Fall is finally here and Halloween is just around the corner. And I can't let October slip away without making some Halloween inspired treats. After all, what kind of food blogger would I be if I left y'all hanging like that?
Don't worry your pretty little heads because I have a special treat for you today, Pumpkin Marshmallow Popcorn Balls.
Yes, I have slipped into the dark side and (finally) made a pumpkin flavored treat! But these are nothing like your ordinary pumpkin treats. These are ooey, gooey marshmallow combined with lightly salted popcorn for a sweet & salty snack attack!
Not only are they all that, but they're made to resemble small pumpkins for a festive Halloween or Thanksgiving treat.
I have to say I was excited as a little kid on Christmas morning when I found this recipe. Just the thought of marshmallowey goodness and popcorn made me shiver with excitement! I mean who can resist having their hands covered with gooey marshmallow, right?
What's more fun is the kids can help you make these too! Just be sure the cat and dog are nowhere to be found during the making process or you will have little hands stuck on Fido's hair!
I'm hoping these Pumpkin Marshmallow Popcorn Balls bring out the kid in you too!
Pumpkin Marshmallow Popcorn Balls
Pumpkin marshmallow popcorn balls are both sweet & salty, crunchy & gooey. Perfect for both Halloween and Thanksgiving!
Prep time: 5 minutesCook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Yield: 1 dozen popcorn balls
Ingredients
- 2 - 3.2 ounce bags lightly salted, light butter microwave popcorn, uncooked
- 1- 16 ounce bag miniature marshmallows
- 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon butter or margarine
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 to 3 drops red & yellow food coloring
- green writing gel or frosting
- Honey Wheat braided pretzel twists
- parchment paper
- Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place in refrigerator or freezer to chill until ready to use.
- Cook microwave popcorn as directed on box. Remove from microwave and open bags. Set aside.
- Add 1/2 cup butter to a large sauce pan over low to medium heat. Melt butter while stirring constantly to help prevent burning.
- Once butter is melted, add marshmallows. Continue stirring marshmallow butter mixture over heat until all marshmallows are melted, about 10 minutes. When all marshmallows are melted, remove pan from heat.
- Stir in pumpkin pie spice extract and vanilla.
- Add a couple drops of red and yellow food coloring to melted marshmallows until you get desired orange coloring. 2 to 3 drops for a light orange coloring, more for a deeper orange color.
- Combine 5 and 1/2 cups of cooked popcorn with orange marshmallows, stirring well to get all popcorn covered with marshmallow. If it looks like there is still a lot of marshmallow in the pan, add more popcorn.
- With the 1 Tablespoon of butter or margarine, rub between your hands, leaving your hands lightly buttered. You won't be using all of it at once, you will be buttering up your hands between shaping each popcorn ball.
- Grab some marshmallow covered popcorn and shape into a ball, compress tightly. Once ball shape is formed, place onto chilled parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Repeat with remaining marshmallow covered popcorn. You can make any size balls you like. I found the small popcorn balls hold their shape best.
- To make stem of popcorn balls, break braided pretzel twist in half and insert into top of popcorn balls. Press popcorn around pretzel to hold in place.
- Decorate with green writing gel or frosting to make leaves or vines. Use your imagination!
- Place into your refrigerator to chill.
- Store covered up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
*Helpful Hints*
- Wash your hands with soap & water and slather butter on them before shaping each ball. Otherwise your hands will stay sticky, making it hard to shape the marshmallow popcorn into balls.
- I've seen where some recipes say to use non-stick cooking spray instead of butter or margarine to use on your hands before shaping the balls. I tried it and it did not work for me. I found butter or margarine works best to keep everything from sticking to your hands.
- If watching your sodium intake, use plain popcorn.
- To keep these gluten-free, use GF pretzel twist.
- You can use ground pumpkin pie spice if you don't have the extract.
- You can use ground pumpkin pie spice if you don't have the extract.
Inspired by ~ Mom On Time Out
