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Sweet and salty and delicious – this Grinch Popcorn will be popular with kids and adults alike at your How the Grinch Stole Christmas movie night.

Closeup on a white serving bowl filled with Grinch Popcorn sitting on a grey table surrounded by Red M&M's and a grinch kitchen towel.

What goes with a movie night better than popcorn?  It can’t be said enough … I love popcorn.  It is so delicious.  I am a popcorn purist.  All I need is a little bit of butter and salt, and I am set.  My family, however, likes sweet popcorn.  For our Christmas Eve Eve celebration with a How the Grinch Stole Christmas theme, Laurie and I came up with this salty and sweet Grinch Popcorn.  It’s the perfect snack for everyone in the family.

Preparing the Popcorn

Collage image showing how to make homemade popcorn.

Step 1: You will need 10 cups of popcorn. We pop our popcorn on the stove (you can find our directions on How to Make Perfect Popcorn here) but you can use air-popped or microwave. 
Step 2: After the popcorn is popped, make sure to remove all of the un-popped kernels.  You don’t want to bite down on one of those! 
Step 3: Once you have made the popcorn, salt it liberally.  It is so nice to taste the salty popcorn with the sweet marshmallow coating.  Not quite like Kettle Corn but close.

Preparing the Marshmallow Popcorn

Collage image showing how to make the marshmallow mixture.

Step 4: To make the Marshmallow Mixture, add 3 tablespoons of butter to a medium saucepan.  Melt the butter on medium heat, stirring occasionally until the butter is completely melted.
Step 5: Add 3 cups of mini marshmallows to the saucepan.
Step 6: Stir until the marshmallows are covered in butter, and then continue to stir until the marshmallows are completely melted.
Step 7: Take the marshmallow mixture off the heat as soon as the last marshmallow has melted.

Making the Marshmallow Popcorn

Collage image showing how to color the marshmallow mixture and use it to cover the popcorn.

Step 8: Add a couple of drops of yellow food coloring and mix until the marshmallow mixture is bright yellow.  When you have a good yellow color, add in one very small drop of blue food coloring and stir.  This combination of food coloring should get you the perfect “Grinch Green” marshmallow mixture.
Step 9: Slowly pour the marshmallow mixture over the popcorn. Using a spoon, gently fold the marshmallow mixture in with the popcorn until the popcorn is mostly covered. The amount of marshmallow mixture you want to add is really up to your own taste. The more you add, the stickier the popcorn will be so we suggest that you add it a bit at a time, stir the popcorn and give it a taste before you add more.

Collage image showing how to add the candy mixins to the Grinch Popcorn.

Step 10: Now pour the popcorn onto a cookie sheet covered with foil or a silpat liner. 
Step 11: Here is the candy that we added to our Candy Corn Popcorn.  We used 1/2 cup of mini marshmallows and red M&M’s to represent the Grinch’s tiny heart that grew three sizes that day! Don’t wait too long to add the candy. You want the marshmallow mixture to still be warm and sticky.  Sprinkle the candy and mini marshmallows onto the popcorn, concentrating on the areas with the drizzled marshmallow mixture.  Allow the popcorn to cool.  Break apart into pieces and serve. 

Expert Tips and FAQ’s

What kind of popcorn should I use?

We make our popcorn from scratch on the stove – nothing is better than that in our opinion. You can find all the tips and tricks you need to make the perfect popcorn right here. You can also use Microwave popcorn but you should use a type that has no butter flavoring added.

How much salt should I put on the popcorn?

The contrast of sweet and salty in this popcorn recipe is super yummy. To get that combination you should lean towards over-salting the popcorn. We try to salt the popcorn as soon as it comes out of the pan so that salt sticks to the hot popcorn.

How long will the popcorn last?

Our family loves this popcorn so it has never lasted longer than a day at our house. This popcorn definitely tastes the best right after it is made but will keep for a few days in an airtight container. The popcorn is a little chewier the next day because the popcorn absorbs some of the moisture from the marshmallow mixture but it still tastes good.

Closeup on a red bowl filled with Grinch Popcorn sitting in front of a Grinch stuffed animal and a copy of the book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Other Grinch Dessert Recipes You Will Love

Step-by-Step Video Tutorial

Grinch PopcornPrint

Grinch Popcorn

Yield 10 cups
Cook Time 10 minutes
Additional Time 5 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes

Sweet and salty and delicious - this Grinch Popcorn will be popular with kids and adults alike at your How the Grinch Stole Christmas movie night.

Ingredients

  • 10 cups Popped Popcorn
  • Salt (to taste)
  • 3 tablespoons Butter (Sweet Cream Salted)
  • 3 cups Mini Marshmallows
  • Wilton Color Right Food Coloring - Blue, Yellow
  • 1/2 Cup Mini Marshmallows
  • M&M Candies – Red

Instructions

  1. Make popcorn.
  2. Salt popcorn and set aside.
  3. Melt butter in medium saucepan on medium heat.
  4. Add mini marshmallows to pan and stir until melted.
  5. Turn off heat.
  6. Add yellow food coloring to the marshmallow mixture..
  7. Add a small amount of blue food coloring to the marshmallow mixture to get the perfect shade of Grinch Green.
  8. Coat popcorn with marshmallow mixture to taste.
  9. Pour coated popcorn into a prepared cookie sheet.
  10. Drizzle remaining marshmallow mixture over popcorn.
  11. Add mini marshmallows and Red M&M's while popcorn still warm.
  12. Allow to cool and serve.

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© Two Sisters Crafting
Cuisine: American / Category: Christmas