Name: Crispy Butterscotch Chocolate Popcorn Bars Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 2 h 10 min
Cuisine: English
Ingredients: 225g brown sugar; 85g honey; 115g butter; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 1/2 tsp slightly heaped baking soda; 1 tsp sea salt flakes; 300g plain popped popcorn; 220g Lily O’Brien’s Crispy Butterscotch Share Bag (2 bags); 300g Lily O’Brien’s Dark Chocolate Buttons

When you think you’ve baked it all, you find inspiration in the most unusual places, in this case, popcorn!

How do the crackliest butterscotch and chocolate popcorn bars sound for a nice looking, crunchy treat to share with your friends and family?

Well, you’ll find all you need to know about these fantastic popcorn bars. Have you ever caramelised popcorn before?

It’s tons of fun, especially when you make caramel sauce from scratch (the secret is adding a little honey). Let’s get started; these crispy and pillowy popcorn bars won’t make themselves.

Chocolate Makes Everything Better!

Before we get started, let me tell you that crispy butterscotch chocolate popcorn bars are fantastic gifts for home warming parties or just to gift to a loved one.

If you want to take your gift-giving to the next level, I invite you to look at Lily O’Brien’s personalised chocolate gift collection.

The most beautiful chocolate boxes, personalised with your favourite pictures. Chocolate makes everyone smile! And personalised chocolate gifts are the way to do it. Now, if popcorn bars are your cup of tea, see how to make your own.

When to Make Popcorn Bars?

• Popcorn bars are trendy, and it’s easy to see why; they’re light and airy, and when brought together with authentic chocolate and butterscotch, they’re immensely satisfying.

• Make a batch of butterscotch and chocolate bars the next time you have friends coming over. Just make sure you make an extra-large batch!

• In the rare case you have any leftover bars, store them in the fridge and enjoy them every time you crave something sweet. These are fantastic midnight crave-quenchers.

• Popcorn bars are also easy to carry around, so they’re ideal grab-and-go snacks to keep your hunger at bay during the day.

You will Need

To make crispy butterscotch chocolate popcorn bars, you’ll need popcorn, of course. And good-old plain popcorn will do. We’re flavouring it ourselves with a homemade caramel sauce.

Talking about caramel, you’ll need brown sugar, butter, and just a few tablespoons of honey to make the caramel sauce. Making caramel sauce is thrilling! But don’t walk away while making it; the stuff burns fast!

You’ll also need crispy butterscotch and dark chocolate chips or buttons. Quality matters here, so source premium chocolate. You’ll also need vanilla extract and a teaspoon of sea salt flakes to round up the bars’ flavour.

Tips for the Perfect Caramelised Popcorn

1. For the crunchiest and puffiest caramelised popcorn, make sure you’re working with cold popcorn and not freshly made. Fresh popcorn can still be too hot to let the caramel set.

2. Having said that, make the popcorn yourself instead of using store-bought. When it comes to popcorn, the fresher, the better - yes, popcorn does go stale and mushy as time goes by.

3. Make homemade caramel sauce. It’s not the easiest thing to cook, but it’s totally worth it. You only need three ingredients, a steady hand and some patience. Once you master homemade caramel, you’ll want to make it as often as you can!

Make the Butterscotch Chocolate Popcorn Bars Your Own!

The best part of having a reliable recipe is that you can play around with it for different results. In this case, you can definitely substitute the popcorn with other crackly bites to create entirely new treats.

Adding any puffed grain, like puffcorn, will give the bars a similar crunchiness and you can even use crunchy cereal like Cheerios.

For a milder, slightly sweeter flavour, consider substituting dark chocolate with milk chocolate, and even white chocolate will work— the white chocolate’s ivory colour matches nicely with the popcorn.

What to Serve with Butterscotch Chocolate Popcorn Bars?

These crispy bites are delicious on their own, but since they’re as pretty as they are tasty, serve them with a warm cup of foamy latte or a cappuccino.

Milk tea is also fantastic with popcorn bars, especially because the bars are perfect for a comfy afternoon tea with friends.

For a high-end feel, here’s a tip: Cut the bars into smaller pieces, roughly into two-bite-sized squares, and decorate them with just one glossy caramelised popcorn. Now they’ll look the part even for the most elegant long-tablecloth dinner table!