My popcorn kernels, peanut butter, and nutella all bully each other around on their crowded shelf in my pantry. When I pull the peanut butter down, he knocks the nutella over, and when I grab the popcorn kernels, they push the peanut butter off of the ledge. They just won’t play nicely or give each other any personal space!
When I mentioned the predicament to Rebecca at Crave, she encouraged me to create a snack that combined all three. Although tempted to stick them in hour-long timeouts in separate corners of the kitchen, I decided to try her suggestion and get the three to cooperate after all.
With holiday music playing and Christmas lights twinkling, I taught the popcorn, peanut butter, and nutella about the season of love and joy as I stirred, shaped, and drizzled them into a sweet treat. By the end of the night, they erased their names from Santa’s Naughty List and earned an extra present in place of a lump of coal!
modified from this recipe
If allergic to peanuts, substitute almond or cashew butter. These are best if eaten the same day that they’re made.
- Lay a sheet of wax paper on a clean, dry surface.
- In a large pot, mix together the corn syrup, sugar, salt, and peanut butter. Stir over low heat for 4-6 min or until the mixture begins to bubble. Turn off the heat, and stir in the popcorn, ensuring that all of the pieces are evenly coated.
- Working quickly, use about 2-3 tablespoons of popcorn and shape into a ball. Place on the prepared wax paper, and repeat with the remaining popcorn mixture.
- In a small bowl, stir together the nutella and milk. Drizzle over the tops of the popcorn balls.
These look and sound delicious! Love the Nutella inclusion!
Thank you! I find excuses to use it in everything; I’m slightly addicted! :]
Me too! I just made fudge with it! 😉
That’s a brilliant idea!! Will you save me a piece?
no worries 😉
For heaven sake… this looks so good! But I’m trying to cut on the nutella.. but this is tentacional.
Kisses
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There’s very little nutella in these popcorn balls; it’s only drizzled on top. You could substitute melted chocolate instead if you’d like. But they also taste just fine without it!
So, I can PERSONALLY attest to the deliciousness of these little balls of merriment! And to find out that they are relatively healthy? My guilt for eating three as an after-work snack is abolished! I don’t think I’d had a popcorn ball since I was a small child… and eating them brought up both feelings of happy nostalgia and feelings of urgency to start making these a regular household treat!! 🙂
Aww you are too sweet, thank you! I thought about it today, and I actually don’t think I’ve ever eaten a popcorn ball! Lots of caramel corn (from the Boy Scouts), but never a popcorn ball… But I’m now obsessed and dreaming up more flavor combinations! I’m glad you enjoyed them!!
Love this! 🙂 How was it? I think it’d be a perfect accompaniment on the Christmas table, or as a special Christmas gift to a nutella/pb/popcorn addict haha!
They were amazing!! Perfectly crunchy with the right amount of peanut butter and nutella too. They disappeared so quickly; everyone loved them! Thanks again for the idea!! :]
Oh my god, these look absolutely delicious…it’s probably dangerous that I saw this recipe!
The most dangerous part is how easy they are to make! I couldn’t believe how quickly they came together. And since everyone loved them, I was more than happy to make another batch! I’m working on a chocolate version instead of the PB… We’ll see how that goes!
I’ve been looking at popcorn ball recipes and you had me at Nutella! I make a nutella hot chocolate, so I’m always looking for a good excuse to put Nutella in something tasty.
Me too! I started out with a Nutella cookie recipe and realized I should do something else with it, other than eat it straight from the jar. Hot chocolate sounds like an excellent place for it too!