Dark Chocolate Popcorn

Helga Glaesel de BlandingMarch 20, 2015

This post is also available in / Esta entrada también está disponible en ESPAÑOL (SPANISH)

On Fridays we usually have ladies’ night with my daughter, which means we snuggle in bed in our PJ’s with goodies and a Disney movie. Last Friday we spent part of the afternoon making these chocolate popcorn. We made them on the stove-top because she likes to watch and hear them pop, and I like that they are all natural, for that occasion we wanted to make a sweet version, but honestly I didn’t feel like making caramel popcorn. I wanted something simpler, something like chocolate popcorn, and this recipe using dark chocolate seemed just right.

The only thing I did different is that I tossed the melted chocolate into the popped corn in three batches, to ensure an even coating. I did pop a little more popcorn than the recipe called for, but the next time, I would melt 6-oz. of chocolate instead of the 4-oz. on the recipe. I would also add spices like cinnamon and cayenne pepper, for a grown up version. I did have some pink salt on hand, and since I was going to share this with you, I went fancy and used it.

As for the method of making popcorn on the stove-top, I have used the one found on Simply Recipes, which turns out is the one used as a reference by many other blogs. It works very well, so I don’t think I’ll be looking for another methods. Oh, and you should note that I didn’t add salt to the popcorn, because I was making a sweet version that has its own salt specifications. But if I were making regular popcorn, I would have added a teaspoon of salt in step 2, and some melted butter at the end, giving it a good toss.

Helga

Dark Chocolate Popcorn

Recipes adapted from Simply Recipes and TheKitchn
Yields: for 3-4 people

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ cup popcorn kernels
6-oz. semisweet baking chocolate
1 teaspoon salt (or pink salt, if you’re feeling fancy)
Optional: cinnamon and cayenne pepper, to taste

Procedure, for the stove-top popcorn:

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a medium sized covered pot. Drop 3-4 popcorn kernels into the oil.
As soon as these 3-4 kernels have popped, add the rest of the ½ cup in an even layer. Remove from the heat, cover and count to 30.
Return the pot to the heat. The popcorn should start popping soon, and because we removed them from the heat and counted to 30, we brought the kernels to an almost popping stage, and now that they are back on the burner they will all begin to pop. Keep the lid on the pot slightly ajar to allow steam to escape. This will result in dried and crispier popcorn.
Once the popping slows down to several seconds between pops, remove the pot from the heat, and remove the lid. Be careful, a few still pop and jump out. Dump them immediately into a bowl.

Procedure, for the Chocolate Popcorn:

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and set aside. Have a large bowl ready to mix the popcorn with the chocolate.
Place the chocolate and ½ teaspoon of salt in a microwave-safe measuring bowl. Heat in the microwave in 30-second increments until chocolate is very soft and becomes completely liquid when stirred gently. If adding additional spices, do it at this point.
Add about one-third of the popcorn to a big bowl and pour some of the melted chocolate over it, stirring to coat. Keep adding more popcorn, and some more chocolate and stir to coat as thoroughly as possible after each addition.
After all the chocolate and popcorn have been mixed, spread evenly onto the baking sheet and sprinkle with remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Let sit at room temperature until chocolate has hardened, about 1 hour.
This keeps in an airtight container up to 3 days. Mine was gone on the first night, though.