Date
🍿 Sweet, Simple, and Oh-So-Sticky: Our 2-Ingredient Honey Popcorn Balls
If you’re anything like us at Cherry City Honey, you love a recipe that feels a little magical — the kind you can whip up in minutes, share with friends, and still spark a “wait… that’s all that’s in these?” kind of reaction. These Honey Popcorn Balls check every single box.
They’re old-fashioned in the best way:
simple ingredients, hands-on fun, and that cozy, nostalgic feeling you get from warm popcorn and sticky fingers. And the best part? You only need two ingredients — just popcorn and our pure, local honey. No mystery sweeteners. No corn syrup. No added sugar. Just nature doing its thing.
This recipe has become a favorite in our Honeycomb Classroom workshops because it shows off one of our favorite truths: honey is powerful all on its own. With a little heat, it transforms into the perfect glue to bring popcorn together into sweet, chewy little treats.
Kids love it. Adults love it.
(And honestly, we love watching grown-ups try to pretend they’re making these “for the kids.”)
These honey popcorn balls are:
✨ GREAT for gifting
✨ PERFECT for last-minute party treats
✨ FUN for school groups, scouts, and workshops
✨ A sneaky way to show people that simple foods can still feel special
Plus, using different flavors of our infused honeys—Cinnamon, Sea Salt, Cherry, Hot Honey—gives each batch its own personality. Cinnamon makes them taste like kettle corn, Hot Honey adds a little kick, and Cherry turns them into a sweet, fruity snack that feels like a festival treat.
So go ahead and try these out at home. They’re quick, delicious, and weirdly satisfying to squish together. And if you’re joining us for the Honey Popcorn Ball Workshop, you’ll get to shape, sample, and take home six of your own.
Sometimes the simplest recipes really are the sweetest. 🍯💛
Now let’s get popping!
🍯 Step-by-Step: How Our Honey Popcorn Balls Come Together
One of the things our readers and workshop guests love most is seeing the process — watching simple ingredients transform into something that looks (and tastes!) way more impressive than the effort it takes. So let’s walk through the steps with some behind-the-scenes photos from our Honeycomb Classroom.
✨ Step 1: Fresh Popcorn
We start with a big bowl of freshly popped popcorn. This is the foundation of the recipe, so we always make sure it’s fluffy and clean of unpopped kernels (because nothing ruins the vibe like biting into a “tooth-breaker”).
Whether you pop it on the stovetop, in an air popper, or however you love best, the magic begins right here.
✨ Step 2: Warming the Honey
The star of the show — pure Cherry City Honey — goes into the pot. That moment when the honey warms, bubbles, and thickens just a bit is honestly one of our favorite smells in the world.
No sugar.
No corn syrup.
Just honey doing what honey does best.
This step always surprises people during workshops. They don’t realize how beautifully honey transforms with just a little heat!
✨ Step 3: Pouring the Honey Over the Popcorn
This part feels like drizzling sunshine.
Warm honey cascades over the popcorn, and it really starts to look like something special. The kids always go “Ooooooh!” and honestly… the adults do too.
✨ Step 4: Stirring It All Together
Time to gently fold everything until every piece is beautifully coated. The mixture looks glossy, golden, and a little sticky — exactly how it should be.
This is also when the popcorn starts to smell like an old-fashioned country fair.
✨ Step 5: Shaping the Balls
Grease your hands, scoop up a handful, and gently press into a ball.
It’s warm, squishy, sweet, and almost therapeutic — like crafting little edible ornaments.
During workshops, this is where everyone gets giggly. There is no wrong way to shape a popcorn ball, and somehow every person ends up with a “favorite one” they made.
✨ Step 6: Cooling & Finishing
Once shaped, the popcorn balls cool and firm up.
They glisten, they smell incredible, and they look like something your grandmother would have made for a church bake sale in the best possible way.
They’re simple.
They’re nostalgic.
They’re just plain fun.
💛 Why We Love This Recipe (and Why You Will Too)
As far as recipes go, this one tells a story:
that simple things still matter, that pure ingredients still shine, and that food doesn’t need to be complicated to feel special.
Honey Popcorn Balls are the kind of treat that makes people smile — kids, grandparents, late-night snackers, holiday hosts… absolutely everyone. And when you make them with local honey, they carry flavor, meaning, and tradition all at once.
Plus, every batch can be different. Cinnamon Honey makes them cozy like kettle corn, Sea Salt Honey brings out that sweet-salty goodness, and Cherry Honey adds a fun fruity twist.
Whether you’re joining us for the workshop or making them at home, we hope these photos and steps bring the recipe to life for you. Let them be a little messy, a lot sweet, and totally yours.
Get creative and drizzle chocolate or dip them in chocolate to add some fun.
-
🍯 2-Ingredient Honey Popcorn Balls
Just honey + popcorn — naturally sweet, sticky, and delicious.
Ingredients:
-
10 cups popped popcorn (about ½ cup unpopped kernels)
-
1 cup honey (any Cherry City Honey works beautifully!)
Instructions:
1. Pop the popcorn
Pop your popcorn and place it in a very large bowl.
Remove all unpopped kernels so they don’t end up in the balls.
2. Thicken the honey
In a medium pot:
-
Add 1 cup honey
-
Heat over medium
-
Bring to a gentle boil and let it bubble for 2–3 minutes
This helps the honey thicken so it holds the popcorn together better.
Tip: Stir constantly to prevent scorching.
3. Coat the popcorn
Pour the warm, thickened honey over the popcorn.
Stir with a spatula, folding gently until all popcorn is coated.
4. Form the balls
Grease your hands with a little cold water or a touch of oil.
Shape the warm, sticky popcorn into balls about baseball-sized.
Place on parchment paper to cool and firm up.
5. Let them set
Allow the popcorn balls to cool for 20–30 minutes until they hold their shape.
⭐ Tips for Perfect Popcorn Balls:
-
If the mix is too sticky, let the honey cool for a minute before shaping.
-
If it’s not sticky enough, rewarm briefly and add a tablespoon more honey.
-
To make smaller kid-friendly balls, form them golf-ball sized.
-
Sea Salt Honey, Cinnamon Honey, or Hot Honey make AMAZING flavor twists.
-