Sunday was my mom’s birthday, and I found a fabulous pottery bowl that I knew she’d love as a gift. But you can’t just give an empty bowl, right? My mom loves crunchy, and chocolate, so I made this wonderfully sweet and salty snack mix for her. And, good mom that she is, she said it was the best thing ever. Well, that’s not a direct quote, but I think that’s what she meant. The bowl I gave her is not the one in the photo, by the way. That’s the excess mix that I was forced to consume after taking the picture.
Chocolate and Sea Salt Popcorn Mix
- 8 cups freshly popped popcorn
- 4 cups mini pretzel twists
- ½ cup roasted, salted pistachios
- ½ cup butter
- 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 30 large marshmallows (not mini, not jumbo)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon flaked sea salt
1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Spray a large roasting pan or rimmed cookie sheet with cooking spray. In pan, combine popcorn, pretzels, and pistachios. Set aside.
2. In large heavy saucepan, combine butter and chocolate. Heat, stirring, over medium low heat until melted. Stir in marshmallows and continue heating and stirring until they are melted and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
3. Pour over popcorn mixture and toss gently to coat evenly. Spread evenly in pan and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake at 275 for about 20 minutes or until crisp, stirring halfway through.
Click here for the printable recipe
I made this last week, when we had rain and about 148 percent humidity. It was crisp when I took it from the oven, but got a little soggy soon thereafter. I packaged my mom’s with a note to reheat it at 300 degrees for 10 minutes, and it crisped right back up, she said. Not to mention that when I re-crisped my portion, it tasted even better warm from the oven, while we watched a little Denver Bronco football.
Hey Megan, Can I use microwave popcorn for this recipe? Looks yummy!
It should work fine, Kim…our microwave (a built-in) won’t pop popcorn, so I have to make it on the stove and can’t test the microwave kind for you! I think a bag is around 8 cups popped, though, so would be perfect!
Sounds yummy. Thanks for the recipe, although a tasting party might have been fun, too! :}