The Ultimate Popcorn Bar

Did you know that tomorrow is National Popcorn Day? Not sure what that means exactly...except for the fact that we should be celebrating popcorn!

So we have put together the ultimate popcorn bar to celebrate. And here's how we're serving up sweet and savory popcorn for a POP-in Party!

For the sweet popcorn we had two options:

Chocolate covered popcorn with sprinkles which is the easiest recipe ever.

White chocolate popcorn Ingredients:

Plain popcorn (We used 6 cups) White chocolate chips (We used 2 cups) Sprinkles (optional)

Place the popcorn in a large bowl.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave (slowly) or on a heat safe bowl over a pot of simmering water.

*Note: White chocolate can get hard very quickly when you try to melt it. If you need to, add a tsp. of canola oil to loosen it up.

Pour the chocolate over the popcorn and mix thoroughly with a spoon or your hands.

Toss in some sprinkles (as much as you’d like).

Let stand in the fridge for a few minutes so the chocolates sets.

Serve it up! We served our chocolate popcorn in a glass wine bucket to fit with our popcorn “bar” theme.

Ice Cream Popcorn Cones Makes 12 ice cream cones Ingredients:

10 cups popped popcorn ¾ cup light corn syrup ¾ sugar 4 ounces marshmallow cream 1 tablespoon butter 12 ice cream cones (with flat bottom)

Put popped popcorn in a large roasting pan.

Place corn syrup and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Heat until boiling, stirring continually. Remove pan from heat.

Stir in marshmallow creme, butter and vanilla until combined.

Pour marshmallow mixture over popcorn. Stir until evenly coated. Allow to cool until mixture can be handled easily.

Grease hands lightly with butter to prevent popcorn mixture from sticking. Press into balls of desired size. Place balls directly into ice cream cones to set.

We served these on a tray lined with popcorn!

Ok let's talk about....the Savory Popcorn at our Popcorn bar for National Popcorn bar day.

Serve plain or buttered (we did a combo) in a glass punch bowl with a ladle.

We set out a variety of toppings for our guests to choose from such as the following combos:

Chopped rosemary mixed with parmesan cheese “Everything” seasoning: a mix of poppy seeds, garlic powder, Kosher salt and sesame seeds Cayenne, cumin and Kosher salt

We put the popcorn into a Glad container so when we added our topping we could close the lid and easily shake it up!

And what’s a party without cocktails? We mixed up a pomegranate spritzer (pom juice + prosecco with a splash of soda water) with which we garnished with popcorn skewers.

With all of this popcorn you may end up with leftovers. We put the leftover popcorn into cellophane bags with notes that read: Thanks for Poppin' by! for our our guests to take home with them and enjoy for a snack the next day. 

Thanks to the team behind Gather Now for sponsoring this post and inspiring this Pop-tastic party!