I have a popular recipe for Cinnamon Cookie Crunch Popcorn that involves crushed red hot candies and crumbled oreos. Recently I had an abundance of lemon candies from an event I helped at and I couldn’t stop thinking about a lemon version. This popcorn involves crumbled lemon oreos and crushed lemon candies all wrapped up in white chocolate coated popcorn for a sweet-tart crunchy treat that’s so addictive!
Ingredients Needed
- Popcorn – you can used air popped or microwave popcorn. If using microwave popcorn, I like to stay away from anything too heavily buttered, but salted is great- it actually balances out the sweetness!
- Lemon Oreos – you can use standard lemon oreos or the thins. If you’d like to leave out the cookie part, it’s delicious just with the popcorn as well.
- Almond Bark – almond bark (which does not contain almonds) is a white candy coating similar to white chocolate. See below for substitution details.
- Lemon Oil – food grade lemon oil will combine much better than a lemon extract
- Lemon Heads or Lemon Drops – I prefer lemon heads because of the nice chew and extra tart flavor, but classic lemon drop candies work just as well.
- Kosher salt – a flaky salt like kosher, diamond, or even flaky sea salt will help balance the sweetness.
How to Make Lemon Cookie Crunch Popcorn
This is a simple overview of the recipe, you’ll find a full printable recipe below!
- Place popped popcorn in a large bowl- I recommend my favorite 20 qt steel bowl for recipes like this!
- Chop Oreos and add to bowl, crush lemon candies.
- Melt almond bark and then stir in lemon oil and a little salt.
- Pour candy coating over popcorn and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle in part of the crushed lemon candy.
- Spread popcorn out to solidify and then sprinkle on additional lemon candy and a final sprinkle of salt.
- When chocolate coating has solidified, break up popcorn and enjoy!
Storage and Other Tips
- Keep this stored in an airtight container and eat within 1-2 days for best results.
- If you need to make this gluten free, just skip the oreo cookies, it’s still fantastic without them!
- You can stretch this pretty far if you don’t like your popcorn quite so covered in the almond bark/candy coating. I like to have a little extra popcorn on hand and as I start stirring it together, I can add more popcorn if needed to get it to the consistency I like.
Frequently Asked Questions
Almond bark is sometimes called “white candy coating” and is found in the baking aisle of the grocery store, often near the chocolate chips. It comes in a large block, wrapped in plastic. I buy it regularly at Walmart and Target.
You can, but be aware that white chocolate has a thicker consistency and doesn’t coat quite as well. It will also cool faster. If using white chocolate make sure to toss it immediately after warming to a smooth consistency. In addition, alcohol based liquids will cause it to seize a bit so I recommend making sure to use lemon oil (as opposed to extract).
You just have to be cautious because lemon extract may make the almond bark thicken up and clump a bit. If using extract, you’ll want to add it to taste and stir incredibly quickly, immediately pouring onto the popcorn and tossing. Do not sit and stir it longer and longer, it will continue to thicken more!
I think this is best eaten the day it’s made, but if necessary you can make 1-2 days ahead and store in an airtight container. Just like any popcorn, it will lose its crunch if it sits too long.
Lemon Cookie Crunch Popcorn
Equipment
- 1 20 qt Steel Mixing Bowl My favorite kitchen tool for popcorn mixes!
Ingredients
- 18 cups popped popcorn
- 10 lemon oreo cookies or 20 thins, approx 5 oz total
- ½ cup lemon heads or lemon drop candies more if desired
- 1 pound almond bark (white chocolate candy coating)
- ½ teaspoon food grade lemon flavoring oil
- kosher salt
Instructions
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or foil and set aside.
- Place Popcorn in extra large mixing bowl.
- Use a large knife to roughly chop cookies and then add to popcorn bowl.
- Place lemon candies in a high-powered blender or small food processor and process until it's coarse bits (similar to the texture of kosher salt). Set aside.
- Melt almond bark in a glass bowl according to package instructions until smooth.
- Add ¼ teaspoon kosher salt to melted almond bark and lemon oil to taste. I suggest adding ¼ teaspoon oil, stirring, and adding another ¼ teaspoon or more, if desired.
- Pour melted almond bark over popcorn cookie mixture and immediately stir well until popcorn is coated.
- Reserve about 2 tablespoons of your crushed candy mixture and pour the rest on the popcorn and then toss again until incorporated.
- Spread popcorn mixture out onto prepared baking sheets. Leave somehwat in small clumps so the cookies stick to the popcorn. Sprinkle with reserved crush candy. If desired you can blend up more candy to pour on top!
- Sprinkle with a little more salt and then leave until chocolate sets.
- Gently break up popcorn and serve.
Questions & Reviews
Favorite new spring recipe! We made this tonight to celebrate the first day of spring and the whole family RAVED about it. It is sweet, tart, crunchy, tangy, and a little bit salty. It is a keeper that I think will become a tradition. Brilliant!