Peanut Butter Popcorn

This peanut butter popcorn is dangerously snackable. A hot syrup of sugar, honey, and corn syrup gets boiled until thick, then stirred with a full cup of peanut butter and vanilla. Pour that over warm popcorn and peanuts, toss it all together, and you’ve got a sweet-salty crunch that vanishes by the handful.

Keeping the popcorn and nuts warm before coating is a small detail that matters. Warm surfaces help the sticky syrup cling evenly instead of clumping in cold spots. And that 2-minute hard boil on the syrup is just long enough to reach the right consistency without turning it into brittle.

Chef Tips

• Keep the popcorn warm in a low oven while you make the syrup. Cold popcorn causes the coating to seize up on contact
• Work fast once you add the peanut butter. The syrup starts setting as it cools, so mix and pour quickly
• Spread the coated popcorn on parchment to cool in a single layer. Piled up, it’ll stick together in one giant clump
• Use crunchy peanut butter instead of separate peanuts for a more even distribution of nut pieces

Variations

• Chocolate drizzle: Melt a few ounces of dark chocolate and drizzle over the cooled popcorn
• Spicy kick: Add a pinch of cayenne to the syrup for a sweet-heat twist
• Trail mix version: Toss in dried cranberries or raisins after coating while the syrup is still tacky