½cupcreamy peanut butter(natural peanut butter is not recommended)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 250℉. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Add popped popcorn and peanuts to a very large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, heat honey and sugar over medium heat until simmering. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Stir in vanilla and peanut butter.
Pour the hot mixture over the popcorn and stir to coat, working quickly.
Spread onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Stir and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes.
Cool and enjoy. This treat is best eaten the day it's prepared.
Notes
10 cups of popped popcorn is about the amount in a 3.29-ounce bag of microwave popcorn. Use a plain or sea salt variety.
A great shortcut for this recipe is to use bagged popcorn. A 5-ounce bag (like Boom Chicka Pop Brand) has about 11 to 12 cups of popcorn. Use a plain or sea salt variety.
Add ins: Stir in ½ cup of Reese’s Pieces, mini Reese’s peanut butter cups, or M&M’s after popcorn has cooled.
Chocolate drizzle: After baking, let the popcorn cool slightly. According to package directions, melt ⅔ cup Ghirardelli Dark or Milk Chocolate wafers and drizzle over the popcorn. Let set 15 minutes, and enjoy.
Do you have to bake this popcorn? You CAN enjoy this without baking; however, it will remain sticky. The additional step of baking helps dry the popcorn and makes it less messy to eat.