Serendipity! Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn

It’s National Peanut Butter Day! Woo hoo! I wanted to make this yummilicious stuff on National Popcorn Day, but didn’t get it done, so then along comes National Peanut Butter Day today, which means I get a second chance. Somebody was thinking of me when they invented these food holidays … well, okay, maybe not, but I love the serendipity of it anyway.

And isn’t serendipity such a fun word?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn

Inspired by Inside BruCrew Life

I had meant to add vanilla to the chocolatey drizzle, but I forgot it. And it tastes pretty dang awesome anyway, so perhaps it doesn’t need vanilla. But you can throw some in if you like. Just a teaspoon or two would do.

• A big bowl of air popped popcorn (10 – 12 cups)
• About 4 cups of Reese’s Peanut Butter Puffs
• A couple cups or so of peanuts (I’m lying! Alas, I had no peanuts, but oh this would be SO perfect with peanuts!)
• 3 squares of white almond bark (or chocolate bark … I didn’t have any, so I had to make do with the white stuff! If you don’t have white almond bark, you can use 6 oz. of white chocolate … or just use chocolate chips and skip the cocoa)
• 4 Tablespoons high quality cocoa powder (you might not need this if you use chocolate bark … check the taste and add cocoa till it’s chocolatey enough for you … oh but you must use really good quality cocoa, the dark colored kind)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• Coarse sea salt

Directions:

1. Pop up your popcorn, then toss it with the peanut butter puffs and the peanuts (if you are so lucky as to have some!), and spread the whole lovely mess out in a thin layer on a large tray or baking pan (or two).
2. In a small microwaveable bowl, melt the almond bark in the microwave. (Microwave for 90 seconds, stir, then microwave for 30 seconds more, stir, keep doing this till the bark is all good and melted.)
3. Add the peanut butter and cocoa to the almond bark and stir until it’s all nice and smooth.
4. Drizzle about half the chocolatey peanut butter goodness all over your popcorn and stuff. Stir up the popcorn mixture a bit just to make sure you aren’t leaving any little kernels or nuts out of the fun, then drizzle the rest of that lovely chocolate stuff over your popcorn.
5. Sprinkle the whole mess with some coarse sea salt. See, now you have that sweet/salty thing going on …
6. Here’s the hard part: let the popcorn sit for 15 – 30 minutes until the chocolate sets. (How on earth can you leave this yumminess sit there alone for SO long? Somehow I managed …)
7. Break the popcorn up into pieces and enjoy! Store any leftover popcorn in an airtight container or tin.

Now do a little happy dance. Because this stuff is so fun. And serendipitous.

This recipe was shared at Totally Tasty Tuesdays, Newlyweds Recipe Linky, Crazy Sweet Tuesday, Cast Party Wednesday, Tastetastic Thursdays, Full Plate Thursday, Weekend Potluck, Tasty Tuesdays, and This Week’s Cravings.