4 Ingredient Healthy Popcorn Balls

Made with popcorn, dates, sunflower seed butter, and dark chocolate, these healthy popcorn balls are easy to make and even more fun to eat! 

4 Ingredient Healthy Popcorn Balls | easy, recipe, kids, date, caramel, chocolate, how to make, homemade | hungrybynature.com

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4 Ingredient Healthy Popcorn Balls | easy, recipe, kids, date, caramel, chocolate, how to make, homemade | hungrybynature.com

4 Ingredient Healthy Popcorn Balls

  • Author: Ellie
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 10 mins
  • Yield: 9 balls 1x
  • Category: Snack

Description

Made with popcorn, dates, sunflower seed butter, and dark chocolate, these healthy popcorn balls are easy to make and even more fun to eat! 


Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 ounces Made in Nature Dates
  • 2 Tablespoons Wild Friends Organic Honey Sunflower Butter
  • 1 bag Quinn Snacks Sea Salt Microwave Popcorn
  • 1.3 ounces Alter Eco Dark Super Blackout Chocolate

Instructions

  1. Place dates in a food processor and process until a paste forms.
  2. Add sunflower butter and processes. You should end up with a very thick caramel paste. Add 1 Tablespoon of warm water to slightly thin out the caramel.
  3. Make microwave popcorn according to package directions.
  4. Place popcorn in a bowl and add date caramel, stirring until the popcorn is evenly coated.
  5. With slightly damp hands, form popcorn into balls. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes to set.
  6. Using a double boiler or microwave, melt the chocolate.
  7. Drizzle the chocolate over the popcorn balls and place back in the fridge to set the chocolate.
  8. Enjoy!

Keywords: popcorn, chocolate, sunflower seed butter, nut butter

 

This post was created in collaboration with Quinn SnacksThank you for supporting Hungry by Nature and the brands that make it possible!

I cannot tell you the last time I made popcorn balls.

Ok ok, I made them last week for this recipe obviously… I meant that I cannot remember the last time before that. It had to have been in the 90’s. THE 90’S!!

And the popcorn balls I made in the 90’s most certainly were loaded with sugar and held together with corn syrup. My oh my, how things have changed!

4 Ingredient Healthy Popcorn Balls | easy, recipe, kids, date, caramel, chocolate, how to make, homemade | hungrybynature.com

Just a couple of swaps transform these into healthy popcorn balls!

  • Swap #1: Date caramel for corn syrup. Corn syrup is one of the top ingredients I check for while looking at food labels and you can be assured it will NOT be used in my kitchen. Instead I made my own caramel sauce with Made In Nature dates, Wild Friends organic honey sunflower butter and 1 Tablespoon of warm water.
  • Swap #2: Plain sea salt popcorn for classic microwave popcorn. Traditional microwave popcorn is laden with butter and other junk. Quinn Snacks sea salt microwave popcorn is perfect for this recipe – the only ingredients are organic popcorn kernels and sea salt!
  • Swap #3: 90% dark chocolate for candy. Adding candy increases the sugar content of traditional popcorn balls drastically. I like to sub in dark chocolate and Alter Eco makes a 90% bar that is so dark they call is Super Blackout.

4 Ingredient Healthy Popcorn Balls | easy, recipe, kids, date, caramel, chocolate, how to make, homemade | hungrybynature.com

And make sure you head over to my Instagram because I am doing a HUGE giveaway with all of the brands I previously mentioned as well as a few other bloggers – Oh So Delicioso and The Wholesome Bite. You can enter the giveaway on each account – you seriously don’t want to miss out on all of these goodies!

4 Ingredient Healthy Popcorn Balls | easy, recipe, kids, date, caramel, chocolate, how to make, homemade | hungrybynature.com

These healthy popcorn balls are a great road trip snack or dessert and perfect to make before your 4th of July celebrations!

If you make these 4 Ingredient Healthy Popcorn Balls, post a picture on social media and use the hashtag #imhungrybynature for a chance to be featured!

Looking for other popcorn recipes? Check these out!

Simple Stovetop Rosemary Asiago Popcorn | hungrybynature.com

10 Minute Rosemary Asiago Popcorn

a full tray of sweet and spicy popcorn coated in sugar and cayenne pepper

Sweet and Spicy Popcorn

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6 thoughts on “4 Ingredient Healthy Popcorn Balls

  1. Adrienne Schell

    I am curious to try these today, but would be using other popcorn I have on hand. Do you know how many cups of popcorn should be used in relation to the date caramel mixture? Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Ellie Post author

      Hi Adrienne! Yes – approximately 3 cups of popped popcorn!! Let me know how they turn out 🙂

      Reply
  2. Emily

    These actually seem like they would be more satisfying for the sweet tooth than the normal popcorn ball, because they have seed butter, CHOCOLATE, and delicious dates. 🙂 And maybe they’re a little less sticky than the normal ones? Those ones always make my teeth stick together. 😀

    Reply

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