Gourmet Chocolate Popcorn

Put your stamp on homemade gifts this year with gourmet chocolate popcorn.  From customizing the flavor to picking the color of the chocolate and the toppings, you can make your own delicious treat for all your holiday parties and gifts. Perfect to hand out or always have on hand for snacking. We can’t wait to see what you think.

We love to attend the Gourmet Chocolate Popcorn class with Brad McDonald during our Chocolate Extravaganza. Through the years he has become a popcorn expert, as he makes hundreds of gallons of this yummy treat every year. We love sharing all of his tips and tricks so that you can have a great experience making popcorn at home.

We have compiled all that he has learned and can’t wait to share it with you! Trust us, anyone can make Gourmet Chocolate Popcorn. Keep reading to learn all about how.

Popcorn

To make gourmet popcorn, you have to start with the right kind of corn. Traditional white or yellow popcorn you can usually get from the grocery store pops into thin fragile pieces. These break easily, making them a mess for coating in chocolate.

We always recommend you use Monster Mushroom Popcorn instead. This pops into beautiful sturdy spheres, suitable for coating in chocolate (or caramel). The size and structure of the popped kernels matters when you want to add all that coating. And we have found that the mushroom popcorn just holds up better.

Next, the method for popping also matters. You know you can pop popcorn in the microwave and on the stovetop, but these methods aren’t always reliable for the mushroom popcorn. You must use an air popper to pop your corn. The heat and airflow of these machines allows for big fluffy kernels with no additional oil or butter necessary. Because popping with oil may make it more difficult to coat the popcorn with chocolate.

After popping the corn, place the popcorn in to a large popcorn sifter. Gently shake over a box or garbage can to remove any unpopped kernels. You know, the pieces that can break your teeth! This little trick helps your popcorn to be easy to eat and delicious in every bite.

Chocolate:

The next ingredient you need is chocolate. Use an oil-based compound chocolate for gourmet popcorn. This popcorn melts easily and coats evenly. Either Guittard A’peels or Van Leer Snaps are a great option. Choose your flavor – white, milk, dark, or any other fun flavors available at Gygi.

Last decide how you’ll embellish your chocolate. Keep reading to learn more about adding flavoring or coloring, as well as suggestions for additional toppings.

Flavoring + Coloring:

Adding flavoring to your chocolate is the first step to making your chocolate gourmet. You can add the flavoring to the base coat of chocolate for a more pronounced flavor. Or you can add flavoring to the drizzle chocolate for a subtle accent.

Either way, take a peek at the ingredients of your flavoring before adding to the chocolate. You need to make sure you use an oil-based flavor when mixing with chocolate! And it isn’t always obvious. LorAnn Oils is a brand has a lot of different flavors, and when shopping these products in particular you want to make sure the label says “lemon oil” or “anise oil” instead of “lemon flavor.” And we highly recommend using a dropper, so you don’t accidentally overdo it on your flavors. Need a reference sheet? This PDF from LorAnn lists all the flavors appropriate for use in chocolate. And here is a simplified version of just the oils, if that is what you are interested in.

If you want to try a water-based flavor, you will need to take some extra precautions. Oil-based chocolate and water-based flavoring (or coloring) do not mix together. So, you can try using a product called Flo Coat to coat the flavoring or coloring to give you a little window of time to mix them together. Using this product (or other similar methods) isn’t a 100% guarantee for success. So we recommend starting with a clearly marked oil-based flavoring for your first batch (with oil listed as the only ingredient). And when you get more accustomed to the process an start feeling adventurous, then try using some of the other flavor options and Flo Coat.

Now, Brad the Dad has been making popcorn for years an has grown very adept at mixing and matching his popcorn flavors. Some of our favorite flavors and combinations from him include:

• Cinnamon Bear
• Mint
• Peanut Butter
• Sea Salt Caramel
• Orange + Black Licorice
• Sriracha
• Lime + Coconut

Toppings

The fun doesn’t end there. Adding additional topping takes your popcorn from plain to gourmet. Consider a variety of textures and flavors – chewy, crunchy, sweet, & salty.

Add the topping immediately after coating the popcorn with the chocolate. While the chocolate is still warm, sprinkle the topping on the popcorn. The topping will stick to the warm chocolate.

If you’re adding large chunks of candies or cookies, consider combining with the popcorn before coating. This will coat the topping and the popcorn together, which will make a more cohesive treat.

Here are a few suggested toppings, but use your imagination!

• Nuts – peanuts, almonds, macadamia, walnuts, cashews
• Coconut – sweetened or toasted
• Cookies – Oreos or vanilla wafers
• Sprinkles
• Crushed Peppermint
• Chopped Chewy Candies – cinnamon bears or orange slices

Tools:

• Half-size baking sheet pan
• Air Popcorn Popper
• Popcorn Sifter
• Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl
• Silicone Chocolate Melting Bowl
• Silicone Spatula
• Mushroom Popcorn
• Compound Chocolate
• Colored Chocolate
• Flavoring Oils