Description
Christmas Crunch is a festive white chocolate popcorn treat featuring crunchy pretzels, colorful red and green M&Ms, and a drizzle of creamy vanilla candy melts, perfect for holiday gifting and snacking.
Ingredients
Scale
Popcorn Mix
- 1/2 cup popcorn kernels (104 g)
- 1 1/2 cups broken pretzel pieces or baby pretzels (75 g)
- 1 (10 oz) bag green and red Milk Chocolate or Mint M&Ms
Chocolate Coating
- 1 (12 oz) bag Vanilla Candy Melts
- Christmas sprinkles, as desired
Instructions
- Pop Popcorn: Pop the popcorn kernels using a popcorn popper into a large bowl, or use microwave popcorn bags according to the package directions. Remove any unpopped kernels to avoid biting into hard pieces.
- Combine Ingredients: Add the broken pretzel pieces and M&Ms to the popped popcorn and gently toss to combine.
- Melt Candy Melts: In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the vanilla candy melts on 50% power in 30-second intervals, stirring after each until completely melted and smooth.
- Drizzle and Stir: Drizzle half of the melted candy over the popcorn mixture and gently toss a few times with a rubber spatula to coat evenly.
- Finish Coating: Drizzle the remaining melted candy over the mixture and gently stir to coat popcorn evenly without overmixing, which would prevent sprinkles from sticking.
- Set and Decorate: Pour the coated popcorn mixture onto a sheet of wax paper in a single layer. Quickly sprinkle the entire mixture with Christmas sprinkles before the candy melts set.
- Cool and Store: Allow the popcorn to cool completely and harden. Once set, break into pieces and store in an airtight container for freshness.
Notes
- 1/2 cup kernels yields about 16 to 17 cups of popped popcorn.
- If no popcorn popper is available, use microwave popcorn bags or microwave popcorn in a brown paper bag.
- Using a 10 oz bag of M&Ms works well despite original recipe calling for 12 oz due to package size changes.
- For more visible M&Ms and pretzels, set aside 1/4 of each and sprinkle over after adding the sprinkles.
- This recipe fills about 8 to 9 half-pound party treat bags about two-thirds full, ideal for gift giving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 150 kcal
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 120 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
