Dulce de Leche Popcorn

dulce de leche popcorn

I couldn’t get chocolate and popcorn out of my head.

Combining two of my favorite snacks (yes, chocolate is a snack) in one sweet bowl became a goal. And I wanted to add more: something more indulgent, something sticky, something salty, something crunchy. So Dulce de Leche Popcorn was born.

This is like caramel popcorn but 10,000 times better. There’s freshly popped popcorn, sweet and creamy dulce de leche, walnuts, cashews, chocolate toffee bites, all finished with a sprinkling of flaky sea salt. Waaaayyyyy better than any standard caramel popcorn.

Remember when I hosted a Golden Globes party with Lindt chocolate? One of the recipes for the night was a Peanut Butter Pretzel Caramel Popcorn from Two Peas & Their Pods. I wanted to create something similar and hey whaddayaknow, it seems quite appropriate for Oscars weekend.

My boyfriend got a popcorn maker for Christmas so we’ve been enjoying some hot and fresh pops regularly. I typically make salty and savory popcorn (butter, truffle oil and parm, etc) but I’ve been itching to use dulce de leche for a few weeks. Plus I still have a couple of bags of Lindt HELLO Toffee Bites. A few more pantry staples, a sprinkling of sea salt, and we have Dulce de Leche Popcorn. This pairs nicely with a sweet cuvee:

freixenet sweet cuvee

I received a generous shipment of  cava from Freixenet and liked this one the most. I’m a big fan of their wines and even visited their winery in Spain a few months ago. Popcorn and bubbly are the perfect pairing for viewing the biggest award show, but I don’t need to be watching the Oscars to enjoy this bowl of happiness:

dulce de leche and chocolate popcorn

This Dulce de Leche Popcorn is a snack, yes, but it also doubles as dessert. Or appetizers. Or a meal, there’s no judgement here.

Yield: serves 4-6

Dulce de Leche Popcorn

Ingredients

6 cups plain popcorn
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup Lindt HELLO Toffee Bites
1/2 cup dulce de leche
1 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

  1. Combine popcorn, walnuts, cashews, and chocolates in one big mixing bowl.
  2. In a small microwave-safe bowl, heat dulce de leche in 30 second increments, until soft and smooth, whisking in between. I ended up just heating for a total of 1 minute.
  3. Pour dulce de leche on top of popcorn mixture and toss until everything is coated and well-combined.
  4. Finish with a sprinkling of sea salt. Serve immediately.

sweet and salty caramel popcorn

All the popcorn photos on this blog post were taken by my very talented friend Chris McIntosh. Check out his beautiful photos on his website and on Instagram. He also took the pics for these Chocolate Cherry Truffle Brownies.

What’s your favorite popcorn flavor?

   

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