HAPPY Holidays: Popcorn Christmas Trees

One of our absolute favorite snacks over at The NY Melrose Family is popcorn. Both of my girls love it and I love how easy it is to turn regular popcorn into a gourmet snack that baffles my girls. I recently created a perfect Thanksgiving treat of Turkey Popcorn Mix that had my in-laws eating it by the handful. It went over so well that I created a Turkey Mason Jar Gift to package it for my preschooler’s teachers. Since we’ve been on a bit of a popcorn craze I decided that Popcorn Christmas Trees would be the perfect treat to create with my girls as a fun snack idea.

Popcorn Christmas Trees

I have a tendency of using white chocolate most of the time on my popcorn recipes, but I wasn’t sure how well the chocolate would work to mold the Christmas trees. I decided to go with a recipe similar to a rice krispie treat, just minus the rice krispies and popcorn in it’s place. I learned the hard way that you definitely need to make these in batches because the marshmallow will harden or you’ll end up burning yourself if you try to work with it too soon. Yep, I’m speaking from experience.

In order to give the trees a little bit more color, I added yellow and blue food coloring to make green to my marshmallow butter mixture. I also used red sugar to sprinkle over the tree once it was molded. The finishing touch was a yellow peanut M & M as the star. These came together rather quickly once I realized that I should make half of the marshmallow mixture at a time to pour it over half of the popcorn.

Riley loved being able to sprinkle the trees with the red sugar. Both of my girls seem to be ultra sensitive to heat. They think that something is hot while I think it is lukewarm so I was hesitant to let Riley help me form the trees. I would definitely recommend that you test the temperature of the marshmallow before letting your kids dive right in to mold the trees.

Popcorn Christmas Trees

Ingredients:

2 tbs butter

1 bag of marshmallows {any size will work}

1 bag of microwave popcorn

green food coloring {yellow & blue mixed}

2 – 3 Graham crackers or cookies to place the trees on top of.

sprinkles and M & M’s as decorations

Directions:

In a medium saucepan heat 1 TBS of butter and add in half of the bag of marshmallows.

Meanwhile, pop the popcorn according to the package instructions.

Consistently stir the marshmallow mixture until the marshmallows lose their form and there are no lumps. Add in the food coloring to change the color of the mixture.

Pour half of the popped popcorn onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and be sure to remove any unpopped kernels.

Pour the marshmallow mixture over the popcorn.

Once the mixture has cooled enough that you can hold it begin to mold it into the shape of a tree. Depending upon the size of your trees you should be able to make 2 – 3 trees. Set the trees on top of half of a Graham Cracker or cookie that it can adhere to.

Sprinkle the trees with sprinkles and add candy as decorations.

Repeat the marshmallow mixture with the remaining half of the popcorn.

This should yield about 4 – 6 trees, but will depend upon the size of your trees.

ABOUT JENNY: Jenny is a wife, mother and reading specialist in a low income city school district. She is also the the founder of thenymelrosefamily.com – a lifestyle website sharing crafts, recipes, diy and party planning projects perfect for those looking for something quick and easy. With two girls under the age of five, Jenny’s projects are toddler friendly and the perfect opportunity to create a special moment with your family.

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Thanks Jenny! What a darling idea! I know this would be a huge hit with kids this year too! Jenny has so many awesome ideas on her blog. Here are a few I think you’ll love:

Her Mason Jar Peppermint Cupcakes look like the perfect treat to indulge in or share with friends and neighbors!

And, I love a good peppermint dessert for the holidays. These Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes look so yummy!

And, if you’re looking for a craft for the kids, this Turkey Mason Jar Gift Idea is so cute for Thanksgiving.

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xoxo