The Almond Eater

This Chocolate Gingerbread Popcorn is made with a simple gingerbread syrup and then drizzled with melted chocolate, because why not?! 

What better snack to get you in the mood for the holidays than chocolate gingerbread popcorn? It’s salty and sweet and super easy to prepare. A few weeks back, I asked via Instagram if you preferred gingerbread or peppermint, and much to be surprise, gingerbread was the winner! That’s not to say I’ve been neglecting peppermint—no, no—we’ve got these shortbread cookies to start, but I wanted to give you guys a gingerbread recipe or two to enjoy throughout these next couple weeks. 

I suppose I can’t speak for everyone, but it’s my personal opinion that popcorn is the BEST snack. Correction: the best late night snack. If I’m craving something salty after dinner, I almost always grab some popcorn (bonus: Layla loves it too). The best part about this recipe is that you make the gingerbread “syrup” and then you can add it to however much popcorn you want. 

I know a lot of popcorn recipes call for popping your own popcorn—which you can totally do—but if you want to take the lazy way like I did, I just used a few handfuls of pre-bagged popcorn that I already had in my pantry. 

The gingerbread syrup is made with a few key ingredients, one of them being butter. I tried really hard to keep this healthy with minimal sugar, but I ended up adding a little butter and as a result, the flavor went from good to incredible (as things tend to do with butter). 

Note: if you want to omit the butter, you can do so simply by using double the amount of coconut oil instead, though it won’t taste quite as good (just saying!)

Once you’ve made the gingerbread syrup, you’ll drizzle it over top of the popcorn and stir everything together so it’s nice and combined, then you’ll bake the popcorn at a low temperature for about 35 minutes, which will help the gingerbread flavor to stick. After that, you’ll drizzle some melted chocolate over the popcorn (this part is optional of course) and place the popcorn into the refrigerator only for about 10 minutes, which will help the chocolate to set. 

… sounds complicated but it’s not I swear. I do recommend baking a larger batch so you have this to snack on for more than one night. It’d also be perfect to take to any holiday parties or gatherings. 

In short, I hope you give this quick chocolate gingerbread popcorn a try! Seriously—and I don’t mean to sound repetitive—but it’s the BEST snack. 

Chocolate Gingerbread Popcorn

This chocolate gingerbread popcorn is the perfect holiday snack! It’s made with a gingerbread syrup and then drizzled with melted chocolate, because why not?!

• Author: Erin
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins
• Total Time: 45 mins
• Yield: 4
• Category: snack
• Method: stovetop
• Cuisine: popcorn

Ingredients

• 4 cups or more popped popcorn
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/3 cup melted chocolate

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 200°.
2. Pour popped popcorn into a large bowl and set aside.
3. In a large saucepan, combine molasses, butter, oil, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and stir until everything is melted and mixture is smooth.
4. Remove mixture from heat and pour over top of popcorn, using a large spoon to gently stir so that popcorn is coated.
5. Pour popcorn onto a lined baking sheet (you may need two) and bake in the oven for 35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
6. Once popcorn is done, remove from oven and drizzle chocolate over top, and then place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 10 minutes or so or until chocolate has set.
7. Store in an air tight container.
8. Enjoy!

Keywords: gingerbread popcorn