I was skimming a small cooking magazine the other day and came across a recipe for chocolate popcorn. What an intriguing combination! Some people claim that popcorn is a healthy snack. Would it still be considered healthy if it was smothered in chocolate?
Does it really matter if this snack is considered healthy or not?
Now, I haven’t tried this recipe so I cannot vouch for how good it tastes. But, I’m assuming anything smeared with chocolate has to taste good. Right? Right.
Here’s the recipe.
Chocolate Popcorn
2 quarts unsalted popped popcorn
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup slated peanuts
6 plain milk chocolate candy bars
Place the popcorn on a greased large 10 x 13 inch cookie sheet. Sprinkle marshmallows and peanuts over the popcorn. Break the candy bars up into pieces and place on top.
Bake the popcorn at 300 degrees for 5 minutes. Take out of the oven and let it stand for 1 minute. Toss to coat the popcorn with the chocolate. (You can experiment with different types of candy bars — even those that are white chocolate, or with nuts or are crunchy. Variations could be very yummy.)
This made me think of a couple of other popcorn recipes that I have used that our family has enjoyed. (Our most favorite one is the candied popcorn.)
Candied Popcorn
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 cup margarine
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 cup unpopped popcorn
various candies, coconut, and nuts
Pop the popcorn. Put in a large bowl and set it aside.
Place remaining ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil on the stove. Boil for five minutes. Remove from heat. Add the candies, coconut and nuts. Pour over popcorn. Let cool before eating.
Marshmallow Popcorn
1 cup margarine
1 large bag of marshmallows
4-5 quarts popped popcorn
1 cup M&M candies
1 cup peanuts
1 cup candy corn
Melt margarine and marshmallows in a pot over the stove. Pour over popcorn. Stir in candies and nuts. Let cool before eating.
Peanut Butter Popcorn
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup sugar
6 quarts popped popcorn
Mix margarine, peanut butter, and sugar in a pot and melt over a stove. Pour over popcorn. Let cool before eating.
In the recipes that call for candies, if you use chocolate candies, let the melted mixture cool somewhat before stirring in the chocolate candy. This will keep the candy from melting (too much). Also, you can substitute you other favorite candies instead of using the ones called for in the recipe.
If your grandchildren are visiting you and they have the munchies, make one of these popcorn treats. Or, invite your grandchildren over for a movie night and serve one of these recipes. (A good movie to watch with older grandchildren is The Great Debaters starring Denzel Washington. It’s based on a true story of a debate team from an all black school in Texas.)
Pardon me, now. I think I’ll go make some chocolate popcorn.
