Looking for a perfect (and easy) popcorn ball recipe? You've come to the right place.

Remember when parents would hand out homemade treats, like orange-colored popcorn balls or caramel apples for Halloween? They were healthier than all the chemical-filled manufactured candies kids get today, and were a lot more special. unfortunately, a bunch of rumors about poisoned Halloween treats that reached their peak in the early/mid 1990's put a stop to the passing out of homemade goodies-- parents just threw them away. While rumors about poisoned candy have turned out to be an urban legend (you can read about it here.), most people are still reluctant to hand out homemade treats like caramel popcorn balls.

Looking to revive the safe, age-old tradition of passing out popcorn balls to trick or treaters? Or just looking for a great recipe for popcorn balls for a Christmas or Halloween party? We've got some great popcorn ball recipes right here.

These easy homemade popcorn balls are rich, chewy, and delicious. If you love caramel popcorn balls, you'll love this. And, as a bonus, this popcorn ball recipe is more natural than using pre-wrapped candies, and doesn't require you to sit and unwrap 70 Kraft caramels. Nice. Makes 25-30 balls.

Ingredients:
1/2 C. butter
3 C. brown sugar
1 C. light corn syrup
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
4-6 quarts (16-24 C.) popped corn (unpopped kernels removed)

Instructions: 1. In a heavy saucepan, combine butter, sugar, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil.

2. Pour in condensed milk. Return to a boil. Boil five minutes.

3. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract.

4. Pour hot caramel over popcorn and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula.

5. Grease hands and form popcorn mixture into balls.

6. Let balls cool on greased cookie sheets or waxed paper.

This easy popcorn ball recipe makes chewy, rich popcorn balls that are reminiscent of Rice Krispies treats. SO good. Wrap up prettily and hand these out to trick or treaters or pop them into your Christmas cookie basket. Makes about 30 medium sized popcorn balls.

Instructions:
1/2 C. butter
1 lb. bag of mini marshmallows
1/2 C. brown sugar, firmly packed
6 quarts (24 C.) air-popped popcorn (unpopped kernels removed)

Instructions: 1. In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.

2. Stir in brown sugar. Cook over low, stirring, until dissolved, about two minutes.

3. Add marshmallows. Melt into butter mixture, stirring constantly. Do not burn.

4. Pour marshmallow mixture over popcorn. Mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula.

5. With greased hands, form your popcorn marshmallow balls.

6. Let balls cool on greased cookie sheets or waxed paper.

This recipe makes wonderful crisp-chewy caramel popcorn balls that taste a bit like Cracker Jacks. Add some peanuts to make them even more Cracker-Jacky, and be sure to use a molasses with a nice flavor for the best result. Makes about 40 classic Halloween popcorn balls.

This easy popcorn ball recipe calls for plain granulated sugar, but feel free to use brown sugar to give them a richer flavor.

Ingredients:
1 C. granulated sugar
3/4 C. light corn syrup
1/4 C. molasses
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
8 quarts (1 gallon) popped popcorn, unpopped kernels removed

Instructions: 1. In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, molasses, butter, and salt.

2. Bring to a simmer, and cook over medium for about 3 1/2 minutes.

3. Pour mixture over popcorn.

4. Mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula.

5. With greased hands, form into popcorn balls.

6. Let cool on greased baking sheets or waxed paper.

1. If using add-ins, add them after you combine the popcorn and caramel-syrup recipe of your choice. Stir well, then form into balls.

2. It's easiest to form popcorn balls while mixture is hot-- get helpers to make the process move along quickly.

3. Keep a bowl of cold water handy to cool your hands if hot popcorn mixture starts to burn.

4. Taking out the unpopped kernels is key-- unless you want to break a tooth. An easy way to do this is to use your hands to scoop the popped popcorn into another container. All of the unpopped corns will fall to the bottom.

5. For colored popcorn balls, pour a few drops of food coloring into the caramel or marshmallow mixture before adding to popcorn. Make the color brighter than you need, as the pale-colored popcorn will dilute any coloring.

6. Resist the urge to over-pack your popcorn balls. Tightly packed popcorn balls are hard and not very tasty.

Popcorn balls can be decorated for any occasion: Halloween, Christmas, birthdays... you name it.

Popcorn Ball Decoration Ideas:

• Food coloring for colored popcorn balls
• Edible glitter
• Melted white, milk, or dark chocolate (drizzled)
• Melted peanut butter or butterscotch chips (drizzled)
• Candies, such as candy corns, jelly beans, red hots, etc.
• Black licorice for "spider legs"
• Gummy "body parts"
• Gummy worms

Popcorn Ball Add-ins:

• Nuts (peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, etc.)
• Chocolate or white chocolate chips
• Peanut butter or butterscotch chips
• Toffee bits
• Melted peanut butter (add to caramel/marshmallow mixture)
• Sprinkles
• Cocoa powder or baking chocolate (add to caramel/marshmallow mixture)
• Mini or regular M&M's
• Graham cracker pieces
• Dried fruit
• Sweetened flaked coconut
• Alternative flavoring extracts: coconut, almond, rum, maple, peppermint, etc.