This white chocolate popcorn is easy and cheap to make and is a surefire crowd pleaser! Dress it up with crushed candy canes to make a festive Christmas treat that’s perfect for tree decorating, movie nights, potlucks, and homemade gifts.
White Chocolate Candy Cane Popcorn is an Easy Christmas Treat
I’m always dreaming up fun twists on classic recipes. And since my family is full of huge popcorn fans, I love to come up with creative twists that go beyond salt and butter.
My love of sweet popcorns actually started years back, when I lived in Asia. Going to a movie theatre in many Asian countries, popcorn flavors are different! I never once saw a classic salt and butter popcorn in an Asian movie theatre – it was always either sweet or salty (no butter). My husband fell in love with the sweet popcorn, and hence my lifetime of popcorn experimentation began.
As it turns out, my family isn’t the only one who loves fun popcorn recipes! The Moose Munch Caramel Popcorn and Peanut Butter Popcorn are some of the most popular recipes on this website.
And since y’all seem to love popcorn so munch (see what I did there?), I want to share this easy white chocolate popcorn recipe which is perfect for Christmas.
Why I Love This White Chocolate Popcorn
While chocolate popcorn is pretty darn great as is, I wanted to give it some extra zhuzh.
And since Christmas is just around the corner, and we’re spending lots of cozy nights indoors as a family, I thought I’d come up with a white chocolate popcorn recipe that’s perfect for Christmas.
Popcorn white chocolate is a more unique combo than milk or dark chocolate covered popcorn, and reminds me of the falling snow at this time of year.
This white chocolate popcorn recipe uses crushed up candy canes to add a bit of festive flair for the holidays.
And the marshmallows hold the whole thing together, giving it the perfect balance of sweet, sticky, crunchy, and pepperminty!
This white chocolate popcorn is the perfect treat to whip up for a Christmas Tree decorating party, family movie night, or even to take to a Christmas party.
It’s also a great way to use up those leftover candy canes at the end of the festive season.
If you have candy canes left in your cupboard when Valentine’s Day rolls around, this white chocolate popcorn recipe is a great way to use up those final stragglers!
This White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn is So Easy to Make
One of the things I love about fun and creative popcorn recipes is that they are easy to make!
Seriously, you can whip this up in 30 minutes total time, with minimal effort. To keep it easy, I use microwave popcorn, and melt the chocolate and marshmallows in the microwave, too.
The result is much more treat worthy than the effort involved in making it.
Outsized results for minimal effort? Melted chocolate? I’m in!
Peppermint White Chocolate Popcorn is a Great Frugal Entertaining Choice
It’s also a frugal choice! Some popcorn kernels, a bag of white chocolate chips, some mini marshmallows and some candy canes – that’s all you need!
Much cheaper than a fancier dessert, but still with some serious wow factor.
How to Make White Chocolate Popcorn with Candy Cane Crunch
Ingredients
This recipe calls for 6 cups of popped natural popcorn (un-buttered, un-salted). To keep things easy, I used 2 bags of microwave popcorn. That game me ~9 cups of popcornm from which I measured out 6 cups. Be sure to remove unpopped kernels before going any further!
You’ll also need 1/3 cup white chocolate for melting. I used white chocolate chips, as chocolate chips melt quite evenly and easily in the microwave.
This recipe also calls for 1/2 cup mini marshmallows, and 2 candy canes, crushed.
Materials and Tools
- A rolling pin (to crush the candy canes)
- Parchment paper
- A baking tray
- 1 large bowl and 1 medium microwave safe bowl
- Microwave
Instructions for Making this White Chocolate Popcorn Recipe
Start by popping your popcorn, using whatever your preferred method is. I used microwave popcorn (which I let cool), but you can also buy popped corn to keep it simple.
In a large mixing bowl, melt the mini marshmallows in the microwave for 25 seconds or until they’re supple and easy to stir.
Add in your popcorn, small bits at a time and stirring well. Coat the popcorn with the melted marshmallow mixture. Sure, you’ll have a sticky mess – but it will be a delicious sticky mess!
Line a large baking sheet or cookie sheet with parchment paper, and scoop the marshmallow and popcorn mixture onto the tray in a single layer. Put it aside.
Melt the white chocolate. I like to use the microwave to melt chocolate, but feel free to do it with a double boiler method if you prefer.
The trick to melting chocolate in the microwave is to microwave it in small time increments – 30 second intervals on medium heat, or 20 second intervals on higher eat. After each 20/30 second increment, stir the chocolate and then microwave again until it melts fully.
Once your white chocolate is ready, drizzle melted chocolate over the popcorn/marshmallow mixture. You can toss it a bit, but the easiest thing to do is to just drizzle it over the popcorn as it sits.
Sprinkle with crushed candy canes and let it firm up for 15 minutes.
If you need to store the popcorn, be sure to store in an airtight container.
Peppermint White Chocolate Popcorn with Candy Cane Crunch
This white chocolate popcorn with crushed peppermint candy canes is easy to make and a surefire crowd pleaser! Whip it up for your annual deck the halls Christmas Tree decorating, a family movie night, or gift it as a thoughtful neighbor or teacher gift!
Ingredients
- 6 cups of popped popcorn
- 1/3 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup mini marshmallows
- 2 candy canes, crushed
Instructions
- If needed, pop your popcorn to yield 6 cups, and set aside to cool. Remove any unpopped kernels.
- In a large mixing bowl, melt mini marshmallows in the microwave for 25 seconds or until they're soft and easy to stir.
- Add the popcorn to the marshmallow mixture, adding small bits at a time and stirring well until the popcorn is coated.
- Line a cookie sheet or baking sheet with parchment paper, and scoop the marshmallow and popcorn mixture onto the tray in a single layer. Put it aside.
- If needed, crush 2 candy canes with a rolling pin and parchment / wax paper.
- Melt the white chocolate.
- Drizzle the melted white chocolate over popcorn. You can toss it a bit, but the easiest thing to do is to just drizzle it over the popcorn as it sits.
- Sprinkle with crushed candy canes and let it firm up for 15 minutes.
- Store in an airtight container
Notes
The candy canes are optional, and you could easily substitute almonds or another type of crushed nuts if you don't want the peppermint flavor. If you want the red color without the pepperming flavor you could also use holiday sprinkles.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6 cupsServing Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 125Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 74mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 1gSugar: 11gProtein: 1g
This nutritional information was provided as an estimate via a third party plugin. I can't attest to its accuracy and it's meant as a guess only.