Revised from Health.com recipe for Cocoa Cayenne Popcorn
This is a very quick, fun snack that can be made for seasonal gifts - or just for fun. I used pre-packaged popped corn, which was a real time saver. Not that I needed to save time. And it wasn't because I didn't have an air-popper; I just bought a new air popper since my old one got flooded in our storage unit this summer. But our grocery store didn't have any popcorn kernels on the shelf for several weeks. and I managed to grab the very last package of pre-popped popcorn that they had on the shelf the day I was there. I have been waiting several days to actually get around to making the recipe. A chilly, snowy day seemed just the right time.
Now... the bag of popcorn that I bought for this recipe said it contained five 4-cup servings. The original recipe called for 10 cups of air-popped corn, so I figured I should double the ingredients for 20 cups. My finished product showed a much thicker coating of the cocoa mix on the popcorn than the photo in the original recipe. But, if you don't like to lick your fingers or keep washing cocoa off your hands when you eat it, feel free to cut the quantities for the cocoa mixture in half. You'll get a lighter coating, I'm sure.
The original recipe said a serving size should be 2-1/2 cups... their recipe would yield four servings.
My recipe? Ummm... I think we're only going to get two servings out of it, and that's not because we planned to package any up to give away! :-)
Ingredients:
- 6 T. confectioners' sugar
- 2 T. unsweetened Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder
- 1 - 2 tsp. or several shakes of Penzey's Arizona Dreaming seasoning*
- One 5-oz bag Boom Chicka Pop Sea Salt Popcorn (or 20 cups air-popped popcorn)
- Olive oil cooking spray
- Four 1-oz. squares Baker's Premium White Chocolate
- 2 tsp. organic extra virgin coconut oil
Directions:
1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Using a bowl large enough to hold about 1 quart, whisk together the sugar, cocoa
powder, and seasoning.
3. Place the popcorn in a large, shallow bowl; I used a stainless steel mixing bowl. Spray the popcorn with olive oil. The original instructions said to spray about 10 seconds, but I sprayed a little, stirred, sprayed again while stirring until I felt I had coated the popcorn enough to hold the cocoa mixture in place.
4. Sprinkle the cocoa and spice
mixture evenly on top; toss until well-coated. I used an old Pampered Chef powdered sugar container with a handle to "dust" the mixture over the popcorn as I stirred and tossed it to make sure it was evening coated.
5. Spread a single layer of the cocoa coated popcorn evenly onto each of the two baking sheets.
6. Using a Pyrex bowl, or one that can safely be used in the microwave, heat the chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until it has begun to melt evenly. Mine took about 1-1/2 to 2 minutes to heat until melted. Then remove the bowl from the microwave, stirring the chocolate until there are no more lumps. Stir the coconut oil into the melted chocolate and, using a teaspoon, drizzle it over the popcorn.
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| Cocoa popcorn with white chocolate drizzle. Feel free to use dark chocolate, if you prefer! |
7. Allow the popcorn to cool thoroughly so that the chocolate drizzle is no longer runny. Then package it up quickly before you eat it!
NOTE: If you don't have Penzey's Arizona Dreaming, just use the spices from the original recipe. Go ahead and add that 1/2 tsp. of cayenne for extra burn!
