Submitted by Leah Leitch
I love making homemade gifts from the kitchen. There’s something sweet about knowing a person has put thought and time into preparing something delicious just for you.
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I was recently about to take a road trip with my children to visit my mom and sister and wanted to get them each a little gift. Both of them have enough "stuff" and I can’t stand impractical dust collector type gifts so I decided to put my own twist on an idea I saw online. Thus, my delicious Chocolate Cookie Popcorn Bark was born.
Let’s just say it was more than a success. I’ll fill you in on that later, but first I will tell you just you can turn this:
Into this:
Here’s what you’ll need:
8 cups popcorn, popped
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate, melted
1 cup white chocolate, melted
6 (or more) broken up chocolate chunk cookies (recipe to follow)
Dash of cinnamon
Sprinkle of salt
To make the cookies:
1/2 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup milk
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg, beat. Stir in cocoa and milk. To same bowl add flour, baking powder and salt as well as chocolate chips and nuts if using. Mix well. Place about a tbsp. of dough per cookie onto a greased pan. Bake 12 minutes at 375 degrees.
* Note: this will make more than you need. I used up about 1/2 my recipe for the popcorn bark and froze the rest before my kids got at them.
The fun part:
Spread out your popcorn onto two cookie sheets. Chop up your cooled cookies in small chunks. Sprinkle evenly over the popcorn.
Drizzle on your dark chocolate, followed by the white. Spread evenly so each bite has a bit of everything! Finish off with a dusting of cinnamon and salt.
Let cool, break up and package to give away to some very fortunate people.
Here’s what I did:
Who wouldn’t want to be a recipient of a jar of this deliciousness? My family flipped and wanted to know how I did it. My sister thought she was eating actual chocolate bar chunks instead of cookies-- maybe a new idea for my next batch! This would make an awesome gift for any occasion and would be great for a teacher’s gift as well.
Start with this idea and add your own twist. Just be prepared for the wide eyes and generous compliments that are sure to come your way! Enjoy.
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Copyright © 2013 by Leah Leitch. All rights reserved.