Candy Popcorn for Halloween

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Candy Popcorn is fluffy popcorn covered with a crisp candy coating. This delicious treat is ideal for themed parties and holidays year round. Halloween Popcorn in orange, green, and purple will fulfill all of your Halloween snacking needs.

Bowls of candy coated Halloween Popcorn in holiday colors of orange, green, and purple.

Why you'll love this recipe

Halloween popcorn is a sweet treat that's ideal for movie night, parties, lunch boxes and care packages.
A long shelf life makes candy popcorn perfect for gifting in popcorn tins.
Use this same recipe any time of year in colors and seasonal flavors to match your favorite holiday or party theme.

Candied popcorn in bright holiday colors is a festive, fun treat. Make batches in orange, purple, and green for Halloween popcorn that's sure to be a hit.

A combination of ingredients and cooking method make this candy popcorn sweet, crisp, and crunchy with a long shelf life.

Adding cream of tartar and baking soda to the syrup coating creates candy making magic.

Cream of tartar helps to keep the sugar from crystalizing and becoming gritty in the syrup. Baking soda creates a foam that makes the coating crisp and helps eliminate moisture for a long lasting crunch.

Baking the coated popcorn adds to the crispness. Flipping and turning the popcorn as it bakes, allows more complete coating.

Make candy popcorn along with our other fun Halloween treats for sharing at home or in a Halloween Care Package.

Ingredients

Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.

Spread popcorn on parchment paper lined baking sheets.
Over medium heat, mix together sugar, corn syrup, butter, and cream of tartar until boiling.
Attach a candy thermometer. Boil, without mixing, to 260 degrees F.
Remove from the heat and mix in food coloring and flavoring.

Instructions: add baking soda, mix with popcorn, bake, stir at 5 minute intervals, cool, break apart.

Stir in baking soda until foaming. Pour the foaming syrup over the popcorn on the baking pans.
Mix the popcorn to coat with the syrup as much as possible.
Bake for 20 minutes, stirring the popcorn mixture every 5 minutes to coat and separate clumping.
Cool completely. Break any clumps into individual pieces. Store in an airtight container.

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Storage

Store candy popcorn at room temperature in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Tips

1-2 bags of packaged microwave popcorn can be used with this recipe. Measure out the 12 cups of popcorn needed and be sure to remove any unpopped corn kernels.
Use binder clips to hold the parchment paper pan liner in place on the baking sheet.
White food coloring is optional, however, adding white food coloring makes the color less transparent and enhances the color.
Once the baking soda has been mixed into the sugar syrup, pour it immediately onto the popcorn. Syrup left in the pan can overheat and get discolored.
Be aware that colored flavoring will color the sugar syrup and can change the color of the popcorn. Choose a color that matches or mixes well with the color of the flavoring.
Work quickly when adding the hot sugar syrup to the popcorn.Too much syrup sitting on top of the popcorn can flatten the popcorn.
For the most complete coating be sure to flip and mix popcorn every 5 minutes of baking time.
Allow the popcorn to air dry for at least 10 minutes after removing from the oven to ensure a crisp coating.
For more complete coating coverage use less popcorn.
For less sweetness, use more popcorn for lighter coating coverage or mix with plain popcorn.
Make a multi-colored Halloween popcorn mix (like the popcorn pictured with this recipe) by making the different colors in separate batches. Make this recipe in full or half batches.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my candied popcorn not crunchy?

Bringing the sugar syrup to the correct temperature (260 degrees F) before removing from the heat is essential in order for the syrup to cool into a crunchy coating.
The mixture will continue to heat slightly in the pan. Don't add the flavoring and coloring until the liquid has stopped actively boiling. Adding too soon will keep the syrup from reaching peak temperature.

Why add baking soda to candy popcorn?

When baking soda is added, the syrup foams. The tiny air bubbles give the candied popcorn a light, airy crunch.
The foaming also reduces the moisture content of the coating giving the candy popcorn a longer shelf life.

What is the difference between candy popcorn and caramel popcorn?

Candy popcorn is coated with clear, flavored sugar syrup that can be colored with food coloring and cools to a crisp, sweet coating.
Caramel popcorn is coated with a caramelized sugar syrup that can be soft and chewy or crisp and crunchy depending on the recipe.

What does cream of tarter do to candy?

Adding cream of tarter to sugar syrup helps to prevent the sugar from crytallizing and becoming gritty.

Halloween Popcorn in orange, green, and purple on a plate.

This traditional Caramel Corn with Peanuts tastes just like Cracker Jacks!

Apples and Honey Caramel Popcorn is another sweet popcorn treat with added crunchy apple chips.

Peanut Butter Ball Pumpkins and Cats are an adorable twist on peanut butter cups or buckeye candy that are sure to make you smile and will become your favorite Halloween candies.

Halloween Graham Crackers are chocolate covered cookies decorated as Halloween characters. The perfect treats for Halloween parties.

When you have left over Halloween candy, a Candy Bar Mug Cake is a great choice. One minute in the microwave for a mug full of gooey cake and melted chocolate.

Dia de los Muertos Sugar Cookies have simple icing decorations in bright, cheerful colors for chocolate cookies that are eye catching and delicious.

Graham Crackers Sandwich Cookies have melted chocolate centers. The cutout on top is filled with Halloween sprinkles.

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