Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Popcorn
Move over caramel popcorn because this soft and chewy peanut butter popcorn is the new kid in town, and wow, it is so good (and so easy to make!)
My cousin-in-law, Tami, sent me this recipe for her famous peanut butter popcorn with the explanation: “we have replaced all caramel corn making at our house with this peanut butter popcorn.”
Um, do you guys realize you CANNOT SEND ME MESSAGES LIKE THAT and expect me to have any self-control? Like, I was in the kitchen making Tami’s popcorn within 3 1/2 minutes.
First of all, Tami is an ultimate trusted source of amazing recipes (she’s the originator of this epically delicious beef stroganoff and this favorite-ever southwest rice and bean salad). Who cares that I’ve never even heard of peanut butter popcorn? Instantly, I needed it in my life. And just like Tami promised: it is amazing. (Also, there is no second of all.)
Straight up “peanut butter popcorn” is a bit misleading. That has me envisioning pouring melted peanut butter over popcorn. Could be interesting. Could be a little frightening.
Instead, this is more like a soft and chewy peanut butter caramel popcorn. With vibes similar to this homemade chewy caramel corn recipe but with peanut butter (and a different ingredient lineup for the quick and easy homemade caramel mixture – no butter, baking soda, etc).
You guys, it’s so good. I schlepped the enormous bowl of peanut butter popcorn up to my son’s soccer game on a busy Tuesday night a couple weeks ago and we ate it for dinner. Because apparently I felt like it was a good idea to make this when we were rushing out the door instead of maybe opting for a real, live meal? #priorities #copingskills
How to make peanut butter popcorn
Yeah, let’s talk about that. Warning: it’s crazy easy.
First of all, pop yourself some popcorn. I have a really old air popper that is kind of on its last leg, but I hear these microwave poppers {aff. link} are amazing (so amazing, I couldn’t stop myself and just now ordered a teal one).
Any way you can, get some nice, fluffy popcorn piled up in a bowl. I wouldn’t suggest using microwave bags of popcorn because you want this pure and unadulterated without any seasonings/butter/flavorings.
Next, combine the sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan and bring it to a steady boil. No candy thermometer, no finicky timetables. Just bring it to a boil and pull it off the heat.
Next, stir in the peanut butter and vanilla. For peanut butter, I recommend good ol’ classic creamy peanut butter. Not crunchy. Not natural. Just grab some Jif or Skippy (I legit almost typed Jiffy or Skip) and be happy with that awesome choice.
Stir it all up until it’s smooth and creamy.
While the mixture is still warm (this is important), immediately pour it over the popcorn. I don’t actually recommend pouring it into one big pile like I’m showing you here (#badblogger).
Instead, drizzle it all across the popcorn…and better yet, have a helper there turning the bowl and starting to toss the popcorn while you pour on that divine peanut butter caramel mixture.
Toss and stir the popcorn until it is evenly coated. Yes, this part is a bit annoying and kind of sticky and if you are going it alone without a handy sous chef around, you might be tempted to say a bad word, but please don’t waste your bad words on this stuff.
It’s ok if the popcorn pieces break up a little, just do your best. I promise the reward will make all your irritation dissipate.
What kind of popcorn kernels are best
I just grab every day popcorn kernels from the store usually (I’m guessing Jolly Time or Orville R. brand). Tami says this soft and chewy peanut butter popcorn is absolutely splendid with the larger mushroom-type popcorn, like this brand on Amazon {aff. link} or here at Orson Gygi. Apparently the round shape of the mushroom popcorn makes it much easier for caramel-type popcorns because it doesn’t break apart while stirring.
No matter what popcorn you settle on using, I urge you to try this peanut butter popcorn as soon as you can. Brian, who is a serious, serious caramel popcorn…um…snob, went crazy for this stuff. Knowing him so well, I even gave him the disclaimer “don’t even try it, you’ll hate it.” But he disobeyed.
He tried it. And he absolutely loved it. I honestly felt like I hardly knew the man I married. I can’t say he’s turned his back on his beloved caramel popcorn forever, but his endorsement of the peanut butter variety speaks volumes.
One Year Ago: Soft Banana Bread Cookies
Two Years Ago: Quick and Easy Cheesy Black Bean Quinoa Bake
Three Years Ago: Greek Meatball Stuffed Pitas with Easy Tzatziki Sauce
Four Years Ago: Sesame Chicken Pasta with Thai-Style Peanut Sauce
Five Years Ago: Caramel Pear Crisp
Six Years Ago: Slow Cooker White Bean Chicken Chili
Seven Years Ago: Hearty Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Eight Years Ago: Texas-Style Blueberry Cobbler
Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Caramel Popcorn
Ingredients
- 10-12 cups popped popcorn (see note)
- ½ cup (106 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- ½ cup (128 g) creamy peanut butter, not natural
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch coarse, kosher salt
Instructions
- Add popcorn to large bowl.
- In a medium saucepan, add the sugar and corn syrup. Over medium heat, stirring often, bring the mixture to a steady boil.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the peanut butter, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Immediately pour the warm mixture over the popcorn. Toss until the popcorn is evenly coated.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from my awesome cousin-in-law, Tami W.
love, Love, LOVE! Made it with Adam’s natural peanut butter (3 times in 3 days) and it was delicious every time. Thinking about using Nutella in place of the peanut butter next time.
This is delicious! I toss in about a cup of mini marshmallows at the end and it makes the caramel go a little further and it’s soft. Already made it twice this week and it’s a hit.
My family loves this popcorn! It is so delicious. It is also so easy to make.
Amazing! But one question how do you keep it stored?
It really is best served within an hour or so of being made. Otherwise, you can store in a covered container at room temp.
Bought the Amish mushroom popcorn and the microwave popcorn popper and immediately made the peanut butter Carmel popcorn.
This recipe DID NOT DISAPPOINT!!!!
This would make a great Christmas gift along with your recipe and a tin of this addicting treat!
Thank you to Tami and to you, Mel, for sharing it.
Sounds delicious but is there a substitute for the corn syrup?
You can experiment with honey.
I made this on a whim yesterday and it is so good. I can’t stop eating it. I only had natural peanut butter so I took a chance and it turned out just fine.
Worst idea I’ve ever had – make this as an afternoon snack for my son and have it ready before he gets home. Now I’ve eaten half of it and the bus hasn’t come. This is DELICIOUS and so easy to make. Oh my gosh it’s sooo good. I’ll be making this to give to neighbors for Christmas, family to eat on movie night and any other occasion I can come up with.
Worst idea I’ve ever had – make this as an afternoon snack for my son and have it ready before he gets home. Now I’ve eaten half of it and the bus hasn’t come. This is DELICIOUS and so easy to make. Oh my gosh it’s sooo good. I’ll be making this to give to neighbors for Christmas, family to eat on movie night and any other reason I can come up with!
I have used this recipe for years and we love it! I made some today and it was so thick! Not sure what I did wrong. Could it be because it’s raining?
It might just be my cooking!♀️
Hmmm, I’m not sure! I suppose rain/humidity might be a factor, but it could also be if it cooked at too high of a temperature or something like that.
We’ll be making this again for sure. It’s completely addicting!
Just curious as to when you add the salt. Am I missing something? Thanks!
Sorry about that! It goes in with the vanilla (I’ve fixed the recipe).
Helpful hint regarding eliminating the unpopped kernels: after the popcorn has finished popping, with fingers spread apart, use both hands to lift the popcorn out of its container and place it in another bowl of equal or larger size. This will allow any unpopped kernels to fall through your fingers and back into the original bowl or container. Works great every time! Saves your teeth and dental work! One caution: if done right away, the popped corn will be hot— so be aware. One more suggestion: place the popped corn in a larger, clean paper grocery bag, pour the peanut butter mixture over it and stir with a large spoon! Hope this helps.
I make something very similar.
I like to use honey instead of some syrup and add 1/4 tsp of cinnamon. One of my fave recipes.
I have a similar recipe using honey instead of corn syrup that I haven’t made in a long time. Definitely time to try this version!
The only bad thing about this recipe is how easy it is to make. It really takes less than 10 minutes so there is no excuse to not make it and eat all of it by the handful!
This was our treat for the evening tonight. Delish!!
I just made this with crushed Oreos added in. Holy Mother of Popcorn, this is good. Thanks for another winner!! My husband and kids won’t eat popcorn so my dog is my only popcorn pal. Don’t worry, I won’t give him any Oreo bits.
Another hit, super fast and delicious. I doubled the recipe and used two regular sized bags of popcorn (kettle corn) and it was a perfect ratio. I didn’t have the patience to measure all of that popcorn.
Just tried this recipe! It was easy and a hit with my husband! I will make again! Thank you!
This was so fast and easy. I made the recipe exactly as written and it made my husband and 5 kids very happy. Thanks!
I have made this a whole bunch since you posted it. It is just so SO good!! Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe.
This was a great recipe, and I bought the same popper! It is coming today! LOL! Do you have any easy seasoning recipes for when you aren’t in the mood for a sweet popcorn? Or, let’s be honest, when you are in the mood for sweet popcorn but you have to set a good example for the kids at snack time? Thanks!
Haha. I always go with butter and salt. So boring…but SO good.
Butter and salt is the best combo…
This was the best! Easy and delicious!!
Thanks, Annie!
Love this! So yummy! Any ideas out there on home to make it with a little less sugar?
That was *how btw ugh auto fill
This was so good and fast and easy! I poured some of the peanut butter mixture over puffcorn for my daughter who has braces 🙂 I also sprinkled on some mini chocolate chips, because it seemed like the right thing to do!
Also, I’ve never heard of putting that on rice krispies either, so we must be living under the same rock 🙂
Chocolate chips! YES! Always the right thing to do. Yum.
So awesome. We made this and the buttery pull apart rolls for our conference feast and they were a success!! Thanks for making the best recipes!!!!!
So happy to hear that! Thanks, Deanna!
This was gooey and yummy! We all loved this one. I actually made it with those Corn Puffs (they look like styrofoam peanuts) because as much as I love popcorn, I hate the hulls and occasional unpopped kernel. I used about 14 cups and it coated everything just perfectly. I didn’t think I was even going to need a full batch, but it’s a good thing I ended up making it, because it’s almost gone. Every time someone walks by it, they take another bite or two. Thanks for all your efforts!
Yum! What a great variation!
My 2nd and 3rd years at BYU my roommates and I made this sauce all the time and poured it over corn flakes! We called them gooey peanut butter things and we ate them all the time. I haven’t made them since then though. Time to whip up a batch. Thanks, Mel!
when do you add the salt?
We’ve been making this recipe for years! My mom made it for us as kids and my family loves it too. However, we always form it into popcorn balls. It is my favorite candy popcorn recipe!
It would make the best popcorn balls! Totally reminds me of my childhood. Popcorn balls were a STAPLE.
This is the first recipe my first year high school culinary students make each year. It’s the perfect combination of excitement (for most of my urban students, popping corn on top of the stove is new), danger (just knowing hot, sugary syrup can burn ups the exhilaration level of a 14 year old), and instant gratification. We call it sticky peanut butter popcorn, and it is a tradition and rite of passage in my program. Substitute Nutella or the cookie butter from Trader Joe’s for peanut allergies. Heaven!
Haha, I don’t know why but that comment about the exhilaration level of a 14-year old had me laughing out loud. Considering I have a 12-, 14- and 15-year old in my house, I can give that a hearty amen. 🙂 Thanks for the ideas on substitutions! Nutella! Oh my.
Funny coincident some of my neighbors and I do a preschool group together for our 3 year olds and just this morning I was hoping that I had the letter P because my kids always love watching the popcorn pop in the air popper so I thought that’d be fun to do with the preschool kids. I don’t love eating it plain like that, so I was trying to decide if it’d be easier to make jello popcorn with them or caramel. Then remembered that one of the cute kiddos can’t have dairy, this just saved my preschool day hopes by being dairy free! I’ve actually made homemade suckers using the same basic ingredients as this in an attempt to recreate See’s peanut butter suckers (they were a Christmas time staple in our home until they stopped making them!) the flavor was really good so I already know I will love this popcorn!
I’m glad this will work out for your preschool co-op! Great idea (and awesome that it fits the bill for your dairy-free student!).
Do you know how long it will keep? I am thinking of making something like this to put in a Christmas tin. I would like to make it ahead of time, but worry about it becoming stale.
Yeah, I worry a little about the popcorn becoming stale or overly soft. It’d be better if it was slightly crunchy because it would keep longer.
We’ve made this recipe several times since you posted — so good! But, we made it yesterday morning and took it to a ward party last night and it wasn’t nearly as good. I’d definitely say this is best served right away.
Good feedback – thanks, Alisha!
Can’t wait to try this! I know we will love it because we use the same recipe over Rice Krispies treats! I bet it is amazing over popcorn as well! Thanks for the woundful idea!
Another peanut butter rice krispies testimonial! I’ve clearly been living under a rock. Haha.
Ok, YUM! I figured it would be good, but I didn’t expect to ADORE it! And just so you don’t feel too badly, we ate it for lunch.
Haha, and that’s why I love ya, Ellen!
I make a similar recipe. I add a 1/4 tsp of cinnamon!
Yum!
Well, this is delicious! Sprinkled with a handful of Reese’s Pieces takes it over the top. Gooey popcorn is my love language. And it’s totally an acceptable meal (or study snack in my case)! Also, just a tip…if you give your big bowl a light spray of cooking spray before you start, it makes the stirring job much easier and less swear-word-worthy.
Thanks for the tip, Rachel! Super helpful!
I have an old cast iron pan i use only for popcorn. I make caramel popcorn all the time but have never thought about peanut butter. With all the good reviews i defenatly going to give this a try.
Hope you like it if you try it, Terry!
Oh yum! This is the same recipe I use for PB rice crispy treats. I bet it’s divine on popcorn!
So many people saying that – where have I been? 🙂
My in-laws have been making the same peanut butter caramel sauce and pouring it over plain Cheerios for years! It’s super tasty, almost like peanut butter rice krispie treats but we never take the time to let it set up in a pan instead we just give everyone a scoop to eat while it’s warm!
Whoa, that’s fun! Someone else said they use this same mixture for PB rice krispie treats. Clearly I’ve been living under a rock!
Mel! I was thinking of making regular caramel corn for conference weekend, but this will definitely have to take its place, sounds delicious! Quick question: have you tried it with natural peanut butter, does it not work as well? Natural is all I have on hand, but I will sacrifice and buy skippy for this! Thank you!
Hi Haily – I haven’t tried it with natural but I’m almost positive it won’t have the same creaminess (however, anything is worth a try at least once!)
That popper you recommended is definitely the best! You can pop without oil, but the popcorn doesn’t feel like styrofoam in your mouth (like the air popper). I use my popper almost every day. It’s perfect.
That’s fantastic!
Hi Mel, I am definitely trying this recipe this weekend! Have you ever baked it in a low 250 degree oven to make it crispy? I like chewy but some prefer crispy.
P.S. If I follow your affiliate link and then choose a different color, will you still benefit from my order?
You are so sweet to ask, Sharon. Yes, I think that works!
I really love that you ate it for dinner! Real life posts are the best!
Thanks for not being alarmed. 🙂
As a kid, we always had this for movie nights! My parents’ recipe uses brown sugar but otherwise basically the same. Now, I make it for our family to have while we do our Christmas decorating. It gives the littles something to do when they are tired of hanging ornaments
I bet subbing brown sugar would be delicious! And I love that it’s part of your Christmas traditions.
Looks delish! OK, maybe a weird question but what can you use if you don’t have corn syrup? I can get it here in Switzerland (from the American Market shop) but it’s crazy expensive. Alternatives?
My family has always made this exactly the same as the printed here but with honey instead of corn syrup.
Thanks for chiming in – I haven’t tried honey but worth a try as a substitution!
I love carmel corn but dairy makes me sick (sweetened condensed milk, I’m looking at you!) Having a dairy free version to gobble up just made my month! Possibly my entire cold weather season!! BLESS YOU♡
I’m so happy to hear this, Kandis! I didn’t really even register this was dairy free, but you are right, without the butter and sweetened condensed milk, this is a great dairy free caramelly-type popcorn option!
Does it harden up at all, or is it really sticky to eat? Looks delish!
It doesn’t harden and become crunchy but the peanut butter “caramel” does kind of set so that it isn’t super sticky on your fingers. But it’s definitely soft and will require a quick hand washing after to eliminate any little bits of stickiness.
This looks amazing! Any idea how long it’ll keep for?
We haven’t had it last longer than one sitting…I think the popcorn will get kind of soft and wilty after a day, but well-covered it might be ok overnight.
I have been making this popcorn for years and it is absolutely incredible! Once you’ve had it you just can’t go back to plain caramel corn. I am a huge fan of the mushroom popcorn from Gygi’s, but like you said any kind works! It’s the perfect autumn treat but is hugely addicting!!
Thanks, Mona! So happy there are other fans of this popcorn out there already!