An adult variation of traditional Halloween popcorn balls with cinnamon and rum for a buttery, boozy, chewy Halloween treat! Make Halloween Puppy Chow for the kids and save them for yourself.

I believe we can all agree that Halloween has two distinct meanings for children and adults:

Children: Expensive outfits and costume competitions where kids may win McDonald’s gift cards. Adults: inappropriate costumes and costume competitions in which they win alcohol.

Sugar overload in children. Adult: Pursuing hyperactive youngsters that run about like lunatics until their sugar levels plummet.

Children’s films include The Addams Family, Hocus Pocus, and Charlie Brown’s It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Adults: Just the same. Also a slew of gory, brutal horror flicks.

Depending on the year and day of the week, I go one of two ways for Halloween:

I’m either the person who buys a ton of candy and keeps the light on for trick-or-treaters, or the person who shuts out all the lights and watches horror movies in a pitch-black home with a massive bucket of popcorn.

In any case, I’m going to make these cinnamon buttered rum popcorn balls again and again.

Ingredients for buttered rum popcorn balls

• 8 cups popped popcorn (up to 10 cups)
• a cup of granulated sugar
• butter cupunsalted
• acorn syrup
• 10 oz tiny marshmallows
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2-3 tablespoons rum, to taste
• To taste, a pinch of salt (optional)
• Optional popsicle sticks

How to make popcorn balls

1. Set aside a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
2. Pop your popcorn in a big bowl using your favourite technique.
3. If necessary, you may use a bag of microwave popcorn that has been popped according to the package guidelines. If using this approach, leave out the pinch of salt.
4. Combine sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a medium pot. On low heat, constantly stir until the butter is melted and incorporated.
5. Stir continually until the marshmallows are melted and mixed.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the cinnamon and rum (and salt, if adding). To blend, stir everything together.
7. Pour mixture over popcorn and coat with a spatula.
8. Coat your hands with nonstick spray and roll into 3 to 4 inch balls. Put individual ball on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to set. If desired, insert a popsicle stick approximately halfway through the top of each ball.
9. Let to to set before serving and enjoying!

The nostalgia of homemade Halloween treats

If you’re old enough to remember when kids rode their bikes without helmets and curfews were dictated by when the street lights came on, you may also recall when adults could pass out handmade candy apples and popcorn balls to trick-or-treaters.

This was before we were scared that all of the sweets had razor blades and that everyone was trying to get us. I’m going to make myself seem ancient by just saying, “I miss the good old days.”

I understand why we go to such efforts to keep children safe, and I don’t blame anybody for scrutinizing what they eat, where they obtain it, and how much they may have. You guys are all saints.

Now, while you’re taking all the necessary steps to keep our children safe, I’m going to whip up some wonderful adult snacks to fuel your efforts.

A Halloween dessert for adults

What’s the nicest thing about these popcorn balls? They’re not even difficult to create!

Take your traditional popcorn balls and season them with cinnamon and rum. These don’t taste like a shot of booze, but rather like a delightfully cinnamony sweet chewy delicacy.

Do I have to add the rum?

Nope. You could simply leave out the rum, but what’s the fun in that?

How to store popcorn balls

They are best eaten the same day, but may be kept in the fridge in an airtight container or resealable bag for up to 5 days.

bag to prevent this problem. Just make sure they aren’t touching otherwise they will stay together! Wrap them individually in plastic wrap or parchment paper wrapped at the top and put them in the container (this would create an amazing method of packaging them to look like miniature popcorn ball pumpkins, by the way).

More Halloween recipes

If Cinnamon Buttered Rum Popcorn Balls aren’t your thing, try one of these fantastic Halloween recipes!

• Halloween Dog Food
• Halloween Candy Bark leftovers
• Remaining Candy Cookies
• Hungry Thirst Play’s Scary Pumpkin Tombstone Cakes
• Whitney Bond’s Peanut Butter Popcorn Balls
• Whitney Bond’s Candy Corn Fruit Skewers
• Domestically Blissful Caramel Apple Slices