S’mores popcorn

    A few weeks ago, after making pumpkin pie caramel corn, I asked my readers and social media followers what kind of popcorn I should make next. One of the responses that stuck out to me was s'mores popcorn! I thought it was a great idea to squeeze in at the end of campfire season as we start to get warm and cozy inside for the winter. After all, who says campfire flavors have to stay outside?

    I started off by thinking about each ingredient and how I can incorporate them into a popcorn. I didn't just want to make popcorn with marshmallows and chocolate chips and graham cracker bits. That would just be like a popcorn trail mix, and I wanted s'mores flavored popcorn!

I thought maybe it would be smart to make some kind of caramel corn base, that way whatever I add to it would stick together and you'd be guaranteed to get some of each integral more flavor in each bite. It was then that I remembered my mom would make marshmallow flavored caramel when I was young. I went ahead and added marshmallows to my caramel-like base.

    As my marshmallows melted I almost slapped my forehead as I remembered how to make Rice Krispie treats! Of course! 

    I couldn't believe I didn't think of it sooner! As soon as the marshmallows were fully melted I added as much of the popcorn that could fit in the pan and I covered the kernels. I then transferred the coated kernels to the rest of the uncoated and quickly mixed. I did it this way because I was worried about the marshmallows getting too sticky once they were taken off of the heat. 

    Next, I thought 'who doesn't like chocolate covered things?' So, I started to melt some almond bark. I chose almond bark over chocolate chips because I find it slightly less melty once covering things. Because you eat popcorn with your hands I figured it would be better to go with a less melty chocolate. I also added the rest of the bag of marshmallows to the popcorn and mixed them in while I was waiting for the chocolate to melt. 

    This next part could be a little controversial but as a kid I would always burn my marshmallows because I was too impatient to achieve the perfect golden brown. I have since changed my ways, you could call me a reformed marshmallow burner. However, I was curious to see if I could achieve that signature s'more smokey flavor. I had the idea to slightly burn my chocolate. When you burn chocolate it gets dry and flaky so to make sure it could still coat my popcorn I used the trick of 'rehydrating' my chocolate with heavy whipping cream and mixing over low heat just until it looks like normal melted chocolate again. In my opinion it worked wonderfully and it gave it that little campfire flavor but I understand if that extra step is not something you would want to do. 

    Once the chocolate was ready I broke up some graham crackers and poured the chocolate over it all. I then gave everything a mix until the chocolate coated everything in my bowl. I tasted my concoction as soon as it was cool enough and it was amazing! The popcorn was gooey and marshmallowy without being soggy and the graham crackers gave a perfect crunch! 

    Let me know if you try this recipe and if you like it! Comment something else I should turn into a s'more.