Did you catch me on WCIU’s “You & Me This Morning” talking about homemade Valentine’s Day gift ideas from the Chicago Food Swap? What a fun segment that was! If you would like the recipes for the projects that I demonstrated, you will find them all on the Chicago Food Swap website. I am posting the recipe for the Valentine’s Day Chocolate-Drizzled Popcorn here because that recipe originally appeared on this site last Valentine’s Day.
Last year at this time, Zuzu came to me saying that she wanted to make a special Valentine’s Day treat that she saw on YouTube. I was game to give it a try, but because it was a cooking project, I told Zuzu that we were going to put our own twist on it. I don’t usually take recipes from eighteen-year-old fashion bloggers on YouTube. I’m a food blogger, dammit!
The “recipe” that inspired Zuzu was for a chocolate-drizzled popcorn that you could pack in jars and give to friends for Valentine’s Day. It sounded like a sweet idea, and I felt certain that I could come up with my own version. Because there is very little actual cooking involved — once you’ve popped the popcorn, that is — this is a great project to make with your kids. Zuzu and I had a blast doing it together and it was nice to have some time with her that was free of nagging on my part and eye-rolling on hers.
Among the toppings we experimented with for our popcorn were Valentine’s Day M&M’s, pretzels, white chocolate chips, orange zest and candied ginger. But you can use any toppings that sound good to you, including dried fruits, nuts and peanuts (if no one has a tree nut or peanut allergy), and other small candies such as Red Hots. The key is to add the toppings while the chocolate is still warm and gooey so that they will stick. It is also important, once you’ve added everything you want, to then chill the mixture to set it.
Pack the popcorn mixture gently into Ball jars and decorate with doilies or pretty ribbons. The jars would make nice gifts for teachers, relatives, neighbors or your children’s friends. Zuzu is excited to give the jars that we made to her best gal pals for the second year in a row.
- 2 TB vegetable or coconut oil
- ⅓ cup popcorn kernels
- 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
- 1 TB butter
- 1 tsp. salt
- Assorted sweet and salty toppings, such as dried fruit, nuts, small candies, citrus zest, candied ginger, and crushed pretzel sticks
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in heavy-bottomed pot and add popcorn kernels.
- Cover pot with a lid leaving a small crack for steam to escape. Listen for popping and remove pot from heat as soon as popping stops or slows to a few seconds between pops. (An adult should handle this step.)
- Spread popcorn in an even layer on a foil-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Set aside.
- Melt butter and chocolate in a double-boiler set over simmering water OR a heavy-bottomed pot over a very low flame. Stir to combine. Remove from heat as soon as the chocolate is melted and watch for scorching.
- Scrape chocolate mixture into a quart-size plastic bag and squeeze the chocolate into one corner of the bag.
- Cut off the very tip of the corner of the bag containing the chocolate.
- Gently squeeze the bag to pipe the melted chocolate over the popcorn -- an older kid can do this with supervision.
- While the chocolate is still warm, sprinkle the chosen toppings over the popcorn.
- Chill the tray of popcorn in the fridge until the chocolate is set.
- If desired, gently pack the popcorn mixture into jars -- a funnel helps here -- and decorate.