[1] Valentine popcorn: white chocolate drizzle, M&Ms and pink sprinkles (photo © National Popcorn Board).

[2] First take popped popcorn… (photo © Crunch Daddy).

[3] Use red food coloring to tint it pink… (photo © McCormick).

[4] Drizzle with melted white chocolate… (photo © Lake Champlain Chocolates).

[5] Quickly scatter M&Ms or other red candies… (photo © M&Ms)

[6] And add Valentine sprinkles on Amazon (photo © Sweets Indeed).

What’s pink, whole grain, and drizzled and dotted with chocolate? This Valentine’s Day popcorn snack, which you can customize to your heart’s content. It’s so easy to make, you can delegate the task to any family member whom you can trust with food coloring. And you don’t have to wait for February 14th. As far as we’re concerned, Valentine’s Day Fortnight (we made that up) begins on February 1st. In addition to Valentine Popcorn, there are many more Valentine’s Day recipes below.

> The history of Valentine’s Day.

> The history of popcorn.
 
 
RECIPE: VALENTINE POPCORN

There are two ways to approach this recipe.

 
Ingredients

– red/pink/white M&Ms
– jelly beans
– gummi rings
– mini Swedish fish
– or other red candy

 
Ingredients For The Popcorn Tint

 
Preparation For Tinted Popcorn

Use this recipe to color popcorn in whatever shade you need, for any occasion.

If you don’t want to tint the popcorn pink, skip to the next section, Preparation For Valentine Popcorn.

1. PREHEAT the oven to 300°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.

2. MAKE the pink tint. Melt the butter in a small pot over medium heat. Remove from the heat and add 2 drops of food color. Go for a faint pink tint.

3. ADD the popcorn to a large mixing bowl. Make sure it’s big enough so that you’ll be able to reach in toss the popcorn with the pink butter to coat evenly.

4. POUR the pink butter over the popcorn and stir. You can use a long-handled wooden spoon; we found it more effective to wear food service gloves (powder-free, latex-free) and toss the popcorn by hand.

5. SPREAD the popcorn on the baking sheet. Use the spoon to spread it into a single layer. Remove any unpopped kernels. BAKE the popcorn for 5 minutes to set the butter. Remove and let cool before proceeding to the next step.
 
Preparation For Valentine Popcorn

If you have a heart-shaped tin or box that’s appropriate for the popcorn, take it out and line it with wax paper or parchment. A bowl will do, of course; but make it festive by draping it with a red napkin before adding the popcorn.

1. SPREAD the popcorn in a thin layer in a pan or on a platter.

2. MELT the chocolate chips over a double boiler or in the microwave. Drizzle over the popcorn.

3. IMMEDIATELY SPRINKLE the desired amount of sprinkles over warm chocolate-coated popcorn.

5. Allow drizzle to set up until firm. Serve.
 
 
MORE RECIPES FOR VALENTINE’s DAY

Sweet Snacks & Desserts