Honey-Vanilla Candied Popcorn Mix with Pretzels & Toasted Pecans

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A jar-and-bowl snack mix built on popcorn coated in a pale honey-vanilla candy shell that bakes to a glassy, shatter-crisp finish — no dark caramel, no chew. Toasted pecans, salty mini pretzels and roasted almonds get folded in while the coating is still warm, then the whole thing gets a white chocolate drizzle and flaky salt. It stays crunchy for a week in an airtight jar, which is the entire point.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
• 3 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 cups mini pretzel twists
• 1 cup pecan halves
• 3/4 cup roasted salted almonds
• 3 ounces white chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt
• 1/3 cup freeze-dried strawberries, crushed (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 250°F and line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Spread the pecan halves on one sheet and toast for 10 to 12 minutes, until fragrant; set aside to cool and wipe the sheet clean, re-lining it with fresh parchment.
2. Pop the corn: heat the neutral oil in a 6-quart pot over medium-high with 3 test kernels and the lid on. When the test kernels pop, add the remaining kernels, cover, and shake the pot every 15 seconds. When popping slows to one pop every 2 to 3 seconds (about 3 minutes), pull the pot off the heat immediately. You should have about 12 cups.
3. Dump the popcorn into your largest heatproof bowl, picking out and discarding any unpopped kernels — they will crack a tooth once they are candy-coated. Warm the empty bowl of popcorn in the 250°F oven for 5 minutes so the coating flows instead of seizing.
4. In a 3-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the honey, sugar, corn syrup and fine sea salt, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Clip on a candy thermometer, stop stirring, and boil until the syrup reads 250°F, about 5 to 7 minutes. It should be pale gold, not brown — you want honey flavor, not caramel.
5. Off the heat, immediately whisk in the baking soda and vanilla. The syrup will foam up and lighten in color; that foam is what makes the finished shell crisp rather than sticky.
6. Working fast, pour the hot syrup over the warm popcorn in a thin stream around the edges of the bowl, folding with a silicone spatula as you go, until most of the popcorn is streaked and coated. Add the toasted pecans, pretzel twists and almonds and fold 30 seconds more to distribute.
7. Divide the mix between the two lined baking sheets and spread it into a single loose layer. Bake at 250°F for 45 minutes, stirring and re-spreading every 15 minutes, until the coating looks dry and set and no longer feels tacky when you touch a cooled piece.
8. Cool the sheets completely on a rack, about 25 minutes, then break the mix into bite-size clusters with your hands.
9. Melt the white chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave at 50% power in 20-second bursts, stirring between each, until just fluid. Drizzle it over the cooled mix from a spoon or a zip-top bag with a snipped corner, then scatter on the flaky salt and the crushed freeze-dried strawberries, if using. Let the chocolate set for 15 minutes before jarring.
10. Store in an airtight jar at room temperature for up to 1 week. Do not refrigerate — humidity softens the shell.

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Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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