Red Hot Cinnamon Candy Popcorn Recipe

A hot and sweet popcorn recipe that will knock your socks off! This red and white candy-coated popcorn recipe takes freshly popped popcorn and drizzles it with melted Red Hots Cinnamon candy and white chocolate. Excellent for spicing up your Valentine’s Day movie night or for gifting.

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Popcorn is one of the best foods for letting your creativity show! You can take the simple bowl of air-popped popcorn and transform it into a gourmet popcorn right in your own kitchen. There is endless flavors you can make. And there is a different type of popcorn recipe for every holiday and special occasion.

Today we’re sharing this Red Hot Cinnamon Candy Popcorn recipe! It’s not only delicious, but it’s also striking with its red and white colors. It’s a perfect popcorn for Valentine’s Day, but also suitable for Christmas. It doesn’t have to be a holiday though — anyone who loves candies like Red Hots, Atomic Fireballs (my husband’s favorite!), or Hot Tamales Candy, will be a big fan of this popcorn!

Hot Cinnamon Candy Popcorn Ingredients

To make your own batch of Red Hot Cinnamon Candy Popcorn, you’ll need several ingredients.

POPCORN: We recommend popping your own popcorn from popcorn kernels. You can use any method you prefer to pop your popcorn, but we usually pop it in a microwave-safe popper. We LOVE this silicone microwave popcorn popper. It comes in lots of fun colors and pops the popcorn so easily.

HOT CINNAMON CANDY: For our recipe, the original Red Hots candies are used but you could also use Brach’s Cinnamon Imperials (or similar small cinnamon candy).

WHITE CHOCOLATE: You can use any type or brand of white chocolate that is able to be melted. At the grocery store, on the baking aisle, you can buy a bag of white chocolate chips. Ghiradelli and Guittard are two brands we love, but there are other good ones – even the store brand works.

Another option is White Candy Melts or White Almond Bark. Both are popular because they are very easy to melt and use. They can also be less expensive than white chocolate chips. You can buy candy melts or almond bark where baking supplies are sold, such as Michaels Craft Store, the craft section at Walmart, or online.

RED SPRINKLES: To add extra fun to your Cinnamon Candy Coated Popcorn, you will also want to add red sprinkles. We used red jimmies, but you can use any kind of red sprinkles you would like.

In addition to all of the above, you will also need the following ingredients which you may already have on hand:

• butter
• sugar
• light corn syrup
• salt
• baking soda 

Cooking Equipment Needed for Cinnamon Candy Popcorn:

• Large Baking Sheet
• Parchment Paper
• Saucepan
• Whisk
• Rubber Spatula
• Microwave-Safe Bowl

How to Make Cinnamon Candy Popcorn

Once your popcorn is popped and all of your ingredients are ready, you’ll make the red hot cinnamon candy syrup. This syrup is how this popcorn is going to get that hot cinnamon flavor. It’s also what’s going to give this popcorn that intense red color.

To make the cinnamon candy syrup, you’ll start by melting butter in a saucepan. Once it’s all melted, stir in the salt, red hots candies, sugar, and corn syrup. You’ll heat these over medium heat until boiling and whisk frequently until all ingredients are dissolved together. Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda. 

Working quickly, pour the cinnamon candy mixture on top of the popcorn which has been spread out on a baking sheet. Lightly toss the popcorn with the cinnamon candy mixture

Place the pan of coated popcorn into the oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and toss the popcorn again to coat evenly. Allow the popcorn to cool.

Next, melt white chocolate in the microwave according to the package instructions. Once it’s fully melted, use a spoon to drizzle the melted white chocolate all over the popcorn. 

Then immediately, sprinkle red hots candies, white chocolate chips, and red sprinkles on top to complete your Red Hot Cinnamon Candy Popcorn. Of course, you can skip the extra toppings, if you would like, Or just use one or another.

And, if you are making this candied popcorn for Christmas, green sprinkles would look great!

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