So here’s a question for you: What’s a girl to do when she a) has a cooking blog, b) has a husband who insists upon not calling the oven repairman and fixing the oven himself, even though the oven has currently been inoperable for 20 days, and c) the heat index has been hovering between 107 and 115 degrees, plus humidity? My answer? Subsisting on microwave popcorn and Popsicles. I kid you not.
Sara and I have been working on a big project on the side here and a few months back, she called me wondering if I could send her my recipe for peanut butter cup popcorn. And I informed her that she must be mistaken and that it was her recipe. Apparently it was not her recipe (and not mine, unless I was sleep blogging again, because I don’t remember adding it to our list!) But the wheels in my head started turning and I started thinking, “We-ellll…if I were to make peanut butter cup popcorn, this is how I’d do it!” A little experimentation later and I’m pretty sure I’ve discovered the 8th deadly sin.
I feel like after all the feta recipes last month, it’s been awhile since we’ve posted something sweet. Since, due to my ovenlessness, baking is out of the question, and because I seem to have some summer-induced ADD and can’t seem to muster the concentration necessary to make ice cream, we have arrived at popcorn. Evil popcorn. Peanut butter- and chocolate-covered whole grain–a sheep in wolf’s clothing.
Part of what makes this recipe so dangerous is because it’s super, super quick and easy, you’re only a few minutes away from peanut buttery diet ruin. Part of what makes it so easy is using peanut butter chips from the baking aisle mixed with a little shortening or cooking oil to make it smooth and easy to coat the popcorn with. You’ll need about 1 1/2 packages of peanut butter chips. Save the rest for a batch of cookies down the road. Okay, who am I kidding? Those peanut butter chips will be hidden on a high shelf, far away from sticky jam hands and secretly snacked upon in moments of weakness. Not that I know from ANY firsthand experience.
What else will you need? Popcorn (I used 2 bags of Orville’s simply salted popcorn; it doesn’t matter TOO much, but try to stay away from heavily buttered stuff), honey roasted peanuts, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Then you just heat the peanut butter chips and shortening in a microwave-safe bowl for a few minutes until it’s completely smooth.
Pour it over your popcorn and toss to coat the popcorn evenly.
Then spread the popcorn on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Heat the chocolate in a Ziploc bag just until it’s melted and smooth (mash it around in your hands to see how smooth it is–it doesn’t need to be hot, just melted). Then you can cut a small corner in the hole of the bag and drizzle the chocolate over the popcorn and allow it to set up. You can pop the pan in the fridge or freezer to hurry up the process if you need to.
Then break it up into small pieces and snack away! You could easily fill cellophane bags, plastic cups, or small buckets from the $1 section of Target for individual serving or gift-giving.
2 bags of Simply Salted (or similar) popcorn (or about 20 cups of popped popcorn)
2 c. honey roasted peanuts
3 c. peanut butter chips (I used Reese’s)*
2/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips *
1 Tbsp. vegetable shortening or oil
Place the peanuts popped popcorn in a very large bowl. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the peanut butter chips and vegetable oil or shortening and heat for 2-2 1/2 minutes or until smooth, stirring every 30 seconds. Drizzle the melted peanut butter chips over the popcorn and peanuts and toss to combine.
Questions & Reviews
I see that a couple of people have asked if you can substitute peanut butter for the melted peanut butter chips and if so, what would the measurement be? I can’t see that question has been answered. Any thoughts on that?
DELISH! AMAZING! OMG THIS IS HEVEAN!
All responses from our car club when I showed up with two bags of this wonderful popcorn. They were waiting for us when we got there as I posted pictures of me making this the night before, I know I am evil. 🙂
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I think I might make this again for the girls after game softball snack.
My Little Chefs made this. It’s a great recipe for kids! http://www.fivelittlechefs.com/2012/03/peanut-butter-cup-popcorn.html
Definitely delicious! Thanks for sharing such great recipes! I swirled some white chocolate on top which was a great touch….
I just made this popcorn this evening and can’t believe how good it is! My husband tried it and I can’t even say his reaction let’s just say he liked it alot 🙂 keep up the delicious recipes!!
So, I made the popcorn following the directions I posted right above this comment and it was so yummy! It was crispy, yet chewy also and had a great balance of flavor that was not over powering. We all enjoyed it last night for our game night treat!
So, I am 7 months prego and a total pb and chocolate fan. My sis in law made this recipe for monday night football “mans night” at her house and posted a pic on facebook. It sounded delish, so I decided to make for my game night tonight. I am making a few changes and will have to let you know how it goes. I popped 2 bags of popcorn and coated with the caramel sauce from your cinnabon popcorn recipe, excepted omitted the cinnamon. I am currently baking it in the oven to give it that crispness. I will then proceed to coat it with a combo of 1 1/2 c pb chips and 1 1/2 c chocolate chips and then swirl melted white chocolate over the finished project before cooling in the fridge. I will let you know how it turns out!
I made this today and it was yum! I wonder how to keep it somewhat crisp? I chilled it to firm it up but it seemed to take on moisture at room temp. Kind of melty in hand and chewy. Very yummy but liked it better right out of the fridge. Thoughts? I used a large bag of Trader Joe’s reduced guilt popcorn. Thanks in advance!!
First… I got so excited to see this recipe because I love everything in it and I knew I had everything to make it. So excited I melted the peanut butter chips and the chocolate chips together… darn, oh well, still sounds good! Still excited I realized I didn’t have peanuts I had almonds… I love almonds so we are good, still! Really, really, excited I went to put the sheet pan into the fridge and it the door…Ka-Boom everything flew all over the floor! A clean floor at that! Needless to say the kids felt like it was “safe” to eat because I had just cleaned the floor… Laughing! Next time I’ll slow down with excitement!!! It was still good stuff!!! ~Amy
Do you think coconut, canola or peanut oil could be used? We tend to avoid shortening and vegetable oil. Thanks, love your recipes! 🙂
Yep, definitely! I’d stick with canola or peanut because coconut oil might make the pb chip coating too soft.
…… I don’t even know what to say…… I think this is the first time ever I have wanted to run into my kids room and wake them up – I NEED TO GET TO THE store so i can make this … this looks delicious!!!!! Thank you soo so much for posting!
It's my dad's birthday tomorrow and I'm making him this recipe, along with the cinabon popcorn!! YUM!!
OMG, I can't beleive I am just finding this recipe. I am so happy right now. Thanks
Could you substitute the peanut butter chips with just peanut butter? If so, would it be 3 cups? I had all ingredients except the chips on hand so just trying to save a trip to the store.
Hi! I just wanted to say that I made this and it was awesome. I drizzled half of the popcorn with semi-sweet chocolate and half with almond bark b/c I love dipping nutter butters in white chocolate so I thought that would be delicious. I'm not sure which I liked better! Thanks for another great recipe!
Okay, I saw this on here weeks ago . . .
and then I got hungry . . .
what did I do? kinda imitate it. butter . . . peanut butter . . . chocolate chips . . . .
Let's just say my roommates have made me vow never to make this ever. Again. it's just far too fiendish! too devilish! TOO GOOD.
This sounds utterly awesome, and soooo easy! Thanks for the great idea!
Cheers! Leslie
@Kate …. it appears (from googling, etc) that the Reeses PB chips ARE indeed gluten free. not dairy-free, but I do allow my son minute amounts of dairy at times, so I might very well have to try this mix and see how we like it. The popcorn you use is already the brand we use 🙂
Thanks again for such a yummy looking recipe! 🙂
Jenn–I glanced at the ingredients and they do seem to be gluten-free, although they do have a bit of reduced minerals whey in them (I don't know how sensitive he is to dairy).
Hope that helps! 🙂
Do you happen to know if any peanut butter chips are gluten-free? Or, do you know if you could somehow use peanut butter instead? This sounds delicious and sounds like something my older Gluten and Dairy free son would LOVE!
help! 🙂
This looks deadly! 🙂
This popcorn is amazing and super easy! I brought it to a gathering last night and it got rave reviews 🙂
wow, this looks fabulous. i can't wait to try it!
Has anyone substituted chunky peanut butter? I don't have any pb chips and this looks to-die-for! 🙂
mmmmm. These look so yummy. I love order popcorning popcorn.
I showed my husband the post and he said, " THAT LOOKS AMAZING!" (it a capital letters kind of voice, no less!) Guess what we are making Sunday night?!?! (our traditional popcorn night!)
PS. I shared this site with our cooking group at church and its become a ward revolution 😉 everyone LOVES it and reports back on all the fantastic stuff they've tried from here. You guys are AWESOME!
I am new fan, but have tried many of your recipes this week…this peanut butter popcorn, the spicy cucumbers, chicken tortilla soup, brazilian lemonade, and we are doing the grilled pizza tomorrow. I have to admit, I am not much of a cook either and I have loved these recipes! THANKS! They all turned out fabulous (the soup was a little too strong for my 2 year old and my husband, but i think I added too much lime and I will just do one pepper next time). It was perfect for me! THANKS again!
ok, you need to move home to make all your wonderful recipes for me. love
I'll be making this this afternoon! I forgot the peanuts but I'm sure it will be amazing wither way. 🙂 I've been fantasizing about it since I read the post yesterday. I am not a go out and get the ingredients for a recipe now type person either. I am usually willing to wait until my next shopping trip, but not this time!