Here’s a treat few people can resist: chocolate-covered popcorn. You can purchase it online, but many companies won’t ship it until October, when the weather cools down.

But that’s O.K., because it’s easy to make this chocolate popcorn recipe, using a base of home-popped or store-bought popcorn, in fewer than five minutes. Just click on the video below.

The recipe ingredients are in almost every home: butter, milk, light brown sugar, cocoa powder (pure cocoa, plain and unsweetened—not cocoa drink mix), vanilla and baking soda.

If you like things sweet and salty, sprinkle some sea salt in the final mix.

A GREAT GIFT: If you’re going somewhere this weekend, you can quickly make a batch as a gift for your host. Hopefully, like us, you’ve kept all the cookie gift tins you’ve received, just waiting for an occasion like this. It’s so much easier and faster than baking.

While the chocolate coating isn’t on the nutritionist’s checklist, popcorn is a whole grain, good-for-you snack. And you can always convince yourself that chocolate has “healthy antioxidants.”*

TIP: When it comes time to coat the popcorn, use a larger mixing bowl than the one shown in the video. It will be much easier to toss and stir the popcorn.

MORE POPCORN DELIGHTS

 
*While it’s true that chocolate contains some antioxidants, after the sugar is added, it’s no health food. Plus, the antioxidant value is found in cacao beans that are roasted in a particular way to preserve the antioxidants. Companies that roast cacao beans for chocolate seldom worry about preserving the antioxidants.