Perfectly Pink Valentine’s Day Popcorn

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Line a baking sheet with foil, and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray. Pop the microwave popcorn according to the package directions, and pour the popped popcorn into a large bowl.

Step 2

Place the butter and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat, and stir until the butter is melted. Add the sugar and strawberry gelatin, and stir until they are dissolved. Bring the mixture to a low boil, and, stirring occasionally, boil it for 4 minutes.

Step 3

After 4 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and pour the sugar syrup over the popcorn in the bowl. Stir until the popcorn is coated. Scrape the popcorn out onto the baking sheet and spread it into a thin layer. Bake the popcorn for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through, then remove it from the oven and separate any big popcorn clusters. Let it cool completely at room temperature—as it cools it will get nice and crispy!

Step 4

The fruity popcorn is good on its own, but for Valentine's Day, we're going to take it one step further and add white chocolate. Melt the white chocolate melting wafers in a large bowl in the microwave, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating. Add the cooled popcorn and stir until the popcorn is coated. Spread the popcorn in an even layer back out on the baking sheet.

Step 5

While the white chocolate is still wet, scatter the Valentine's candies all over the top, pressing down slightly to embed them in the chocolate. Reserve some of the candy to toss with the finished popcorn later. Refrigerate the tray briefly to set the white chocolate, for about 15 minutes. Once set, break the popcorn into pieces and toss it with the remaining candy. Store this popcorn in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.