Popcorn can be a nice, healthy treat. Well, healthy until you coat it with chocolate and add in a bunch of Nerds candy. Then, maybe not so healthy. But healthy isn’t the point of making chocolate covered popcorn with Nerds. Fun is.
This was made as a fun surprise for my kids. They had no idea that I had made it until I pulled it out of the cabinet. That’s one of the fun parts of having kids in school – they’re easy to surprise because they aren’t always home with you. They already know I like Nerds with chocolate ever since I made the Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Monsters, which also had Nerds as a topping.
I used dark chocolate for this recipe because it’s my favorite. If you want to go for looks, try it with white chocolate. The Nerds should show up better that way too.
I made a bunch of popcorn with my Stir Crazy popcorn popper. That leaves a little oil on the popcorn, but really not enough to notice. I wouldn’t recommend using store bought microwave popcorn for this recipe as I’m not at all sure what the butter flavoring would do to the taste.
If you really want to microwave your popcorn, you can prepare plain popcorn for the microwave. Pour about a quarter cup of popcorn kernels into a lunch size paper bag. Fold the end over a time or two and place in the microwave. Cook about as long as you would store bought microwave popcorn – maybe two minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the popping slows down enough.
Don’t burn popcorn in the microwave. My daughter has a friend who prefers it that way and did it once at my house. We had to open all the windows on a cool day because it smelled so awful. She was happy, though. I tried some, and it tasted as bad as it smelled.
When you have enough popcorn made, it’s time to prepare the chocolate. Place the popcorn in a large bowl, bigger than it looks like the popcorn needs. You’ll be doing a lot of stirring.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between rounds, until it’s completely melted. Pour over the popcorn and stir a few times.
Add in the Nerds candy after those first few stirs. Now you really want to stir things up, so that the popcorn is thoroughly coated.
If you’re using dark chocolate, you won’t be able to see the Nerds in there very well. That’s okay – you’ll still taste them, and that’s all you need.
Spread the chocolate popcorn out on a baking sheet that has been covered in parchment paper. The better you spread it out, the easier it will be to break into chunks later. Refrigerate until the chocolate has solidified, perhaps 15-30 minutes.
Break up the clumps and put into a container. I used an old gallon pickle jar I had around the house. They’re pretty useful sometimes, so I keep a few.
The chocolate covered popcorn with Nerds was a big hit with the kids. We adults liked it too.
- 5 cups popped popcorn
- 8 oz dark chocolate chips or chopped into small pieces
- 2 oz Nerds candy
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Place popcorn in large bowl with plenty of room for mixing. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Place chocolate in small bowl and melt in 30 second increments until completely melted. Stir between rounds.
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Pour melted chocolate over popcorn and give a quick stir to lightly coat popcorn.
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Add in Nerds and keep stirring popcorn until thoroughly coated.
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Spread chocolate popcorn on covered baking sheet as well as possible. Refrigerate 15-30 minutes, or until chocolate has solidified.
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Break up large chunks of popcorn and place in storage container or serving bowl. Enjoy.
You can be very approximate with measurements in this recipe. It's very flexible.
