I created this recipe for 3 reasons:

1. It was a great summery snack for our game night
2. I’m doing recipe research for a “popcorn bar” at my brother’s upcoming wedding
3. I wanted to win a family debate about s’mores

My mother and sister were complaining that “s’mores are too sweet,” while I maintain they’re pretty much a requirement if you’re going camping. (Yay! In 4 days!)

Keeping their concerns about sticky sweet flavors in mind, I compared recipes on Pintrest and decided to make up my own version.

Simplicity is much valued for quick snacks and wedding favors. So I decided to skip any recipes that required making hot caramel sauces or breaking up actual graham crackers. Instead I went with sweetened graham cereal, bittersweet chocolate and a little bit of sea salt.

I took my first batch around to my family to taste and critique. My sister declared it “the best sweet popcorn she’d ever tasted” and my mom said it was perfect, she really liked the flavor balance. I like the sweet & salty as well as the crispy / crunchy / chewy balance of the different textures.

Success! Everyone is happy and I was able to mix up more in a few minutes when the part my family didn’t eat quickly disappeared at our game night. This should take you just a few minutes, mostly depending on how you happen to pop your popcorn.

Salted S’more popcorn

• 1/2 cup popcorn, unpopped (this is about 18 cups of popped popcorn)
• 4 cups golden grahams cereal (about half of a 12 oz. box)
• 3 cups miniature marshmallows
• 3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate – this was 5 oz. (half of my 10 oz. bag)
• 1/2 to 1 tsp sea salt (if you use microwave bagged popcorn, use less or no salt)
• 1 to 1 1/2 tsp shortening (this helps the chocolate melt into a nice drizzly consistency, but isn’t absolutely required) 

Step 1: Pop your popcorn.

Step 2: Combine popped popcorn with cereal and marshmallows – use the biggest bowl you can find. If you want some of your marshmallows not to have chocolate on them, set a cup or so aside and add later.
Step 3: Melt the chocolate with the shortening and sea salt carefully so it doesn’t burn:

• in a microwave cook in 20-30 sec intervals, stirring between until it is consistently melted
• On the stovetop melt in a small saucepan over medium low heat, stirring constantly

Step 4: Drizzle melted chocolate over the mix and stir together.

Step 5: Eat the popcorn! How messy it is depends on how long you give the chocolate to cool after you mix it up, but you will probably  need to keep some napkins on hand.

Yield: approx 6 quarts/25 cups