12 Days of Holiday Recipes - Day 2 - White Chocolate Popcorn

photo from Taste of Home

When the holidays roll around there is never a shortage of munchies around. This one has become a favorite in recent years. It's quick, easy, and tasty. :) I made it for our Mother/Daughter Christmas party last week.


Here is the recipe:

White Chocolate Popcorn
(Originally published as White Chocolate Popcorn Deluxe in Healthy Cooking December/January 2010)

• 8 cups air-popped popcorn
• 2 ounces white baking chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Place popcorn in a large bowl. In a microwave, melt white chocolate and butter; stir until smooth. Pour over popcorn mixture and toss to coat. Add the cranberries, nuts and salt. Spread onto waxed paper. Cool until set. Store in an airtight container. Makes 2 quarts.

Now.... This is what I do: 

Pop some popcorn in the microwave. Plain popcorn, no butter. This last time I actually used regular popcorn that you'd use in an air popper and popped in the 'wave in a brown paper bag like they explain here. Put it in a large mixing bowl. Then you take a couple squares of white almond bark and microwave it in a glass measuring cup, 30 seconds at a time, until it's just melted. Pour over popcorn and stir. It will clump together as the chocolate hardens which isn't a big deal unless you want it to look pretty. If so, then spread it out on wax paper to 'dry'. If you want to be festive you can add some dried cranberries, red & green m&ms, or for non holiday occasions you can add a few drops of food coloring to the chocolate. For Kenzie's last birthday I added some red to make 'PINK' corn. No need for the butter or salt...unless you just want it. Store in an airtight container and it keeps for a while.

Yum!