Easy White Chocolate Christmas Popcorn – 6 ways!
This super easy white chocolate Christmas popcorn recipe is SO simple to make and is the perfect sweet treat for Christmas movie night or to make in bulk to package up & give away as edible gifts!
I love making this simple sweet popcorn recipe – it’s one of my absolute favorite holiday treats of the Christmas season, and everyone else loves it too!
>> Making this as a gift?! Get my FREE printable Christmas popcorn gift tags HERE!
The fact that it’s so easy to customize just makes it even more fun. Use this basic white chocolate popcorn recipe, and then try various toppings for different Christmas popcorn variations:
Here’s what you’ll love about this white chocolate Christmas popcorn recipe:
- It’s SO simple to make! Simple ingredients & super easy process to throw together! If you’re looking for a sweet treat to pack up and give out as gifts but want to take a break from all that holiday baking, this is the perfect recipe.
- It’s great for any Christmas party! People LOVE this stuff! And, especially because it’s so easy to make in bulk, you can make a big batch and serve it as a super easy crowd-pleasing treat.
- It’s perfect Christmas gift for neighbors, teachers, and coworkers. Especially packaged up with these fun Christmas popcorn gift tags, they look like custom-made gifts and are a lovely simple gift on their own, or make for a perfect pairing with a small gift card or as part of a fun gift basket.
- You can make it on a moment’s notice. With simple ingredients and hardly any time to put together, these make for great last-minute Christmas gifts.
- You can customize it to your liking. It tastes great as-is, but you can also get creative with add-ins such as candy cane bits, red & green M&Ms, toffee bits, peanuts, mini peanut butter cups, crushed Oreos, crushed sugar cookies. HAVE FUN!
- It’s the perfect easy treat to have when you watch your family Christmas movies! Serve it up with some mugs of hot chocolate & enjoy!!
Ingredients for this Christmas popcorn recipe:
This recipe is SO basic!
- Microwave popcorn – you can really get any kind, but salty popcorn (vs. kettle) is probably better! I usually just get the one with light butter
- Vanilla baking bark – also known as white almond bark, and basically the same flavor as white chocolate chips except that it melts MUCH more easily
- Christmas sprinkles
- Any add-ins you’d like! Ideas might include: crushed oreos, crushed candy canes, peanuts + mini peanut butter cups, sugar cookie crumbles, toffee bits, Christmas M&Ms
Equipment you’ll need:
- Large cookie sheet covered with foil
- Large mixing bowl
- Spatula
How to make White Chocolate Christmas Popcorn:
I just use my basic white chocolate popcorn recipe & then add in Christmas sprinkles and any other festive toppings!
Step 1: Pop your popcorn
Pop your first bag of popcorn like you normally would in the microwave, and then set it aside.
(If you’re wanting to make as much as I usually do for a batch, I typically pop all 3 of my bags in a row, that way they’re done.)
Step 2: Melt your baking bark
Put 6 ounces (usually 3 cubes) in a microwave-safe bowl, and then microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring between each one. I usually only need to do this 2x (so for a total of 60 seconds in the microwave).
>> Pro tip: You want to make sure to use a bowl that works WELL in the microwave. Don’t use ceramic – it’ll get way too hot in some parts and the baking bark won’t cook evenly.
Step 3: Add PART of the popcorn & Melted baking bark to a large bowl
BUT, to do this: don’t just start to dump the bag into the bowl. If you do, you’ll add the unpopped kernels, and when those mix with the melted white chocolate and then stick to the regular popcorn, it’s not a fun surprise for your teeth.
Instead, shake the bag up and down for about 5 seconds to get the unpopped kernels to fall to the bottom of the bag, and then use your hand to scoop out the popped kernels into the mixing bowl. This will help you avoid all those unpopped kernels at the bottom!
Add part of the melted white chocolate, and then stir somewhat lightly, just so you don’t crush too much of the popcorn.
Step 5: Repeat until you’ve used up the bag of popcorn & Melted Bark
Step 6: Pour onto prepared baking sheet & add holiday sprinkles (and any other toppings)
Line your baking sheet with foil. No need to grease. The popcorn will come right off after the white chocolate dries. Pour out the popcorn mixture – somewhat in a single layer – and then add any toppings. Mix around a little bit, sprinkle on a little more topping if you’d like, and then repeat this process with however many other bags of popcorn you’re going to use.
Step 7: Allow to set
The popcorn will eventually set at room temperature, but if you want to speed up the process, it just takes about 5 minutes in the fridge! (10-15 if you are putting in a big batch) Put the baking sheet of popcorn in the fridge, and then after a few minutes, you can gently lift up the foil from either end and funnel it into a big bowl.
Step 8: Pack it up!
Store in an airtight container or gallon Ziplock bags, or if you’re packing it up as gifts, pour it into mason jars or cellophane bags and tie off with a super cute printable Christmas popcorn gift tag!
>> Get my FREE printable Christmas popcorn gift tags HERE!
ENJOY!
Tips for making this popcorn:
- If you’re going to make this to bring to holiday parties or give away as gifts, I wouldn’t make it more than about 24 hours ahead of time. Even when it’s stored in an airtight container, the popcorn starts to get a little stale after a couple of days. It’ll still taste good, but it won’t maintain that nice crunch after a couple of days.
- Make sure to add your toppings soon after you stir in all the melted chocolate to make sure they actually stick to the popcorn. The chocolate/baking bark will start to harden, so if you don’t sprinkle on your add-ins soon, they won’t stick very well and they’ll fall to the bottom of the bowl or bag.
- Try out the different variations! Here are some ideas:
- For peanut butter lovers 🙋🏻♀️: peanuts & mini peanut butter cups
- To make it extra festive: Christmas M&Ms
- Cookies & cream version: add in crushed & finely chopped Oreos
- Make it a Christmas cookie popcorn: add in crushed & finely chopped sugar cookies
- Gingersnap popcorn: add crushed gingersnaps
- Make it minty! Add crushed peppermint candies or candy canes
- Toffee it up: add crushed toffee bits (you can find these on the baking aisle)
Have fun packing up (and eating up!) these Christmas treats! I hope your holiday season is full of joy & fun!
Easy White Chocolate Christmas Popcorn
Ingredients
- 18 oz white candy bark (also known as vanilla candy coating or almond bark) (6 oz per bag of popcorn)
- 3 bags of microwave popcorn, light butter flavor
- Christmas sprinkles
Other topping or add-in ideas:
- crushed Oreos
- peanuts & mini peanut butter cups
- crushed candy canes
- toffee bits
- crushed sugar cookies
- Christmas M&Ms
Instructions
- Pop each bag of popcorn as you normally would in the microwave.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, add 6 ounces of the white candy bark/white chocolate and place in the microwave for 30 seconds. Remove, stir, and repeat for another 30 seconds. Stir, and if you need to add it to the microwave one more time, just try it for about 20 seconds. It'll likely be fully melted after the 2nd round in the microwave, though! Set aside once it's melted.
- Shake the first bag of popcorn up and down for a few seconds to get the unpopped kernels to fall to the bottom of the bag.
- Using your hand, scoop out about 1/3-1/2 of the popped popcorn into a large bowl. (Don't pour it in so you can avoid the unpopped kernels!) Add part of the melted baking bark to the popcorn, lightly stir, and repeat with remaining popcorn in the bag & melted baking bark.
- Pour popcorn mixture on large baking sheet covered with foil. Immediately add sprinkles (and other toppings) so that it sticks to the melted baking bark.
- Repeat steps 1-5 with other 2 bags of popcorn & remaining baking bark.
- Allow the popcorn set: it'll take about 30 minutes-1 hour for the melted baking bark to harden at room temperature. Or, you can just put the pan in the fridge for a few minutes and it won't take but 5-10 minutes to completely set!
- Gently lift the foil on either end to help break up the popcorn and then use it as a funnel to put all of the popcorn in a large bowl, or break apart and add to goodie bags or mason jars for gift-giving. ENJOY!
Notes
- Make a smaller batch: You can definitely just make a small batch of this. I just almost always make this for large gatherings or to give as gifts, so I like to make 3 bags of popcorn at a time.
- You'll definitely want to melt the chocolate using the process I suggested - microwave for a short time, stir, repeat. If you don't microwave in short increments, and if you don't stir between increments, the white chocolate/baking bark doesn't melt correctly. It just gets clumpy!
- Use these adorable free printable Christmas popcorn gift labels to package this treat up for gifts!