These Christmas popcorn balls are a delightfully simple and delicious treat that's perfect for any holiday festivities! Popcorn is coated with melted marshmallows and then festive red and green M&Ms are stirred in (no corn syrup in this recipe!) Simply allow the balls to set and you are ready to enjoy them- no baking required!
Festive Christmas Popcorn Balls Recipe
There is just something so fun about making Christmas-themed treats. Maybe it is the child in me or maybe I just really love the holidays, who knows? All I know is that these Christmas popcorn balls are one of my favorite holiday snacks because they are easy to make and incredibly addicting!
Many popcorn ball recipes out there use corn syrup as an ingredient, which not everyone has readily available at home. For this recipe, we'll be using melted marshmallows!
Jump to:
Whether you're a pro at hosting Christmas dinner and holiday parties or giving it a try for the first time this year, you're sure to find my ultimate guide to planning Christmas a help! Don't forget to safely thaw your holiday prime rib early, too!
🥘 Christmas Popcorn Balls Ingredients
These popcorn balls are really simple since they only have 4 ingredients! You can use standard M&Ms, but I really love how using only the red and green ones makes them exceptionally festive!
- Popcorn - 2 packs of microwave popcorn. Go ahead and pop it and allow it to cool slightly before getting started.
- Marshmallows - 8 cups of miniature marshmallows (or about 13.25 ounces).
- Butter - ½ cup of butter, cut into pieces. This will be melted with marshmallows to make them nice and smooth!
- Christmas M&Ms - 1 cup of Christmas M&M candies. Around the holidays, you can pretty easily find the holiday edition M&Ms at any grocery store. However, if you can't, you can always just sort out the red and green candies!
*Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!*
🔪 How To Make Christmas Popcorn Balls
Simply melt your marshmallows, stir everything together, and let the balls set! For this easy recipe, you will need a mixing bowl, a microwave-safe bowl, and a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Depending on how large you make your popcorn balls, you'll have about 18 balls when you're done.
Prepare the Ingredients
- Remove unpopped kernels. Prepare your 2 packages of microwave popcorn as directed on the packaging. Then, spread it out on a baking sheet so that you can remove the unpopped kernels and transfer the popped popcorn into a large mixing bowl.
- Melt marshmallows. In a separate, microwave-safe bowl (or a saucepan), combine your 8 cups of marshmallows and ½ cup of butter.
If using the microwave: Heat in short 30-second increments, making sure to stir after each session. When the marshmallows and butter are almost completely melted, stir vigorously until melted and smooth.
If using the stovetop: Melt the butter and marshmallows over medium-low heat, making sure to stir constantly. Once the marshmallows are almost entirely melted, remove the saucepan from the heat and stir quickly. - Color, if desired. If you would like to color the popcorn balls with red or green gel food coloring, go ahead and stir it into the melted marshmallows.
Coat and Set
- Coat the popcorn. Gently pour the melted marshmallows over the popcorn while carefully stirring in order to make sure that all of the popcorn is coated evenly. Add the 1 cup of red and green colored M&M's candies and then gently stir to evenly distribute them throughout the popcorn.
- Prepare. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spritz your hands with nonstick cooking spray (or rub them with softened butter). You may need to re-spray or re-butter your hands while working with the popcorn balls.
- Press into balls. Scoop large handfuls of the popcorn mixture into your hands and gently squeeze them into ball shapes. Place them onto the prepared baking sheet (or into a cupcake liner) until they have completely set.
This delicious and festive snack would make a great addition to your dessert table! Serve it next to some whipped shortbread cookies and gingerdoodles! Enjoy!
💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes
- 8 cups of mini marshmallows are equivalent to roughly 13.25 ounces.
- If you can't find Christmas M&Ms, you can always pick up a bag of standard M&Ms and sort out the red and green ones!
- If you want to color your Christmas popcorn balls, opt for gel food coloring for the best results.
- Feel free to add in a tiny splash of vanilla extract (or your preferred flavoring). However, I have found that my popcorn balls hold their shape the best when they don't have any extracts added.
- If you want to balance out the sweetness from the marshmallows and M&Ms, you can stir in a dash of salt.
🥡 Storing
Keep your Christmas popcorn balls at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
>>>>See all of my recipes here<<<<
❓ Recipe FAQs
First, you'll want to make sure your marshmallows were fully melted. Additionally, you don't want the marshmallows to be too hot when you are trying to work with the balls (but don't let them completely cool off either). Finally, make sure you are using enough pressure when pressing the balls together!
Popcorn balls consist of popcorn, marshmallows, and butter. Imagine Rice Krispie Treats, but made out of popcorn! Of course, you can add other fun mix-ins, like M&Ms or sprinkles.
Yes, they can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. However, the balls will become harder as they get colder. For this reason, I prefer to keep them stored at room temperature.
🎄 More Christmas Treats
- White Chocolate Haystacks - These no-bake cookies are incredibly easy to throw together!
- Christmas M&M Oatmeal Cookies - If you love oatmeal cookies, try out these M&M oatmeal cookies that are perfect for Christmas!
- Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars - Sugar cookie bars are frosted and topped with festive red and green sprinkles!
- Reindeer Chow - This muddy buddy (or puppy chow) mix is perfect for holiday parties!
- Christmas Crack - Saltine toffee candy that only uses 5 ingredients to make!
- Nutter Butter Snowmen - Nutter Butters are dipped in white chocolate and then decorated to look like little snowmen!
Do you love a recipe you tried? Please leave a 5-star 🌟rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page.
Stay in touch with me through social media @ Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter! Subscribe to the newsletter today (no spam, I promise)! Don't forget to tag me when you try one of my recipes!
📖 Recipe Card
Christmas Popcorn Balls
Ingredients
- 2 packs microwave popcorn (popped and cooled slightly)
- 8 cups miniature marshmallows (*see note)
- ½ cup butter (1 stick or 8 tablespoons, cut into pieces)
- 1 cup Christmas M&M candies
(Note: 2x or 3x only changes the ingredient list)
Instructions
- Prepare your microwave popcorn as directed on the packaging. Then, spread it out on a baking sheet so that you can remove the unpopped kernels and transfer the popped popcorn into a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate, microwave-safe bowl (or a saucepan), combine your marshmallows and butter.If using the microwave: Heat in short 30-second increments, making sure to stir after each session. When the marshmallows and butter are almost completely melted, stir vigorously until melted and smooth.If using the stovetop: Melt the butter and marshmallows over medium-low heat, making sure to stir constantly. Once the marshmallows are almost entirely melted, remove the saucepan from the heat and stir quickly.
- If you would like to color the popcorn balls with red or green gel food coloring, go ahead and stir it into the melted marshmallows.
- Gently pour the melted marshmallows over the popcorn while carefully stirring in order to make sure that all of the popcorn is coated evenly. Add the red and green colored M&M's candies and then gently stir to evenly distribute them throughout the popcorn.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spritz your hands with nonstick cooking spray (or rub them with softened butter). You may need to re-spray or re-butter your hands while working with the popcorn balls.
- Scoop large handfuls of the popcorn mixture into your hands and gently squeeze them into ball shapes. Place them onto the prepared baking sheet (or into a cupcake liner) until they have completely set.
Notes
- 8 cups of mini marshmallows are equivalent to roughly 13.25 ounces.
- If you can't find Christmas M&Ms, you can always pick up a bag of standard M&Ms and sort out the red and green ones!
- If you want to color your Christmas popcorn balls, opt for gel food coloring for the best results.
- Feel free to add in a tiny splash of vanilla extract (or your preferred flavoring). However, I have found that my popcorn balls hold their shape the best when they don't have any extracts added.
- If you want to balance out the sweetness from the marshmallows and M&Ms, you can stir in a dash of salt.
- To store: Keep your Christmas popcorn balls at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Tina Moore says
Brilliant recipes, very unique and interesting and very tasty 😋