Granola

Popcorn Granola

November 11, 2015
5
3 Ratings
Photo by Alpha Smoot
  • Makes more than one person can eat
Author Notes

This recipe is slightly adapted from Nekisia Davis' Olive Oil and Maple Granola, but popped popcorn stands in for oats. —Sarah Jampel

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 7 to 8 cups popped popcorn (from about 1/3 cup kernels)
  • 1 cup raw hulled pumpkin seeds
  • 1 cup sliced almonds
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut chips
  • 1 1/4 cups raw pecans, left whole or very roughly chopped
  • 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 300° F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.
  2. In a large bowl, mix everything together. Don't worry about smashing some of the popcorn—you want it to be well coated.
  3. Spread mixture in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Transfer to oven and bake, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes, until crispy, about 45 minutes.
  4. Remove granola from oven and season with more salt to taste. Let cool completely before serving or storing. You may get big chunks of brittle-like popcorn candy. Embrace it! I do not know how long this stores for exactly, as we ate it all in 2 days, but I imagine it will stay good for at least a week, though your popcorn may soften slightly.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Kristin
    Kristin
  • Laura415
    Laura415
  • Mary-Ellen
    Mary-Ellen

3 Reviews

Kristin March 9, 2019
I love this recipe! It was a perfect use for a bunch of El Gordo Red Crimson popcorn made for the Academy Awards that wasn't eaten. In fact, it sat on the table in the cute popcorn bags until 4 days later... Still made a delicious ingredient!! This is an easy to make party snack, too, which is how we enjoyed it. One of the 2 1/2 trays (I doubled the recipe) came out nicely chunky - perhaps a bit more of the maple syrup, brown sugar & oil ended up pooling a bit. One of the nicest things in the mix is the pecans which came out perfectly toasted - not burned in anyway even though this bakes for 45 minutes. This is a keeper!!
 
Mary-Ellen June 18, 2017
How big should the pan be for depth of spread?
 
Laura415 February 17, 2016
Nice! I think this might also be adapted to make popcorn balls out of it by lowering or omitting the oil and making the maple syrup and brown sugar into a caramel or candy syrup brought up to temperature.