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This sweet and salty Birthday Cake Popcorn has a delicious cake batter flavor that is SO addicting! You can’t go wrong with white cake mix, vanilla, marshmallows, butter, and popcorn!!

Popcorn is must-have treat at parties and functions, so take it up a notch by making it cake flavored! This recipe is gooey and as addicting as our gooey caramel popcorn. We know you’ll love it!

Birthday cake popcorn close up

Cake Batter Popcorn Gooey-ness

We have movie night every Friday as a family, and we love to have some yummy treat to go with it.

This past week, we made Birthday Cake Popcorn, and it was delicious!! It is gooey and had sprinkles and was a hit with all of the kids in the family.

It was also very simple to make, so you better believe we will be making this again.

Ingredients for birthday popcorn

Tips + Tricks

For making birthday cake popcorn:

  • I add dry cake mix to the mixture, not prepared.
  • This popcorn is sticky and can be a little messy (but so worth it) just keep this in mind when serving it.
  • Use a lightly salted, plain or a lightly buttered popcorn for this recipe. I would avoid using a really buttered popcorn.

To make into popcorn balls: After the popcorn is completely coated, lightly grease your hands or get them wet and pack the popcorn into ball shapes. You will want to re-wet or re-grease (lightly) between each popcorn ball. This will help the popcorn from sticking. 

Gooey birthday cake popcorn

Popcorn FAQ

Can this be made in advance? This popcorn is definitely best eaten soon after it is made. If you want to make it in advance I would suggest making it as close to when it will be eaten as possible but no more than 2 days ahead of time. After it is made, store it in an airtight container until ready to serve. You can also make them into individual servings and store in ziplock bags, just try to squeeze as much air out as you can. 

How to store? Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. 

How to make for a crowd? If you are wanting to make this popcorn for a crowd and you’re worried about the sticky mess, just divide the popcorn into individual servings or have the guests scoop the popcorn out with a large serving spoon or measuring cup.

Cake Batter popcorn close up pic

For more popcorn recipes, check out:

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4.92 from 23 votes

Birthday Cake Popcorn Recipe

By: Lil' Luna
This Birthday Cake Popcorn - this sweet and salty gooey treat has a delicious cake batter flavor that is SO addicting! You can't go wrong with white cake mix, vanilla, marshmallows, butter, and popcorn!!
Servings: 6
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 15 minutes

Ingredients 

  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 6 cups popcorn popped
  • 3 cups marshmallows
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp milk
  • 1 cup white cake mix
  • sprinkles
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Instructions 

  • Take kernels out from popcorn and pour into a bowl.
  • In a medium pot, melt marshmallows and butter on medium heat, stirring constantly.
  • Once marshmallows are completely melted, remove from heat and add vanilla, milk and cake mix. Stir until well combined and pour over popcorn.
  • Stir until the popcorn is evenly coated and top with sprinkles. Let set. ENJOY!

Nutrition

Calories: 526kcal, Carbohydrates: 110g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 10mg, Sodium: 671mg, Potassium: 90mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 58g, Vitamin A: 140IU, Calcium: 194mg, Iron: 2.1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Making this recipe? Tag us!
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Recipe adapted from The Endless Meal.

About Kristyn

My name is Kristyn and I’m the mom of SIX stinkin’ cute kids and the wife to my smokin’ hot hubby, Lo. My mom’s maiden name is Luna, and I’m one of the many crafty “Lil’ Lunas” in the fam. On this site I like to share all things creative - from recipes to home decor to gifts and home decor ideas. Welcome!

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Recipe Rating




62 Comments

  1. ROSE C DUFRESNE says:

    I was wondering if I could use pre popped pop corn for this recipe Thank You

    1. LilLunaTeam says:

      You can but typically it does not turn out as good since there are a lot of additional additives in store bought popcorn. Most of the time store bought popcorn has a lot of added butter flavor to it so it overpowers the flavor of the birthday cake topping you mix into it.

  2. Nina says:

    5 stars
    I tried it using the recipe shared by you, but I failed and popcorn got stick with each other. Might be I have done some mistake here. Hope this will not happen again as I am going to try it again within few days.
    Now I have ordered birthday popcorn by Thatcher’s Gourmet Popcorn, I have heard their name for providing healthy and delicious gourmet popcorn.

    1. Lil'Luna Team says:

      Hi Nina! Yes, this popcorn recipe is a sticky popcorn recipe. We do mention that in the post. It’s messy but tasty! 😉 The popcorn company sounds like they make great popcorn as well. Hope you enjoy!

      1. Nina says:

        Thanks LIL’LUNA. Yes, it was tasty, but kids were amazed to see why the popcorns are the sticky. Yes, I mainly order flavored popcorns from Thatcher’s Gourmet Popcorns and the taste of those popcorns are ultimate.

  3. Twyla Michael says:

    Im getting ready to make birthday cake popcorn ball, not sure how they will taste? I’ve got a friends grandson that will be helping me with these. He wants to do the white chocolate chips balls so I think we shall do those instead. Not as much ingredients in the white chocolate chips balls. And so we will make those instead and I will let all know how they turned out.

    1. LilLunaTeam says:

      That sounds great! I would love to know how they turned out!

  4. Emily says:

    5 stars
    Can you use marshmAllow crEme instead of marshmallows?

    1. Kristyn Merkley says:

      You sure could 🙂

  5. cheryl says:

    I like your recipes

    1. Kristyn Merkley says:

      Awe, thank you so much!!

  6. Misty says:

    5 stars
    WOw this is the cutest popcorn i have ever seen. I don’ t have little kids in my house anymore but my teenagers loved it!

  7. Olivia says:

    5 stars
    If your wanting to make your popcorn special….this is your recipe. A great addition to any party!

  8. Fiona Dowling says:

    5 stars
    Turned out delicious – so chewy and everyone loved how cute it looked!

  9. Amy L Huntley says:

    5 stars
    Such a perfect summer treat! This was gobbled up quickly!

  10. Joy says:

    5 stars
    Gooey & so delicious!! This was super easy to make & a great way to add even more greatness to popcorn. My family loved it!