Lightly salted homemade popcorn smothered in melted chocolate for a delicious sweet snack. Perfect any time of year, but a delicious way to indulge this Christmas and easy to adapt with some extra add-ins. Chocolate popcorn also makes a lovely homemade Christmas gift.
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We love making popcorn. Whether it's for family movie night, a school snack or something a little more indulgent and fancy by covering it in chocolate. Chocolate covered popcorn is SO easy to make and takes just 5 minutes. Make extra, and wrap it up as a homemade present or take some to a party with you.
If you are looking for more chocolate recipes, why not try our Hot Chocolate Spoons, Healthy Chocolate Mug Cake, Chocolate Mousse, or Chocolate Pie?
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Why You Will Love It
- Quick and easy - This chocolate popcorn recipe takes just 5 minutes to make and it's really easy. Kids will love helping and listening to it all pop too.
- Makes a great present - We love a homemade gift and what better way to say Merry Christmas than with food!? Put this Chocolate covered popcorn into a cellophane bag and tie up with some nice ribbon.
- Adaptable - Use this as the basic recipe and then feel free to adapt it with different add-ins.
- Stores well - We kept this chocolate popcorn in an air tight container for 5 days and it was still delicious.
Ingredients and Substitutions
A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Oil - We used vegetable oil to cook the popcorn. This is the oil we would recommend for popcorn because of the smoke point.
- Corn kernels - These are relatively cheap to buy when buying in bulk, making chocolate popcorn a budget friendly snack. You will usually find them with the bags of ready made popcorn.
- Salt - This really brings out the sweetness of the chocolate.
- Chocolate - The chocolate you use is really important, as it's the star flavour. We used a 60% dark chocolate, as that is our preference and we like the strong flavour. Make sure to use a good quality chocolate, as you will taste the difference.
Variations
The great thing about this Chocolate Popcorn recipe is that you can use it as a base recipe and then change it up to suit your own tastes.
You could add a pinch of cayenne if you like a kick to your popcorn or maybe some cinnamon and ginger for some winter warmth.
If we are making this for a lot of people, and we want to bulk it out a little (and make it more colourful), then we add some M&Ms, mini marshmallows and cranberries to it - kids love that. We have even put unicorn sprinkles in ours before. Pecans are a really good addition too.
Stick some candy canes in the popcorn once in the bowl for decoration and even more of a festive vibe.
How to Make Chocolate Popcorn
- Step 1: Add the corn kernels and oil to a large, heavy bottomed pan. Mix well to coat the kernels in oil.
- Step 2: Cover with a lid and put onto a medium heat. After about a minute, the corn will start popping. Shake the pan every now and then to prevent burning.
- Step 3: Melt the chocolate either in a microwave of over a pan of simmering water.
- Step 4: Once the popping has stopped, remove from the heat and pour onto a lined baking tray. Spread out into a single layer and drizzle with the melted chocolate.
- Step 5: Add the salt, then mix everything together to coat all the popcorn in chocolate.
What to Serve with Chocolate Popcorn
Our new Christmas Eve tradition is Christmas films in the afternoon with Snowman Hot Chocolates, a big bowl of this Chocolate popcorn or our Christmas Popcorn and Gingerbread Cupcakes.
We then all make individual Christmas Tree Pizzas before settling down in our new PJs to watch more films and open our Christmas Eve boxes.
We have even left some out for Santa in the past. I am sure he gets bored of cookies and mince pies after the 100th house. Why not make this Chocolate popcorn part of your own Christmas Eve traditions?
Dannii's Top Tips
- The hardest part of this recipe, and it's not even that hard, is melting the chocolate. Make sure that you do it in 30 second intervals. This reduces the risk of the chocolate melting too quickly and going really grainy.
- To prevent any problems with melting chocolate, add a teaspoon of vegetable oil to the chocolate before melting.
- If you didn't want this chocolate popcorn totally smothered in chocolate, then you could just drizzle it over.
- For a really festive twist, you could use white chocolate and then have some with red food dye in it and some with green and drizzle them both over the popcorn.
- If you don't have a microwave to melt the chocolate, you can put a glass bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and put it on the hob on low. Melt the chocolate in the glass bowl.
Frequently Asked Questions
Leftovers can be stored at room temperature in an air tight container for up to a week, but we found it best up to 5 days. We don't recommend freezing it.
This will depend on the temperature of your kitchen. But, if you don't want to eat it wet with melted chocolate, then you can leave it to set for about 30 minutes to an hour. Putting it in the fridge will help to speed this up.
Yes, as long as you make sure there is no cross contamination, this chocolate popcorn can be gluten free.
If you use a vegan chocolate, then this can be vegan.
More Chocolate Recipes
If you've tried this chocolate popcorn, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - Use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.
Recipe
Easy Chocolate Popcorn
Ingredients
- 80 g (0.5 cups) of Corn kernels
- 3 tablespoon of Vegetable oil
- 2 pinch of Sea salt
- 100 g (3.5 oz) of Chocolate - dark (around 60%)
Instructions
- Add 80 g of Corn kernels and 3 tbsp of Vegetable oil to a large, heavy bottomed pan. Mix well to coat the kernels in oil.
- Cover with a lid and put onto a medium heat. After about a minute, the corn will start popping. Shake the pan every now and then to prevent burning.
- Melt 100 g of Chocolate either in a microwave of over a pan of simmering water.
- Once the popping has stopped, remove from the heat and pour onto a lined baking tray. Spread out into a single layer and drizzle with the melted chocolate.
- Add 2 pinch of Sea salt, then mix everything together to coat all the popcorn in chocolate.
Recipe Video
Recipe Tips
- The hardest part of this recipe, and it's not even that hard, is melting the chocolate. Make sure that you do it in 30 second intervals. This reduces the risk of the chocolate melting too quickly and going really grainy.
- To prevent any problems with melting chocolate, add a teaspoon of vegetable oil to the chocolate before melting.
- If you didn't want this chocolate popcorn totally smothered in chocolate, then you could just drizzle it over.
- For a really festive twist, you could use white chocolate and then have some with red food dye in it and some with green and drizzle them both over the popcorn.
- If you don't have a microwave to melt the chocolate, you can put a glass bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and put it on the hob on low. Melt the chocolate in the glass bowl.
Nutritional Information
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The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
As all appliances vary, cooking times are a guide. Please note that by changing the serving size, the cooking time may also need to be altered.
Rosemary Morton Jack says
You say :
.5 cups of corn and .50 cups of chocolate! There’s no difference.
What do you actually mean?!
Dannii Martin says
There is no difference, it's half a cup. It's just the way the programme automatically changed each ingredient. I have changed the chocolate amount to ounces now for better accuracy.
Loretta Spradlin says
can this popcorn be mixed with marshmallows and made into treat squares like rice krispie treats?