The Best Christmas Popcorn (#1 Christmas Munch Recipe)

Our Christmas popcorn recipe is the best easy treat for the holiday season. It’s great for munching on at holiday parties, while watching your favorite Christmas movies or as edible popcorn gifts for friends and family to spread some holiday cheer!

Boy do I have the perfect holiday snack recipe to share with you today. 

We like to call it Christmas Munch but it also goes by Santa munch Christmas popcorn, Christmas popcorn snack mix, Christmas Crack or even Christmas crunch recipe. 

Whatever you choose to call it, it’s an irresistible snack mix loaded with a great combination of all the best sweet and savory flavors you can imagine.

So, fair warning, this homemade popcorn mix is highly addictive. You will not be able to stop at just one bite!

Making this Christmas popcorn has become one of my families favorite holiday traditions. 

I whip up a few large batches throughout the month of December to snack on and enjoy while we watch our favorite holiday movies and visit with friends and family. 

It’s our go-to recipe when we’re looking for holiday party popcorns that can easily feed a crowd.

Continue reading to get more information about our quick and easy Christmas popcorn recipe. 

In a rush? Skip to the bottom of this post to get the full recipe.

What’s In Christmas Popcorn?

Christmas popcorn is so so easy to make during the Christmas season. 

It’s one of our favorite snack ideas when we’re looking for sweet treats that are delicious, festive and above all easy to make.

Our festive Christmas popcorn requires zero baking and comes together by mixing basic ingredients like salty popcorn, pretzels, M&Ms, melted chocolate or candy and festive sprinkles. 

What we love most about this holiday popcorn mixture is you can really make it your own by adding or subbing out ingredients. 

In that past we’ve made variations of our Christmas popcorn with crushed candy canes, white chocolate chips, extra butter, crushed peanut butter cups, Christmas M&M candy, crushed white almond bark, Candy Cane Kisses, Christmas sprinkles and more..

What Kind of Popcorn Should I use?

Our holiday popcorn recipe can be made with just about any type of popcorn. 

You can use microwave popcorn kernels, brown paper bag and kernel method, air popper popcorn or stove top popcorn. 

If you want to get really fancy you can opt to use some gourmet popcorn mixes like salty and sweet popcorn, marshmallow popcorn, caramel popcorn, kettle corn, white chocolate popcorn or cake mix popcorn. 

Literally any type of popcorn works well which is one of my favorite things about this recipe.

Does Christmas Popcorn Keep?

Ideally, our Christmas popcorn should be consumed within 48 hours of making it. It’s one of those sweet treats that is best consumed fresh.

I like to store my Christmas popcorn in an airtight container or in a extra large ziploc bag at room temperature. But, who am I kidding, this Christmas popcorn never lasts more than a day.

But if you do have leftovers, the popcorn begins to lose its crunch and starts to get chewy after the second day. 

This is because the popcorn starts to absorb some of the moisture from the melted candy and other ingredients. It still tastes great, but it looses that distinctive crunch that it has when it’s made fresh. 

Since this Christmas popcorn is so simple to make I recommend making a fresh batch to snack on or gift as you need it.

Can Christmas Popcorn Be Frozen?

I love prepping my Christmas treats ahead of time too!

But sadly, this isn’t one of those holiday treats that can be made ahead and frozen. 

Freezing the actual popcorn isn’t the issue. It’s the mixture of vanilla candy melts, pretzels sprinkles and M&Ms that doesn’t freeze well.

So, we suggest making this Christmas popcorn fresh as you need it. 

Can I Make Christmas Popcorn in a big bowl?

Yes! Although I prefer to layer my Christmas popcorn on a flat surface like a baking tray you can absolutely make this recipe in a large bowl too. 

If you do plan to make your own popcorn in a big bowl make sure to layer your ingredients and then stir well so that the popcorn is coated well with the different flavor of the toppings.

Can I use different color candy melts?

Sure! This recipe is so easy and versatile that you can make Christmas popcorn with just about any ingredients you like. 

We’ve even made a grinch version of this Christmas popcorn by using green candy melts to give our Christmas popcorn a green hue. 

Our Favorite Ways To Use Christmas Popcorn

Party favors – make a huge batch of our Christmas popcorn to give as party favors at a holiday Christmas party. Package up small portions in cellophane paper and seal shut with a festive ribbon to make it a cute holiday party favor.

At a holiday party – party guests will gobble up this Christmas popcorn! So, make a double or triple batch for your holiday party an enjoy while playing a holiday game like Christmas Bingo, Christmas trivia or having an Ugly Christmas sweater competition! 

Christmas movie night – enjoy our Christmas popcorn during a Christmas movie night at home with the family. Make some popcorn crunch and hot chocolate and enjoy a cozy night at home.

Edible gifts – Christmas popcorn is a great gift idea for friends, family and teachers. Use holiday popcorn tins you buy at your local dollar store or via Amazon to create a thoughtful and festive edible gift!

How to Make The Best Christmas Popcorn

Ingredients

• 6 cups of popcorn, popped
• 1/2 cup white chocolate candy melts ( I love Wilton candy melts or melted white chocolate)
• 1/4 cup Christmas M&M (red and green M&Ms)
• 1.5 oz of salted pretzels 
• 1 tsp red sprinkles
• 1 tsp green sprinkles 

Method

Step 1: On a parchment paper lined baking sheet or cookie sheet, lay out your 6 cups of popped corn. Remove any unpopped kernels you find. 

Step 2: Break up half of you pretzels by crushing them in your hand. Spread the broken and whole pretzels on top of your popped popcorn in a single layer.

Step 3: Spread your Christmas M&Ms on top of your popcorn. We like to mix red and green M&Ms and spread evenly over the popped popcorn.

Step 4: Melt you candy melts in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave a little bit at a time to prevent scorching the candy. I like to zap my candy melts in 15 second intervals. I like to  stir before microwaving again. You’ll know your candy melts are ready when they are the consistency of melted chocolate.

Step 5: Drizzle the melted candy melts over your popcorn. I like to use a spoon and then scrape down the sides of my bowl using a spatula.

Step 6:  Sprinkle your popcorn with your holiday sprinkles and toss with a big spatula until everything sticks together and the M&Ms and sprinkles are evenly distributed.

Christmas Popcorn Tips & Tricks

Remove unpopped kernels – before starting I like to look through my popped popcorn and remove any kernels that didn’t pop correctly. You don’t want unpopped kernels to get mixed in with your Christmas popcorn since biting down on a hard kernel just isn’t any fun. 

Make it your own – prefer sweet flavor to salty? Well, you can make this Christmas popcorn completely your own by adding more or less of any ingredient you prefer. Start with caramel corn instead of regular popcorn and play around with the ingredients to find a delicious combination you’ll love. You can even add some melted marshmallow to make these into popcorn balls.

​Final Thoughts

Doesn’t this Christmas popcorn sound like the perfect snack?

I just love making this during the holiday season because it’s one of the best easy ways to throw together a sweet treat that feeds a crowd.

Christmas popcorn munch is the perfect way to prepare a snack for a Christmas party or a cozy night in sitting around the Christmas tree sipping hot cocoa and watching holiday movies with the family.  

We’d love to know how your Christmas munch turned out! Drop us a comment down below.

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