If you know me well, you know that my love for popcorn is vast and borderline obsessive. It all started when I was a child with our Sunday Popcorn Nights. Remember the Stir Crazy Popper? It was an alien-esque dome-shaped contraption that was half popper, half popcorn bowl and probably kind of unsafe since you had boiling hot oil at pretty much eye level with any child (ahem, me) monitoring the popping progress on the counter.
As kids, we would purposefully put more kernels in than necessary just for the pure joy of watching the popper overflow. The fluffy white popcorn would lift the dome up and suddenly a confetti of freshly popped corn would shower the kitchen. And it was awesome. Every single time.
And then we would drizzle copious amounts of melted butter and salt over the whole shebang and boom, that was dinner. I mean, with seven kids roaming around, you have to make dinner concessions sometimes.
As Warren has witnessed, I have been known to eat a popcorn sprinkled with Parmesan for dinner. I’m an adult and I can do what I want, right? Plus, Parmesan Popcorn is basically a whole grain plus dairy. Round that off with a green smoothie, and I call that a balanced meal!
As I got older I discovered fancy popcorn. At first fancy popcorn just showed up once a year, around Christmas, in the tri-flavor popcorn tin that amazed me to no end. It was like a popcorn revelation. I had no idea popcorn came in flavors, much less sweet flavors.
My air popper got me through some tough times in college and has continued to make me friends when I come bearing massive bowls of popcorn, generally of the over-the-top sweet variety.
Because as much as I love to make complicated desserts, sometimes people just want what their heart wants. And let’s be real, that usually involves Oreos.
My signature party dish is a vat of Oreo Popcorn, which is basically almond bark + crushed Oreos + a pinch of salt. It takes all of ten minutes to put together and about one second for party peeps to descend upon the bowl and inhale. I’m okay with that.
I wanted to put a twist on my favorite popcorn by dressing it up with sprinkles. Which immediately reminded me that Birthday Cake Oreos exist (remember my Birthday Cake Oreo Stuffed Cheesecake Bars? Yeah, I still dream about those). And they are perfection.Which brings me to my contribution to the wonderful thing that is Popcorn Week: Birthday Cake Oreo Popcorn. It’s the same formula as my Oreo Popcorn but I subbed Birthday Cake Oreos and lots and lots of sprinkles!I have thrice made giant batches of this in the past two weeks and every single time it was devoured. If you want to make people love you at any potluck, game night, or BBQ, bring a bowl of this. You will be hailed as a conquering hero.
Birthday Cake Oreo Popcorn
Ingredients
- 1 batch air popped popcorn (1/4 cup kernels for the air popper, or one bag plain microwave popcorn)
- 5 oz. vanilla almond bark (5 squares)
- 2 rows Birthday Cake Oreos, smashed
- ¼ cup rainbow sprinkles
- pinch or two of kosher salt
Instructions
- Pop your popcorn your preferred way (I love my air popper, but you can pop ¼ cup of kernels in 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat on your stove. Be sure to use a heavy pot with a lid!). Put popcorn in a very large mixing bowl.Make sure to remove any stray kernels before mixing in the almond bark!
- Melt almond bark in a glass bowl for 1 minute, then for 30 second increments until smooth (usually takes 2 minutes, total).
- Use a rubber spatula to drizzle half of the melted almond bark over the popcorn. Scatter half of the crushed Oreos, half of the sprinkles, and a pinch of salt over the almond bark. Use the spatula to incorporate ingredients together (use a light touch so you don't smash the popcorn).
- Repeat steps with the remaining ingredients.
- Let the almond bark set and use the spatula to break apart popcorn into clumps. Enjoy!
Notes
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