Red, White and Blue Popcorn

No ratings yet

Red, White and Blue Popcorn

A festive, family-friendly red, white, and blue popcorn snack mix packed with crunchy pretzels, roasted peanuts, and patriotic M&M's. Coated in smooth vanilla almond bark and topped with holiday sprinkles, this no-bake crowd-pleaser requires just 10 minutes of prep and is perfect for summer cookouts, movie nights, and holiday potlucks!

Prep Time10

Set Time15

Total Time25

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: cups

Calories: 382kcal

Author: Nora from Savory Nothings

Ingredients

8-10 cups plain lightly salted popped popcorn about 1 microwave bag; or store-bought popped popcorn
2 cups mini pretzel twists roughly broken into pieces
½ cup lightly salted roasted peanuts optional
½ (24-oz) bar Vanilla Almond Bark baking aisle — look for the bricks!
1 (10-oz) bag Red, White, and Blue M&M's
3 tablespoons patriotic sprinkles I like to use a mix of jimmies and star sprinkles

Instructions

Prep: 
Line a large cookie sheet with wax paper or aluminum foil. Get your ingredients ready.
Prep popcorn: 
If you popped your own popcorn, dump it into a large mixing bowl and let it sit until it is completely cool to the touch.
To easily remove unpopped kernels, place a wire cooling rack flat over the top of the bowl. Flip the whole thing upside down over your sink and give it a good shake (do not drop that cooling rack!) Most of the heavy, un-popped kernels will fall right through the rack.
8-10 cups plain lightly salted popped popcorn
Add pretzels and peanuts: 
Measure 1-½ cups of mini pretzels (roughly break them up) and add them to the bowl with the cooled popcorn, along with the peanuts.
Note: Do not add the M&M's yet! Pouring hot melted candy over M&M's makes the colored shells bleed and turn muddy.
1.5 cups mini pretzel twists, ½ cup lightly salted roasted peanuts
Melt the almond bark: 
Break 6 squares of the vanilla almond bark (½ of a whole bar) into a microwave-safe glass bowl. 
Microwave on high for 60 seconds, then give it a stir. Continue heating in short 15-second bursts, stirring each time until it is completely smooth and liquid.  
No need to add any vegetable oil — almond bark is self-thinning and doesn't need it.
½ (24-oz) bar Vanilla Almond Bark
Toss: 
Drizzle the smooth, melted bark evenly over the popcorn and pretzel mixture. I use two spoons or rubber spatulas to GENTLY toss from the bottom up (like a salad!) until everything has a glossy coating.  
Immediately dump the mix out onto your prepared sheet pan and spread it into a single layer.
Make it pretty: 
While the bark is still warm and sticky, scatter the remaining ½ cup broken pretzels, all of the M&M’s and your sprinkles evenly across the top so they lock into the candy coating.
0.5 cups mini pretzel twists, 1 (10-oz) bag Red, White, and Blue M&M's, 3 tablespoons patriotic sprinkles
Let it set: 
Let the pan sit on the counter for 15 minutes until the coating snaps clean to the touch.
  Break the popcorn apart into chunky clusters and serve!

Notes

Ditch the artificial theater butter: Use a plain, air-popped, or lightly salted microwave popcorn for the base. Heavy artificial butter flavor does not mix well with the sweet vanilla coating.
Never use plastic bowls for melting: Melt your vanilla almond bark bricks in a microwave-safe glass or ceramic bowl. Plastic bowls retain moisture and heat unevenly, which can overheat the bark and cause it to seize up into an un-stirrable, chalky block.
The M&M "bleed" warning: Do not toss your colorful M&M's into the bowl with the hot, melted candy coating. Wait until the mix is spread flat on your sheet pan, then scatter the chocolates across the top so they stay bright and beautiful without bleeding into the white bark.

Nutrition