Peppermint Bark Popcorn

I make peppermint bark every year for Christmas. It's easy to make and great to give away as gifts.  Everyone loves peppermint bark!  I found a new recipe for peppermint bark that I will be trying out in a few weeks. In the meantime, I found this great recipe for peppermint bark popcorn. Thank you Pinterest.

You know those yummy popcorns you can get at your local big box store.... they have white chocolate, caramel, zebra (white and dark chocolate)... This is kind of like those. It turns out with a nice smooth candy finish. A bit on the addictive side.

You will need:  popcorn, almond bark, candy canes, peppermint extract. If you cannot find almond bark, I think that white chocolate chips would work just as well.

Pop about 8 cups of popcorn. I made fresh popcorn, but you can use microwave as well. I like to make my own to control the butter and salt. Divide popcorn in half and put in two large bowls.

Crush candy canes. My pack of candy canes had 8 regular size candy canes in it. The most difficult part is getting the wrappers off the candy canes. Seriously, who wraps these things? I finally figured out that if I put the wrapped candy canes on the counter and smacked them with a pan, they would break just enough to come out of the wrapper. Then I put them in the food processer. They came out nice and powdery. It is just as fun to put them in a ziploc bag and smack the dickens out of them with a rolling pin. Kind of therapeutic (in case you get stressed out trying to unwrap them like I did). Mix 3/4 of candy cane into the popcorn (divide between the two bowls).

Melt almond bark according to package. I melted mine in the microwave. Took about 1.5 minutes. Add 1 tsp of peppermint extract. Add the remaining crushed candy canes into the almond bark mix. Mix into the two bowls of popcorn. This is a bit messy :)

Spread evenly onto wax paper and leave to harden. This took about 30 minutes. Enjoy! 

I had a little of the almond bark/candy cane mixture left, and it was too good to waste. So, I grabbed a few pretzels and dipped them. I have to say, these are wonderful as well. Next time I will reserve more of the candy mixture and make more pretzels.

I hope you enjoy these as much as my family did. They are worth the mess to make.