If you see my previous post, you’ll see that I have a bipolar popcorn personality. I love the savory, but I love the sweet. To see my savory side today, go here Garlic Dill Parmesan Popcorn.
It was time to balance out the savory with a little dark chocolate. Man, I love some chocolate. I am also wild about dried cherries. Oh my goodness, they are so good. We pick up the big bags at Costco and they don’t last long. My dad got me hooked initially and when I didn’t have access to a Costco, he would mail them to me. Geez, they are good. If you don’t have cherries, you could use dried cranberries, equally delicious.
Mixed with popcorn AND chocolate? Come on.
The little fingers were hard to keep away from this bowl. The mix of sweet dark chocolate, tangy cherries, nutty coconut and lightly salted popcorn were too much. Especially when the chocolate was still ooey, gooey.
Set this out at your Christmas party and offer a change of pace from the typical dessert. When the chocolate cools, it coats the popcorn and makes pieces perfect for snacking. The coconut sticks to the chocolate and adds an extra crunch, while the cherries are so perfectly soft.
This comes together fairly quickly. If you don’t want pop the popcorn yourself, buy an air popped popcorn to save on calories. If you pop it yourself, allow it to cool before adding the toppings, trust me, it will make your life easier. For some reason, freshly popped popcorn caves under pressure from liquids added to it, so I just avoid it altogether. I melt my chocolate in the microwave, because there’s not much of it, but feel free to melt it on the stove, it’s all good. I do a quick toast on my coconut, but it’s not mandatory – it’s quick if you want the extra flavor. And leave those cherries alone, they don’t need your help.
Toss it all together, let it cool and that’s it. The best thing about jazzed up popcorn is that it only gets better after sitting for a little while. So, perfect for parties and for gifting.
Enjoy!
- 8 cups popped popcorn
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup dried cherries
- ¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- ¼ teaspoon course sea salt or kosher salt
- In a small skillet, over medium low heat, add coconut flakes and heat until they start to turn light brown, stirring or shaking the pan occasionally
- Remove from heat
- Add coconut to popcorn in a serving bowl
- Add cherries to popcorn
- In a microwave safe bowl, add chocolate and microwave in 20 second increments, stirring after each heating, until melted through
- Drizzle chocolate over popcorn, cherries, and coconut and toss to coat
- Sprinkle with salt while the chocolate is still soft
- Toss and serve immediately, or wait for chocolate to harden and break into pieces
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