Oreo Peppermint Popcorn

The kids and I made this delicious popcorn for Christmas gifts this year. My eight year old spent a lot of time learning to curl ribbon with a scissors as we packaged various homemade gifts.

This recipe contains one of my favorite combinations--chocolate and mint. Except for a few years after I was pregnant with Maddie and developed an extreme aversion to peppermint (I was so thankful for cinnamon-flavored toothpaste or I would have been concocting my own blend!), my favorite flavor of ice cream has been mint chocolate chip.

So, what better way to improve on oreo popcorn than by adding a little peppermint flavor? I was completely into peppermint this Christmas season! (You should have seen all the recipes I was collecting on my Pinterest boards!)

Here's the recipe:

Oreo Peppermint Popcorn (adapted from Plain Chicken)

18 cups air-popped popcorn
1 24 ounce package almond bark
20 oreos, crushed
1/2 cup finely crushed candy canes or other peppermint candy

Place popcorn in large bowl. Melt almond bark according to package directions and stir into popcorn. Once almond bark is well-mixed with the popcorn, stir in oreos. After oreos are combined, stir in crushed candy pieces. Lay out on waxed paper until hardened. Then break up and store in tightly-sealed container.

I like this recipe because it provides a hint of peppermint flavor without being overwhelming. If you want to kick up the peppermint a notch, add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon peppermint extract or one drop peppermint oil to your almond bark before stirring into the popcorn.

If you, like my husband, do not care for peppermint, this recipe is fabulous without the crushed candy!