The Old-Fashioned Popcorn Snack We Rarely See Anyone Eat These Days - Tasting Table

"For folks in need of a memory jog, these treats comprised popcorn shaped into apple-sized balls and adhered together with molasses and butter. Other preparations replace the molasses with sweet, sticky elements like corn syrup or simple sugar syrup. Whatever the adhesive ingredient, it's all about the gooey balls of stuck-together popcorn and thick sugary syrup, creating a craveable, salty-sweet flavor profile."

"The instructions read simply: "Boil honey, maple, or other sugar to the great thread; pop corn and stick together in balls with the candy." Popcorn balls' heyday came with the first half of the 1900s. During the Halloweens of the time, homemade treats or whole fruits were more commonly handed out to trick-or-treaters than store-bought packaged candy (costumes also tended to be homemade)."

Popcorn balls are popcorn formed into apple-sized spheres held together with molasses, butter, corn syrup, or sugar syrup. The combination of sticky syrup and popcorn produces a gooey, salty-sweet flavor profile often decorated with candy corn and wrapped for handing out. A recipe titled "Pop Corn Balls" appears in E. F. Haskell's 1861 Housekeeper's Encyclopedia instructing to boil honey, maple, or other sugar to the great thread, then pop corn and stick together in balls with the candy. Popcorn balls reached their heyday in the first half of the 1900s and were common Halloween treats and party snacks. Low popcorn cost and wartime sugar rationing influenced availability and use.

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