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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Pin This RecipeEasy Candy Cane Coated Popcorn Recipe
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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Found this on Pinterest & just made some. I discovered that I need a MUCH BIGGER bowl than the biggest one that I've currently got. But my granddaughter had great fun pounding the candy canes with a hammer! Now we're waiting for it to harden (but we've gone into the kitchen several times for a taste already!). Thanks for sharing!
We sneak bites too! I like to call it "Quality Control".
I am making this tonight! Found you on Pinterest!
Sandra
The Adored Home
Hope you enjoy it!
Mine isn't hardening. Any solutions?
You could put it in the refrigerator.
I've been told that extract will ruin the bark, and to only use peppermint oil. Has anyone who has made this find that this to be true??
I use peppermint oil. You have to move really quick if you use the extract. It will start to seize up.
This is THE BEST!!! Everyone who I've ever made it for loves it!!! I have to make many batches of this as it goes FAST!!!
So glad you liked it! I can't make it fast enough during the holidays!
This is THE BEST!!! Everyone who I've ever made it for loves it!!! I have to make many batches of this as it goes FAST!!!
I also have not heard of almond bark. Do you think white chocolate chips would work, or does it have to be real white chocolate? Thank you!
It is a candy coating. You can substitute white chocolate.
Cajun Teacher – I need to try it with Chex – sounds delicious!
This is great with Rice Chex, too…or any Chex cereal that you would want to use…I just don't use the peppermint oil, only crushed peppermints!
I made this yesterday for our New Year's Eve party. Everyone loved it and several people requested the recipe! I crushed mints instead of candy canes and used regular popcorn popped in a paper bag instead of the store-bought kind. Thanks for the recipe! It was delicious!
AnneBelle – I don't think the peppermint oil is overkill. It is a small amount and doesn't overwhelm the popcorn.
I haven't been able to find the almond bark. I do have the white chocolate to try, but I also happened to come across the peppermint bark in the baking aisle and thought I'd give that a try as well. I am curious if that plus the oil/extract might be peppermint overkill, but I plan on trying a small batch with and and without to see how it goes.
How have I managed to miss out on this yummy yummy treat??? My neighbor just brought a big batch over as part of her Christmas goodies that she makes each year and it is awesome!! I googled it to find out how she made it & found your site. I'm going to be making a big batch of this tomorrow because we've already finished the bag that we received only about 30 minutes ago!!
I just made two batches one with white and the other chocolate almond bark. They both are so good. I just hope it will make it our party tomorrow. Thanks for sharing Stephanie. I will be making this every year! And I agree, it is very addicting!
I thought when reading over the recipe that it would end up being too pepperminty. Boy, was I wrong! I made a batch this morning. I ended up using 4 bags of popcorn. ONLY because the plain popcorn I found was bagged in the new microwaveable pop-up bowls, which are smaller than normal microwaveable bags.
The finished product was the PERFECT blend of salty, sweet, & minty! I made it with the intentions of giving to my neighbors & trust me, it ended up being very hard to give it away! I kept a bag for myself & hope it lasts til my hubby makes it home from work! This has automatically made the list of "Must-make candy at Christmas"
Cheryl – I used a 24oz package of almond bark. Your package is perfect.