barberry

I found myself with about a quarter of cup of left over melted chocolate after making these sensuous snickers bite bars, so rifled through the pantry looking for an idea of how to use it up.

A bag of this Tiny But Mighty Popcorn spilled out as if to say ‘PICK ME, PICK ME!’ So I did. (side note – I really like this popcorn because it seems to have smaller kernels and they all pop.) So chocolate covered popcorn was in the works, but I wanted something that gave it a little more zest and pep.

One of my latest obsessions is Persian barberries, which are often found in rice and stews. Tart, tangy, sweet and sour. These little jewels have replaced currents and raisins in many of my recipes lately. It’s like a little bit of unexpected fun against the crunchy popcorn and rich dark chocolate.

This recipe is very much in line with my ‘rustic’ cooking approach. A handful of this, a few pinches of that. Just toss and mix until you feel you have enough ingredients for the amount of melted chocolate you have.

Happy eating,
~Monique

Chocolate Covered Barberry Popcorn

1/3 cup melted dark chocolate
1 tbls peanut butter (or preferred nut butter)
1 -3 cups popped popcorn
handful or two of barberries (or dried cherries, currents, apricots or raisins)
flaked sea salt
Optional: Toasted nuts or seeds. Cacao nibs.

Directions:
Melt the chocolate, stir in the peanut butter.

Fold in the popcorn, barberries and any other ingredients you are using. Add enough ingredients so the melted chocolate lightly covers most of them.

Pour onto parchment paper, lightly spread out and sprinkle with the flaked sea salt. Let the chocolate harden. Break apart as desired.