White Chocolate Popcorn Crunch

The BEST sweet popcorn you’ll ever have in your life – it’s WHITE CHOCOLATE POPCORN CRUNCH, and you HAVE to try this recipe.

THE DESSERT PEOPLE REMEMBER

We love making and sharing White Chocolate Popcorn Crunch as an easy to make holiday gift each year. Every December we purchase some cute little bowls and cellophane bags from Dollar Tree and spend a couple of hours making batch after batch of White Chocolate Popcorn Crunch and packaging them up.

They’re an easy, inexpensive, crowd pleaser gift for neighbors, teachers, mail men, anyone. We get our gift bowls back empty.

Our entire holiday gifting tradition costs about thirty dollars. Who knew that gifts really don’t have to cost much, especially when they’re homemade.

Happy gifting friends!!

This is a 15-minute prep recipe, but still has the homemade feel.

INGREDIENT BREAKDOWN

• You’ll need 14 cups of POPPED popcorn. That’s about 1/2 cup unpopped kernels. You cannot use microwave popcorn. It’s coated with butter/flavor which the chocolate will not adhere to. Yellow popcorn is fine, doesn’t have to be the white kernels.
• RICE CEREAL, plain/generic, not sweetened or flavored. You’ll need 3 cups.
• Use dry roast peanuts. Cocktail peanuts are fine too. You’ll need 2 cups.
• You’ll need 1 lb of white almond bark.
• You’ll need 3 Tablespoons of regular, smooth peanut butter. Do not use natural peanut butter as it doesn’t melt together as easily. The PB gives the popcorn balls a little depth and a savory complement to the sweet, but doesn’t taste PB-y.

HOW TO MAKE WHITE CHOCOLATE POPCORN CRUNCH

Spritz a large (think 4×4 feet) piece of wax paper with cooking spray. Set on table.

Do this before you begin. You’ll be working quickly once you have the chocolate melted.

Popcorn goes in a LARGE mixing bowl. Pick through the popcorn for about 2 minutes removing unpopped (hard) pieces.

Set aside a bowl of Rice Krispies and peanuts next to the bowl of popcorn. Do this before you begin melting the almond bark.

Again, you’ll be working quickly once the almond bark is melted.

Place the almond bark pieces and peanut butter in a large, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute on 50% power, remove and stir with a DRY silicone spatula.

Repeat this process until the chocolate is **almost** completely melted, probably another minute or two, stirring after each minute. Take out of microwave before it’s completely melted and stir well, because the residual heat will melt the rest of the chocolate.

IMPORTANT

Moisture is the chocolate-melting kryptonite. The slightest bit of moisture and it’ll turn to crumbles instantly.

Use a completely dry bowl and spatula when melting.

Pour the chocolate over the popcorn and stir to coat. It will look like there’s not enough chocolate but trust me, there is, and I promise it’ll coat most of the popcorn.

Next, add the peanuts and Rice Krispies and stir. Don’t stir like you mean it, just give it a couple of stirs then stop, wait a couple of minutes then stir again and repeat until all is well-combined.

You want to preserve some of those big, great, crunchy pieces of popcorn so be gentle.

Then pour the popcorn onto the waxed paper and distribute in a single, even layer. Allow the popcorn to sit for 30-60 minutes, until the surface of the popcorn looks dull rather than shiny.

Break apart and enjoy!!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can I make this recipe with chocolate chips?

Yes! Instead of almond bark use white chocolate chips plus 1 tablespoon of shortening.

The vegetable shortening will ensure that the melted chocolate is smooth and not grainy. Microwave the chips and shortening together instead of the almond bark.

Follow the rest of the recipe as written. That being said, I still recommend making it with almond bark.

It’s easier and turns out great.

Can I use microwave popcorn?

Microwave popcorn has a ton of salt and butter flavors added to it. This will keep the chocolate from coating the popcorn well.

It will pool in some areas and not coat other areas. I do recommend plain air-popped popcorn.

It’s super cheap and only takes about 3 minutes.

Can I omit the peanuts and peanut butter?

Absolutely. Just add about 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to help thin out the almond bark as it melts.

I would also add about 2 cups of mini pretzel pieces, crushed up a bit, in lieu of the saltiness the peanuts provide.

How do you keep chocolate from seizing?

Ninety percent is using a completely dry bowl and stirring utensils. Also, I would never recommend using full power in the microwave.

Use a 50% power and remove before it is completely melted. This will help it from burning and will decrease the chances of the chocolate seizing.

Can I add anything else to this?

Of course. Before spreading out the snack mix you can add additional mix-ins.

Some of my favorite additional items are:

• M&Ms
• sprinkles in holiday colors for Christmas or Valentine’s Day
• mini marshmallows
• mini pretzel pieces
• crushed up candy canes for a Christmas version

How does this compare to Christmas Crack?

Christmas Crack is a recipe where a toffee is made and poured over crackers (usually saltines). This recipe has white chocolate or almond bark and popcorn as its base.

Both recipes are delicious and go fast!!

STORAGE AND MAKE-AHEAD TIPS

• This white chocolate popcorn crunch recipe will keep for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container at room temp. Do NOT refrigerate as the chocolate will start to “sweat” when it comes back to room temp.
• This recipe can be made about 1 week ahead for parties and gifts.
• You can also freeze the recipe for up to 2 months.

MORE RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE

Spicy Ranch Pretzels

These easy, copycat Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels would be the perfect pairing with the sweet and salty combo with this recipe.

Microwave Caramel Chex Mix

Caramel Chex Mix is amazing and it’s so easy to make in a microwave.

Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Clusters

If you are in the mood for an easy treat, these clusters are perfect. Melt the chocolate, peanuts, and almond bark together in a slow cooker and then just drop spoonfuls onto a sheet of wax paper.

Done!