Spooky Halloween Candy-Coated Popcorn Recipe
With spooky season upon us, it's prime time for some fun in the kitchen. Spooky Halloween candy-coated popcorn is a festive and easy way to add Halloween flair to your fall baking, creating a treat that's perfect for parties, after school snacks, fall potlucks, and more.
Fans of a dreamsicle (or creamsicle) will especially love this candy-coated snack. The popcorn is coated in a sticky-sweet orange gelatin, then drizzled with white chocolate to create a delightful oranges and cream flavor. Halloween sprinkles, which include googly eye candy, go on top, then it's all tossed with candy corn, which, as a fun fact, happens to be Utah's most popular Halloween candy.
Recipe developer Kate Shungu says, "Kids especially (or kids at heart) will adore this festive mix. It's sweet and salty, sticky, crunchy, chewy — it has all the textures. While you can certainly pop your own popcorn for this recipe, bagged popcorn works well as a starting point to keep it easy." Shungu used a bag of Skinny Pop popcorn, but microwave popcorn or anything you might find in the chip aisle works as well. Keep this one in your back pocket for other holidays, too — it's easily customizable with different flavors of gelatin, sprinkles, and mix-ins.
Gather the ingredients for the candy-coated popcorn
Start with any variety of popped popcorn. The popcorn will get coated with a mixture of orange gelatin, corn syrup, sugar, and butter, then baked. Melted white chocolate chips are drizzled on top of the baked popcorn, then the mixture is sprinkled with Halloween sprinkles and tossed with candy corn to make it extra festive.
Step 1: Preheat the oven
Preheat the oven to 300 F.
Step 2: Prepare the popcorn
Place the popcorn in a large bowl.
Step 3: Line a sheet pan
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Step 4: Make the gelatin mixture
Place the butter, corn syrup, sugar, and gelatin mix in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Step 5: Cook the gelatin mixture
Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
Step 6: Pour the gelatin mixture over the popcorn
Remove from the heat and immediately pour over the popcorn. Quickly stir the popcorn to coat it with the sugar mixture.
Step 7: Bake the popcorn
Transfer the popcorn to the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes then remove from the oven to cool.
Step 8: Melt the white chocolate
While the popcorn is cooling, place the white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted.
Step 9: Create a pastry bag
Transfer the melted white chocolate to a resealable sandwich bag. Cut the tip off one corner of the bag to create a makeshift pastry bag.
Step 10: Drizzle the white chocolate and add sprinkles
Drizzle the white chocolate over the popcorn, then immediately sprinkle the sprinkles over the top.
Step 11: Add the candy corn
Let cool completely, then stir in the candy corn.
Step 12: Serve
Break up the popcorn gently with your hands if needed, and serve.
Spooky Halloween Candy-Coated Popcorn Recipe
Just in time for Halloween, this spooky orange candy-coated popcorn is great for parties and special seasonal treats for the kiddos.
Ingredients
- 8 cups popped popcorn
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 (3-ounce) package orange gelatin mix (such as Jell-O)
- ½ cup white chocolate chips or white candy melts
- ⅓ cup Halloween sprinkles
- 1 cup candy corn
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 300 F.
- Place the popcorn in a large bowl.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Place the butter, corn syrup, sugar, and gelatin mix in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and immediately pour over the popcorn. Quickly stir the popcorn to coat it with the sugar mixture.
- Transfer the popcorn to the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes then remove from the oven to cool.
- While the popcorn is cooling, place the white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted.
- Transfer the melted white chocolate to a resealable sandwich bag. Cut the tip off one corner of the bag to create a makeshift pastry bag.
- Drizzle the white chocolate over the popcorn, then immediately sprinkle the sprinkles over the top.
- Let cool completely, then stir in the candy corn.
- Break up the popcorn gently with your hands if needed, and serve.
Nutrition
Calories per Serving | 205 |
Total Fat | 7.8 g |
Saturated Fat | 4.1 g |
Trans Fat | 0.0 g |
Cholesterol | 11.7 mg |
Total Carbohydrates | 34.1 g |
Dietary Fiber | 0.8 g |
Total Sugars | 29.1 g |
Sodium | 45.4 mg |
Protein | 1.9 g |
How can I customize this Halloween candy-coated popcorn?
Now this is where it gets fun! You can customize this spooky popcorn myriad of ways. For large parties, make a triple batch of this recipe, using orange gelatin, grape gelatin, and lime gelatin (one flavor for each batch) for an array of colors and flavor. While the Halloween sprinkle blend we use contains a variety of colors, shapes, and even googly eyes, you can use whatever colors and shapes of sprinkles that you have on hand.
You can even shape the warm-from-the-oven popcorn into popcorn balls. To do so, spray your hands with cooking spray or oil them lightly. Carefully pick up the still-warm popcorn and shape into balls, anywhere from a golf ball size to a tennis ball size. Let cool completely before drizzling with white chocolate and adding sprinkles.
The sky's the limit for mix-ins. Candy corn is a classic, or try tossing the cooled popcorn with circus peanuts, gummy spiders, or gummy worms. Some stores even carry gummy eyeballs for an extra spooky, double-the-eyeball popcorn mix.
Do I have to melt the white chocolate in the microwave?
The white chocolate is the key ingredient to get the sprinkles to stick to the popcorn. Perfectly melted white chocolate is simple to do, yet requires a bit of know-how to avoid burnt chocolate or a gummy paste. The recipe includes instructions for melting the white chocolate in the microwave, which is the easiest method that requires the fewest dishes. To melt the chocolate in the microwave, place it in a bowl and microwave in 20-second intervals, stirring in between. It may take 60–80 seconds total, but stirring every 20 seconds ensures the white chocolate won't burn or heat unevenly.
Another option is to melt the white chocolate in a double boiler. To do so, pour 1 inch of water into the bottom portion of a double boiler (or use a heavy saucepan). Bring the water to a simmer, then place the top of the double boiler (or a heat-safe bowl) on top with the white chocolate chips inside. Stir frequently, and the heat from the simmering water will gently melt the white chocolate without scorching it.
Some brands of white chocolate are more resistant to melting than others. If the white chocolate is gummy and not at a drizzling consistency despite being warmed through, stir in one teaspoon of coconut oil. It'll easily loosen the white chocolate to a drizzling consistency.