Continuing our St. Patrick’s Day projects, we are moving into the yummy treats arena. One of my favorites. But I have very little self control when it comes to delicious snacks, so I have to make them in moderation–especially this one: Candy-coated popcorn.
My daughter received some candy-coated popcorn as a Valentine’s Day treat from a classmate. I owe this treat to that mom, whoever it was. After seeing the red and pink kernels, I decided to whip up a green batch in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. And, thanks to my husband’s obsession with popcorn, I even got to eliminate a step.
My husband and daughters will go to the movie theatre just to grab a bag of popcorn. They love it so much, they snack on it most nights. I don’t share their passion for the popped-up snack, but since they try to keep it healthy, I just let them go with it. One night last week they made an evening popcorn run and then we saw “The Lorax” this weekend, bringing home two bags of popcorn, so I eliminated the step of actually popping corn in order to use up some of the already-popped stuff sitting in our house.
So what did I use?
- Popcorn
- Green candy melts
- Wax paper
- Cookie sheet
- Double boiler
The first step would be to pop-up a batch of your favorite kernels. Since mine was already popped, I laid it out on a sheet of wax paper that was lining a cookie sheet.
I then followed directions on the back of the candy back for melting it. Just because I was already cooking, I decided to go with a double-boiler, though you could easily microwave it to melt it. So in the double-boiler, you put enough water in the bottom pan to almost reach the boiler. Bring it to a boil, remove from heat and add the candy.
I always get too antsy and add it far before the water boils and then I end up with a weird mess. So, don’t do that. Wait for the water to boil.
I picked up some green candy melts from Joann Fabrics while we were there this weekend, but you can get them lots and lots of places. You can even order them on Amazon if you don’t have the store in your area.
Stir, stir, stir that candy up! When it’s completely melted and liquidy, you can drizzle it over the popcorn. I tried to get a thin layer over all of the kernels. If your popcorn isn’t buttered or salted, now would be a god time to put that sort of stuff on. Once you have it all drizzled in a nice, healthy layer, grab the ends of the wax paper and shake, shake, shake. Make sure all of the popcorn gets coated with the green candy.
Let it set for about a half hour to completely harden. Though, I couldn’t wait and I started picking at it the minute I finished shaking the candy coating on.
What? Someone had to test it!
Want to see what other St. Patrick’s Day crafts I completed? Check them out in my St. Patrick’s Day mini-series.
