Step 1

Place popped popcorn in a large bowl with room for mixing. Line a large baking sheet with wax paper or parchment paper.

Step 2

In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add marshmallows and white chocolate chips to the butter. Melt marshmallows and white chocolate chips over low heat, stirring constantly. When marshmallows and chocolate chips are melted (it’s okay if you have small piece of chocolate that haven’t melted), remove from heat and stir in peppermint extract.

Step 3

Drizzle about 1/3 of the chocolate/marshmallow mixture over the popcorn and work quickly to fold it together with a rubber or silicone spatula. Repeat with the remaining mixture in two batches, again working quickly to combine the chcoolate/marshmallow mixture with the popcorn. Sprinkle some of the crushed peppermint over the popcorn and combine with the popcorn. Repeat with the remaining peppermint until it has been somewhat evenly distributed among the popcorn.

Step 4

Grease hands with a small amount of butter. At this point, the coated popcorn should still be very warm, but cooled enough to be safe to shape into balls. Shape into approximately 3″ popcorn balls. Do not press the popcorn together too firmly, you want to press together just enough so that the popcorn holds its shape.

Step 5

Place popcorn ball on prepared baking sheet. Immediately insert a paper straw or stick into the center of the popcorn ball, pushing it all the way down until it reaches the opposite end. If desired, press or roll popcorn balls into a bit of additional crushed peppermint.