desired. I skipped it because I like the way the popcorn naturally makes a wonky nose shape.
😋 More spooky recipes you will love
- Halloween Frankenstein Avocados (Healthy Halloween Snack!)
- Halloween Strawberries (Strawbwebs)
- Halloween Mac and Cheese
Have you made this recipe? I’d love to know <3 Tag me (@makehealthyrecipes) on Facebook and Instagram, Pin it on Pinterest, and please give it 5 stars with a review below! Don’t forget to subscribe to the email list (top right of this page) for sparkly new recipes in your inbox.
📖 Recipe
Halloween Popcorn Balls
Ingredients
Popcorn Balls
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup popcorn kernals
- 6 tbsp butter regular or dairy-free
- 5 cups mini marshmallows
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract or salted caramel extract
Witches Hats
- 8 oreos optional, gluten-free or regular
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips melted
- 8 regular marshmallows
- 8 hershey’s kisses
- 2-3 tbsp Halloween sprinkles
Instructions
Popcorn Balls
- Begin by popping the popcorn. Heat the olive oil in a small pot, add 3 popcorn kernels, and cover the pot with a lid.
- Once all 3 kernels have popped, add the rest of the kernels and quickly close the lid. When the popping had reduced, turn off the heat.
- Meanwhile, grease a baking tray will non-stick spray, or prepare a large piece of parchment paper.
- Add the butter, mini marshmallows, and vanilla extract to a large saucepan and cook until the marshmallows have melted.
- If you're making 2 different colors of popcorn balls, move half of the melted marshmallows to a large bowl. For purple add 2 drops of red to 1 drop of blue food coloring. From green, it's 2 drops of yellow to one drop of blue food coloring.
- Divide the popped popcorn between the two colors and mix well with a wooden spoon. They will look a little like large krispy treats.
- Form 4 3-inch balls of each color by wetting your hands with water and then scooping up the popcorn mixture. Wetting your hands prevents them from getting into a sticky mess. Once you have the ball shape formed, press it firmly together and place it on a piece of parchment paper or greased baking tray
Witches Hats
- Decide whether you want to make the hats on top of an oreo or in a mini cupcake paper liner (see post for pictures).
- Meanwhile, add chocolate chips to a bowl and place it over a pot of water, over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the chocolate has all melted. You can also melt chocolate in the microwave in 10-second intervals, stirring as you go.
- If you're using the oreos, dip one flat side into the melted chocolate and place it on a large baking sheet or parchment paper, melted chocolate side up.
- If you're skipping the oreos, add a little melted chocolate to a flattened mini cupcake liner, and make a circle shape as best you can.
- Add the marshmallow to a toothpick (pierce the smaller side first) and dip it into the melted chocolate, covering it completely, and shaking off any excess.
- Dip the rim of the bottom of the marshmallow in Halloween sprinkles, turning it as you go. Place the marshmallow on top of the oreo or cupcake liner.
- Dip the flat side of the Hershey's kiss in the chocolate and add it on top of the marshmallow.
- Allow the hats to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes – an hour.
Assemble
- I like to look at the popcorn ball and find a piece of popcorn that sticks out around where a nose would be. I then add the 2 eyes and mouth around it.
- Next, make sure your hands are clean and very dry, and gently pull some of the cotton candy from the container and add it to the top of the head. It should just stick onto the marshmallow.
- Add the hat directly on top, or add a little melted chocolate to make it stick if desired.
Notes
- Popcorn: Use 6 cups of popped popcorn or kettle corn instead of making your own if desired.
- Chocolate: If you find the melted chocolate is too thick, add 1-2 teaspoons of refined coconut oil to thin it out a little. It'll still set perfectly.