Peppermint Bark Popcorn Recipe (Gluten-Free, Vegan)

Published: Dec 12, 2021 by Rebecca Pytell · This post may contain affiliate links.

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Enjoy your favorite seasonal chocolate treat as a sweet and salty snack! This homemade Peppermint Bark Popcorn is perfect for Christmas party munching and gifting! This gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and allergy-free recipe is easy to make with crispy popcorn coated in creamy white chocolate, crushed candy canes, peppermint extract, and drizzled with dark chocolate!

Peppermint bark, but make it finger food-friendly! While there's nothing wrong about some peppermint bark muddy buddies, popcorn seems a bit more classy. Crispy popped popcorn, coated with dairy-free white chocolate and crushed candy canes. Add some extra peppermint extract for good minty measure and drizzle it all with rich and dreamy dark chocolate! This Christmas snack hits all the taste buds and is beyond addicting! Perfect for gifting, but you'll need to make a ton so you don't end up eating it all yourself first!

The Perfect Christmas Treat

5 ingredients, 10 minutes of work, no-bake, perfect for everyone? Santa called, and he doesn't want cookies this year, he wants POPCORN! This sweet snack or dessert is ideal for holiday parties and gatherings, will be loved by kids and adults, plus it's perfectly allergy-friendly:

Gluten-Free
Vegan
Allergy-free (Dairy-Free,Soy-Free,Egg-Free,Nut-Free,Peanut-Free,Wheat-Free,Sesame-Free,Coconut-Free)
Kid-Friendly
Quick, Easy, Make-Ahead Recipe
A Great Appetizer, Snack, or Dessert for Christmas, and Holiday Celebrations
A Delicious Edible Gift For Everyone On Your List

Just 5 Ingredients

Popped Popcorn: You can pop your own popcorn in the microwave or with a nifty popcorn maker. You can also buy plain popped popcorn. Lightly salted or unsalted will work! The touch of sea salt makes this chocolaty treat, sweet and salty perfection!
Vegan White Chocolate Chips: You will need 1 bag of allergy-free and vegan white chocolate chips. These will be melted and used to coat the popcorn.
Dark Chocolate Chips: I love dark chocolate with peppermint bark! You can also use vegan semi-sweet chocolate if you want a slightly less intense flavor.
Crushed Candy Canes: A package of peppermint candy canes, even round peppermint candies will do! You can find these pre-crushed, but there's something fun and festive about giving your candies a good whack yourself!
Pure Peppermint Extract: A small touch of pure peppermint extract adds more peppermint flavor to your popcorn! You can add this extract to the white chocolate chips you melt or the dark chocolate.

What's The Best Type Of Popcorn To Use?

Mushroom popcorn is the best for easy munching and gifting that holds up to have toppings and won't get stuck in your teeth! However, butterfly or "snowflake" popcorn, which is also known as "theater-style" is fine too and easier to find in stores. Yellow or white works. Make sure whichever variety you chose, that's it's plain and unsalted or only lightly salted popcorn. Do not use butter popcorn, look for the words "natural" and the variety will typically be just corn and salt!

How To Make Peppermint Bark Popcorn

Tips and Tricks For Success

Candy canes are much easier to crush than round peppermint candies. The easiest way to crush either of these, if to unwrap and place the peppermint candy in a large ziplock bag. Place the bag on a hard surface and use a rubber hammer, mallet, or similar object to smash the candy into small tiny pieces (not totally into a powder). You can even use a heavy-duty food processor or blender to help!
If you want really pepperminty popcorn, add the peppermint extract to the white chocolate which will be used to fully coat the popcorn. If you want the flavor to come mostly from the candy cane pieces, add the extract to the dark chocolate which is only used to drizzle over the popcorn.
Vegan white chocolate chips can be difficult to melt. If needed, add a teaspoon or two of refined coconut oil to make the process easier and allow you to get the chocolate liquidy enough. This can help with the dark chocolate too. Use refined coconut oil so you don't add a coconut taste to your popcorn.
To melt chocolate chips, add them to a shallow bowl and heat them in the microwave for 20-30 second increments, stirring in between, until the chips are just about melted, but not fully. Take them out of the microwave and mix the mostly melted chips until you have a bowl of pure melted chocolate (add the coconut oil if needed!) For easy clean-up later, lightly grease the inside of your bowls!
It's easiest to spread this recipe out on two baking sheets. This way all the white chocolate coasted popcorn pieces will get enough of the dark chocolate drizzle!

How To Make-Ahead & Store

You can make this white chocolate peppermint popcorn in advance and enjoyed within 3-4 days. Store it in sealed ziplock bags or airtight containers to keep it fresh. The chocolate coating helps it from going stale. However, it's best kept in a cool dry place, out of direct sunlight or heat! I stored mine in the fridge due to the hot climate I live in. It's best eaten as soon as possible, but really, you won't have a problem with that!

How To Gift White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn

You can portion out individual amounts of this chocolate peppermint popcorn in festive gift bags, small decorative tins, place it in fun glass jars, or those big iconic popcorn tins! Add some ribbon or Christmas gift tags! This popcorn makes a perfect holiday party favor, classroom party treat, and an inexpensive gift you can make at scale for everyone you know!

More Easy Edible Holiday Gifts:

DIY Instant Vegan Hot Chocolate Mix
Sesame Seed Crunch Candy
Gluten-Free Chocolate Covered Pretzels
Homemade Vegan Peppermint Bark
Peppermint Bark Muddy Buddies
Peppermint Bark Cookies
Homemade Gluten-Free Cookie Butter

Jazz It Up With Extra Add-Ins

Maybe you're feeling extra festive and want to personalize this white chocolate peppermint popcorn even more! You can customize this recipe with fun delicious toppings and add-ins to make it your own!

Gluten-Free Pretzel Pieces (more sweet and salty vibes!)
Allergen-Free M&M's Candy
Other Allergen-Free Chocolates or Hard Candies
Crushed White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Crushed Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies
Crushed Gluten-Free Oreos
Festive Allergen-Free Sprinkles
Half and Half: Divide the uncoated popcorn in half and coat one half with the melted white chips and the other half with the dark chocolate. Then mix it together!
Add Color: You can add a few drops of natural red dye or green dye to the white chocolate for a very merry Christmas look!
Add More Peppermint Bark! Why not?

Peppermint Bark Popcorn Recipe (Gluten-Free, Vegan)

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Ingredients

Scale

14 Cups (7.5 oz) Popped Popcorn (unsalted or lightly salted)
1 Bag (2 Cups) Vegan White Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Vegan Dark Chocolate Chips (or Semi-Sweet)
8-10 Candy Canes (crushed, about ½ cup)
½ Tsp Pure Peppermint Extract

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Instructions

If you are popping your own popcorn, pop it according to the method/ brand you choose. Otherwise, add the popped popcorn to a large bowl.
In a microwave-safe bowl, add the white chocolate chips and melt them in increments of 20-30 seconds, stirring in between. Continue until the chips are all mostly melted. Remove and add a teaspoon of coconut oil if needed to get your melted chocolate smooth.
Add the peppermint extract to the melted white chocolate before pouring it over the bowl of popcorn. Add the crushed peppermint candy canes and toss the popcorn until all pieces are coated.
Spread the white chocolate peppermint popcorn out evenly on 2 parchment paperorSilpat lined baking sheets.
In another microwave-safe bowl, add the dark chocolate chips and melt them in increments of 20-30 seconds, stirring in between. Continue until the chips are all mostly melted. Remove and add a teaspoon of coconut oil if needed to get your melted chocolate smooth.
Use a spoon or butter knife to drizzle the melted dark chocolate over the white chocolate popcorn. Add any extra crushed candy cane pieces you have.
Let the peppermint bark popcorn set in the fridge for 40-60 minutes to speed up the hardening process, or leave the popcorn undisturbed to set at room temperature for a few hours before storing in sealed bags or an airtight container.

Notes

You can pop your own popcorn in themicrowave or with apopcorn maker. You can also buyplain popped popcorn. Lightly salted or unsalted will work.
You can use candy canes or peppermint candies. It's easier to crush candy canes. Place the candy in a durable ziplock bag and mash with a rubber mallet or use a heavy-duty food processor to crush.
Customize your popcorn with other add-ins and topping, if desired. See blog post for ideas.
Store your finished popcorn in a sealed bag or airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. Keep it away from direct sunlight and heat. You can also store it in the fridge for a few days if needed.