Peanut Butter Popcorn

We are big old popcorn lovers in this house.  And not just the microwave variety of popcorn, although I am perfectly okay with that in a pinch.  No, we have a jar of the old-fashioned kernels, and a great Cuisinart popcorn popper than involves a little oil and some salt and melting up some butter.  And I thought that was pretty much the best route to old-fashioned popcorn.  Until my friend L sent me this.

And I have to admit, I was a doubter.  Six ears of rock-hard corn.  It sat in my cabinet for a good long while, until the day that I decided to try this recipe I had kicking around for peanut butter popcorn.  And since I knew the popcorn was going to get drenched in a coating of peanut butter marshmallow wonderfulness, I thought, why not try the corn-cobs?  So I hauled them out of the cabinet and took a look at the label.

The deal is that you take one of those ears, put it in a brown paper bag, put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes, and voila!  Perfect and delicious popcorn without a chemical in site.  What took me so long???   I'm a believer.

So then it was on to the peanut butter popcorn, which as I mentioned above, involves making a mixture of marshmallow and peanut butter and regular butter, melting the whole thing together and stirring it into a bowl of popcorn and peanuts.  Spread it out on some wax paper, let it cool and harden, and life is pretty close to perfect for a while.  

Next time I am going to drizzle just a little melted chocolate over the whole thing - what do you think???

Peanut Butter Popcorn, adapted from Allrecipes

2 3.5 ounce packages microwave popcorn, popped (or the equivalent)

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup peanut butter

20 large marshmallows

1/2 cup salted peanuts

 1. Pour popcorn and peanuts into a large bowl.  Preheat oven to 250.  Line cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

 2. In a glass or plastic bowl, combine the margarine, brown sugar, and marshmallows. Cook at 1 minute intervals in the microwave, stirring between each time, until the mixture is melted and smooth. 

 3. Stir in the peanut butter until well blended. Pour the melted mixture over the popcorn, and stir quickly to coat the corn before it cools.  Pour in single layer onto cookie sheet.

 4.  Bake for 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes.

 5. Cool, and I dare you not to eat the entire batch in one sitting.  :)

Click here for printable recipe