Peppermint Popcorn Bark – Popcorn coated with white chocolate and crushed candy canes! O-M-YUM! This stuff is so dang addictive! Super easy to make and even easier to eat! Whip up a batch or three for easy homemade holiday gifts! People go crazy over this stuff!
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It is finally Christmas baking time at my house, and this Peppermint Popcorn Bark is always one of the first things I make. It is SO good and SOOOO easy to make! Popcorn coating in white chocolate and candy canes. YUM! It makes a great snack or homemade gift. I love to whip up a few batches as gifts for friends. Everyone LOVES this stuff.
How to Make Peppermint Bark Popcorn
This popcorn is super easy to make. Start with popping the popcorn. Remove any unpopped popcorn kernels and place the popcorn in a giant bowl. Next, you need to crush a box of candy canes in the food processor and set it aside. Finally, melt vanilla almond bark or white candy coating in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals until melted and smooth. Add a touch of peppermint oil to the melted candy coating. Pour the melted almond bark over the popcorn. Toss to coat. Add the crushed candy canes and toss everything together. Spread the popcorn mixture in an even layer onto some wax paper, a lined baking sheet, Silpat silicone baking mat, or parchment paper. Let the almond bark set up. Break the popcorn into pieces and enjoy!
Tips & Frequently Asked Questions
- This recipe uses peppermint oil and NOT peppermint extract. Adding liquids to almond bark will cause the candy coating to seize up. Using peppermint oil won’t change the consistency of the candy coating and adds a lot of peppermint flavor. You can buy it at a cake decorating store, Hobby Lobby, online at King Arthur Flour, or with my affiliate link at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3505NNw
- The popcorn will keep for at least a week in an air-tight container.
- You can use any popcorn that you prefer. Microwave popcorn, air-popped or store-bought are all fine. I usually use plain microwave popcorn.
- I use a food processor and make candy cane dust with small pieces of peppermint candy.
- If you don’t want to use almond bark, you can substitute an equivalent amount of white chocolate. You will want to add a tablespoon or two of shortening to the white chocolate chips to easier to melt and give it a smoother, creamier texture.
- Feel free to drizzle the popcorn with some melted dark chocolate. So fancy!
- Is Peppermint Popcorn Bark gluten-free? Yes! All of the ingredients in this recipe are gluten-free.
White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn Recipe
I absolutely LOVE this popcorn! I make several batches of it during the holiday season to give some away to friends. Don’t worry, I also make a batch for myself. This stuff is too good not to indulge! Especially during the holidays.
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Peppermint Popcorn Bark
Ingredients:
- 2 (3.3-oz) bags microwave popcorn, popped (18-20 cups)
- 1 (6-oz) box candy canes, crushed
- 1 (20 to 24-oz) package vanilla almond bark
- ¼ tsp peppermint oil
Instructions:
- Place popcorn in a very large bowl – the biggest one you have. Pour crushed candy canes on top of the popcorn.
- Melt almond bark according to instructions on the package. Add the peppermint oil to the almond bark and pour over popcorn.
- Stir until all the popcorn is coated. Pour popcorn on wax paper and allow to harden. Once the popcorn has hardened, break into pieces and enjoy!
Notes:
- This recipe uses peppermint oil and NOT peppermint extract. Adding liquids will cause the almond bark/candy coating to seize up. Using peppermint oil won’t change the consistency of the candy coating and adds a lot of peppermint flavor. You can buy it at a cake decorating store, online at King Arthur Flour, or with my affiliate link at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3505NNw
- The popcorn will keep for at least a week in an air-tight container.
- You can use any popcorn that you prefer. Microwave popcorn, air-popped or store-bought are all fine. I usually use plain microwave popcorn.
- I crush my candy canes in the food processor – it is quick and it pulverizes the candy canes!
- If you don’t want to use almond bark, you can substitute an equivalent amount of white chocolate. You will want to add a tablespoon or two of shortening to the white chocolate chips to easier to melt and gives it a smoother, creamier texture.
Steph
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I bought a package of almond bark at Aldi that is 1.5lbs; I doubt that is how much this recipe needs.
So could you tell me how many ounces of almond bark you use?
I just made up a bunch of this for Christmas presents for my husbands employees…we made the white almond bark and peppermint in one batch, then made another batch of oreos and white almond bark…and then went for it all with a batch of chocolate almond bark, oreos and peppermint candy!! It's the best one..I had to stop eating it to package it to give away…but I do think everything is better in chocolate!
Kelly – I haven't used chocolate almond bark, but I am sure it would be delicious!
Stephanie,
Have you ever used chocolate almond bark?
Cyn – you can find the peppermint oil/extract in the baking isle at the grocery store and Wal-Mart. It will be with the vanilla. You can also find it in the cake decorating section of Michael's or Hobby Lobby.
okay, so… I feel really stupid asking this question but, where can I buy the peppermint oil/ extract? I was looking online at Meijer… and it gave me ONE result… in it's bath and lotion department… and I don't think its the right one… is it? I'm so confused. I'm hoping to shop for the ingredients tomorrow. A little help please?
I made this tonight and i had the same problem! The almond bark got hard and chunky looking as soon as I added the peppermint extract. I read the back of the almond bark package and it says that if you add any liquid it will harden the melted almond bark. So, i had a play-dough consistency almond mark mixture and i mixed it with my popcorn using my hands, because it was impossible with a spoon. It turned out fine and tasted great!
can't wait to make this! made something similar last year but didn't have peppermint flavoring to it. Thanks for sharing!
Gonna make this tomorrow night. Can't wait to see how everyone likes it…super excited.
I just made it and it turned out perfect! I used one cup of regular popcorn in our popper, generic vanilla candy coating, and no peppermint oil as I am too cheap, lol. I'll be trying it out on my coworkers tomorrow and if it disappears, this is my gift for friends, etc.
kristina – you could have overheated the almond bark (I've done it before) – it will get super hard if you overheat it. The almond bark will seize up a bit when you put the extract in, but just pour it over the popcorn and stir it around. It will coat the popcorn just fine. You could also use peppermint oil – the almond bard won't seize at all with the peppermint oil. (I buy a new bottle of peppermint oil every year just for this recipe)
Tanya – you can absolutely use regular popcorn. I just don't have a popcorn popper.
Can regular popcorn be used instead?
Am I the only one that struggled with this recipe?? I melted the almond bark as instructed. Then, I put my teaspoon of peppermint extract in…. It made the almond bark harden again!! No amount of heat or time in the microwave would get it back to it's creamy consistency. What did I do wrong?!?
Lindsey – almond bark is a white candy coating. They sell it at the grocery store near the chocolate chips. It melts much easier than white chocolate.
Sorry, I'm not familiar with 'almond bark' as a pre packaged product – does it actually have almonds in it? Or is it just white chocolate?