while i was at target the other day, the idea of making christmas popcorn {literally} popped into my head. i was super thrilled at the thought! so, i grabbed a bunch of ingredients and put it into the shopping cart to create the yummy goodness.

my first attempt was an utter failure. our microwave is old, it’s a hand me down from the house and it’s quite unpredictable on how it heats our food. we have a new one, but we won’t put it out until we remodel our kitchen. so i burnt the popcorn and burned the chocolate. fail. i was super bummed and a bit frustrated.

i cleared my head and tried again. this time, it was a complete success! i figured out the right cooking time for the popcorn and decided to melt the chocolate over the stove instead. perfecto. the popcorn was fluffy and the chocolate melted seamlessly {no clumps, no seizing, no graininess}.

[mulit-tasking: writing thank you cards and collecting ingredients for my baking excursion]

as for the popcorn, you can either pop it the old fashioned way, buy kernels and pop it over the stove {it depends on if you want your popcorn free of other flavors}. i chose to use the microwave bags of buttered popcorn.

what you will need:

four bags of microwavable buttered popcorn bags

two 12 oz. bags of white chocolate morsels

one 12 oz. bag of milk chocolate morsels

one bag of mini m&m’s

red and green nonpereils

one bag of mini pretzels

one dozen 32 oz wide mouth ball jars

red twine or raffia to decorate with

[popped corn]

[melting white chocolate // use a double broiler (fill the bottom pot with one inch of water) boil the water and then turn down the heat // add the chocolate to the top pot – constantly stir the chocolate until there are a few lumps left, remove the chocolate and continue to stir…it will all melt eventually from the heat]

i started with small batches of popcorn. i used two bowls to separate it. a big bowl to make the christmas popcorn in and a smaller bowl to house all the popped corn. i put a small batch of popcorn into the big bowl and drizzled it with the melted white chocolate. i then sprinkled in red and green nonpareils and mini m&m’s. i then took another batch of popcorn and repeated the steps until i used up all the fresh popcorn and all the nooks and crannies where filled with tasty sugary morsels.

[christmas popcorn]

after i made the popcorn, i then dipped pretzels in first, the white chocolate and then i made a batch in milk chocolate. i used wax paper to place all the dipped pretzels and plus, it’s easy to pull off the finished goods. i sprinkled the dipped pretzels in green and red sugar, and rainbow nonpareils to dress them up.

i let the popcorn and pretzels dry and harden up for about an hour. after everything was set, i packed up all the goodies in large ball jars {i love ball jars…so many fun uses}. i like the wide mouth jars so it’s easier to transfer the goodies in and easy to pull it out and eat!

[white chocolate pretzels]

i packed the christmas popcorn first and then topped off the jar with the white dipped pretzels and then the milk chocolate dipped pretzels. i wrote merry christmas on little tags and used raffia string and twine to tie it together for a finished festive look.

[christmas popcorn // ball jar // twine and tag]

annnndd, ta da! christmas popcorn and pretzels! so cute, fun, and tasty. it’s a perfect homemade gift for the holidays for loved ones, neighbors, or co-workers!

xoxo