Salty-Sweet Delicious “Ready to Pop” Popcorn – Baby Shower Favors Part 1

I must say, this is one of the most delicious snacks ever. Salty and sweet, easy to make, it’s perfect for a party favor. It can be a little fancy but at the same time, familiar and homey. You can use any type of chocolate (milk, semi-sweet, etc.), and if you use white chocolate you can alter the color to fit the occasion. Make it in big batches for a crowd, (think football party) or small ones for movie-night.

You’ll Need:

Popcorn

Salt

Oil

White Chocolate (colored if you like)

Bags

Twine

Stickers

Let’s talk popcorn and quantities (there is a chart at the bottom of this post with measurement calculations). My target was 50 party favors. I figured that we needed 3 to 4 cups per person/favor. That meant 200 cups popped corn (!). I calculated that 1/3 C un-popped corn yields 8 C popped. So for my favors, we needed to pop 8 to 9 cups of corn. (Turns out that the bags looked better with 3 C popcorn inside, so … leftovers! More for ME!)

When I pop corn at home, I always measure by eye. I pour oil into my pan until it just covers the bottom of the pan. Add corn until the bottom is covered without any corn-overlap. (A good rule of thumb is, use half as much oil as popcorn. So for 2/3 C corn, use 1/3 C oil.) Turn the pan on medium-high, cover and wait for it to pop. As the kernels pop, give the pan a shake now and then. When you hear the kernel pops slow down, remove from heat and pour into mixing vessel. Don’t wait until you don’t hear ANY kernels popping… you’ll scorch the finished corn.

Chocolate. For this recipe, I prefer white chocolate, but milk or dark is tasty too. I wanted the finished product to be delicious sweet-salty corn, not like a candy with popcorn in it, so the chocolate was used sparingly. In the end, for my 200 cups of corn, I used about 1-1/2 pounds of chocolate.

Pour your popcorn into a (very clean!) large mixing vessel. Add salt as desired. Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Drizzle onto popped corn and mix. If you have a helper, this job goes much more quickly! Taste, adjust chocolate and salt if needed.

Using a scoop, fill the bags with corn, tie closed (with divine twine!) and add labels. I added the classic pink bubble-gum cigar to the bag.

Update: Looks like the supplier who carried my bags no longer does… try Nashville Wraps for some really cute bags, at good prices.

NOTE: This popcorn favor should be made no more than one day in advance. If it’s made earlier than that, it becomes a bit soggy.

Supply Calculation Table:

1/3 C un-popped corn = 8 C popped = 2 to 3 party favors

1 C un-popped corn = 24 C popped = 7 to 9 party favors

½ oz. chocolate per party favor. Test this – your desired taste may vary. (2 oz. = 1/4 C)

Some SUPER CUTE labels are available here. (Full disclosure: I’m a big fan of Whisker Graphics, but also a relative!)

Enjoy!