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Cinnamon Buttered Rum Popcorn Balls

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5 from 3 votes

An adult version of the old fashioned Halloween popcorn balls, featuring the addition of cinnamon and rum for a buttery, boozy, chewy Halloween treat! Keep these for yourself, and make Halloween Puppy Chow for the kids.

Cinnamon Buttered Rum Popcorn Balls

I think we can all agree that Halloween means two very different things for kids and adults:

Children: Overpriced costumes and costume contests where they win McDonalds gift certificates. 
Adults: Inappropriate costumes and costume contests where they win booze. 

Children: Boatloads of sugar.
Adult: Chasing after hyper children that run around like lunatics until their sugar crash.

Children: The Addams Family, Hocus Pocus, and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
Adults: Well… same. Plus a bunch of gruesome, bloody horror movies.

Cinnamon Buttered Rum Popcorn Balls

Depending on the year and day of the week on which Halloween falls, I swing one of two ways:

I'm either the person that buys a crapload of candy and leaves the light on for trick or treaters, or turns off all the lights and watches horror movies in a pitch black house with a gigantic bowl of popcorn.

Either way, I'm going to make these cinnamon buttered rum popcorn balls on repeat. 

Ingredients for buttered rum popcorn balls

  • 8 cups popped popcorn, up to 10 cups will work
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • ¼ cup corn syrup
  • 10 ounces mini marshmallows
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 2-3 teaspoons rum, to taste
  • Pinch of salt, to taste (optional)
  • Popsicle sticks, optional

How to make popcorn balls

  1. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat and set aside.
  2. Using your preferred method, pop your popcorn and set aside in a large bowl.
  3. Pro tip: If you need to, you can even use a bag of microwave popcorn, popped according to package directions. If you use this method, omit the pinch of salt.
  4. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, butter and corn syrup. Stir constantly over low heat until butter is melted and combined.
  5. Add marshmallows and stir constantly until melted and combined.
  6. Remove from heat and add cinnamon and rum (and salt, if adding). Stir to combine.
  7. Pour mixture over popcorn and use a spatula to stir and coat.
  8. Spray your hands with nonstick spray and form balls 3 to 4″ in diameter. Place each ball on prepared baking sheet to set. If you desire, stick a popsicle stick in the top of each ball, pushing it about halfway in.
  9. Let set completely, serve, and enjoy!
Cinnamon Buttered Rum Popcorn Balls

The nostalgia of homemade Halloween treats

If you're old enough to remember the days when kids rode their bikes without helmets and their curfews were determined by when the street lights turned on, you might also remember when people could hand out homemade candy apples and popcorn balls to trick or treaters.

This was before we were terrified that all the candy was full of razor blades and that everyone was out to kill us. I'm gonna go ahead and make myself sound old and just say… I miss the good old days.

I get why we go to great lengths to keep kids safe, and I don't blame anyone for inspecting what they eat, where they get it, and limiting how much they can have. You're all saints.

Soooooo while you're taking all the precautions to keep our kiddos safe, I'm going to make you some tasty adult treats to fuel your efforts.

Cinnamon Buttered Rum Popcorn Balls

A Halloween dessert for adults

The best part about these popcorn balls? They're not even hard to make! 

Take your old fashioned popcorn balls, and add a little cinnamon and a little rum. They don't taste like a shot of alcohol, but they do taste like a perfectly cinnamony sugary chewy treat.

Do I have to add the rum?

Nope. You could easily omit the rum if you wanted to, but… what's the fun in that? 

How to store popcorn balls

These are definitely best if eaten the same day, but can be stored in an airtight container or resealable bag in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Just make sure they're not touching, otherwise they'll stick together! You can wrap them individually in plastic wrap or parchment paper tied at the top (that would make an adorable way of packing them to look like little popcorn ball pumpkins, btw) and store them in the container/bag to avoid that issue.

Cinnamon Buttered Rum Popcorn Balls

More Halloween recipes

If these Cinnamon Buttered Rum Popcorn Balls aren't your sort of thing, give one of these other Halloween recipes a try!

Cinnamon Buttered Rum Popcorn Balls

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Cinnamon Buttered Rum Popcorn Balls

5 from 3 votes
An adult version of the classic popcorn ball, featuring the addition of cinnamon and rum for a buttery, boozy, chewy Halloween treat!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 10 to 15 (depending on size)

Ingredients
 

Instructions

  • Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and set aside.
  • Using your preferred method, pop your popcorn and set aside in a large bowl.
    8 cups (88 g) popped popcorn
  • Pro tip: If you need to, you can even use a bag of microwave popcorn, popped according to package directions. If you use this method, omit the pinch of salt.
  • In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, butter and corn syrup. Stir constantly over low heat until butter is melted and combined.
    3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
    1/2 cup (113 ½ g) unsalted butter
    1/4 cup (85 ¼ g) light corn syrup
  • Add marshmallows and stir constantly until melted and combined.
    10 ounces (283 ½ g) mini marshmallows
  • Remove from heat and add cinnamon and rum (and salt, if adding). Stir to combine.
    1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
    2-3 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) rum
    Pinch salt
  • Pour mixture over popcorn and use a spatula to stir and coat.
  • Spray your hands with nonstick spray and form balls 3 to 4″ in diameter. Place each ball on prepared baking sheet to set. If you desire, stick a popsicle stick in the top of each ball, pushing it about halfway in.
    Popsicle sticks
  • Let set completely, serve, and enjoy!

Notes

Storage: These are definitely best if eaten the same day, but can be stored in an airtight container or resealable bag in the fridge for up to 5 days. Just make sure they're not touching, otherwise they'll stick together! You can wrap them individually in plastic wrap or parchment paper tied at the top (that would make an adorable way of packing them to look like little popcorn ball pumpkins, btw) and store them in the container/bag to avoid that issue.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 290kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 30mg | Potassium: 37mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 303IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition Disclaimer

The provided nutrition information is generated by an automatic API and does not take variations across specific brands into account. This information is provided as a general guideline and should not be treated as official calculations. Learn more here.

Recipe created by Leslie Kiszka

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2 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I made this a little too close to the event I was taking them to so I didn’t give them appropriate time to set, but you know what? We ate it all up anyway. So delicious!