Valentine’s Day Popcorn Snack Mix

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A Valentine’s Day Snack Mix with vanilla coated popcorn, M&M’s, and chocolate covered pretzels. This sweet and salty snack mix is the perfect Valentine’s Treat to share with your special someone!

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How about we ditch the box of chocolates this year and hand out bowls of this Valentine’s Day Snack Mix instead?

This stuff is just as sweet, even more delicious, and honestly the prettiest darn snack ever. It’s almost too pretty to eat…almost.

I LOVE Valentine treats. Besides Christmas, Valentine’s Day is probably my second favorite holiday to make treats for. Everything is just so pretty and made with love, it just gets you feeling all the feels!

What I love most about this recipe is that there’s nothing complicated about it. There’s no baking required. Barely a recipe even. It can literally be made and packed up in under an hour AND the kids can help put it together!

Love this for us!

So whether this is a snack for the kiddos, a treat for your Galentines, or an “I’m thinking about ya” treat for your sweetie, this Valentine snack mix is the answer.

Looking for more easy Valentine’s Day Desserts? Check out my Valentine Cookies or my Valentine Rice Krispie Treats!

What’s in this Valentine’s Day Snack Mix?

The core of this snack mix is the popcorn.

But since I can’t leave well enough alone, I melted a bunch of my favorite white melting wafers and then generously coated the whole bowl of popcorn with the sweet vanilla goodness.

I personally love using the Ghirardelli melts because 1) I never burn them 2) they taste just like white chocolate–they don’t taste artificial like the melts you get at the craft store.

You can use real white chocolate or white chocolate chips instead of the melts if you want!

For this snack mix, it’s all about decorating the popcorn with pink, red, and white! So after the popcorn is coated in vanilla/white chocolate, I add some cute Valentine M&Ms and Valentine colored sprinkles for a little festive sparkle and an extra pop of color.

I also love a play on salty and sweet, so we sprinkle the top with some salt and toss in some chocolate covered pretzels to the mix. Both the salt and the pretzels provide a really nice contrast to all the sweet going on.

WHAT POPCORN SHOULD I USE FOR THIS RECIPE?

For this recipe, I pop my own kernels on the stovetop.

When I make my homemade stovetop popcorn (instructions listed in the next section) I use either white or yellow kernels, there’s no taste difference that I’ve noticed.

Of course, you can make your life easier and use microwaved popcorn, or buy it already popped!

When using microwave or pre-popped corn, try to get a bag with no butter and no salt added. If you can’t find unsalted, no sweat, just omit the salt in the recipe.

If you have a bit of a sweet tooth, using some kettle corn for this Valentine popcorn mix would be a great variation! You may need to adjust the salt in the recipe, but just taste the popcorn after you’ve coated it in the chocolate/melts and season from there!

Making Stovetop Popped Corn

Homemade popcorn is super easy and super fun to make! I highly recommend giving it a try if you’ve never done it before!

Here’s how I do it:

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

• 1/2 cup white or yellow popcorn kernels
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• A heavy-bottomed saucepot with a tight-fitting lid (I use a 4 qt sized pot)

For popping the corn:

Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the bottom of your pot.

Add your popcorn kernels to the oil and swirl it around, making sure the kernels are coated with the oil.

Set the pot on the burner, put the lid on and turn the burner to high heat.

Once the popcorn starts to pop, give the pot a shake every few seconds to prevent burning on the bottom.

*I have an electric stove, so I actually lift the pot off the burner to give it a good shake. Make sure to keep the lid on the pot!

Once the popcorn starts to pop furiously, turn off the heat and continue to pop and shake until there is a 1-2 second delay in between each pop.

Remove the pot from the burner and pour the popcorn into a bowl. At this point you can add any topping you’d like!

This will make about 8 cups.

How to Make This Popcorn Snack Mix for Valentine’s Day

Makes 12 servings

Ingredients for your Valentines Snack Mix

• 8 cups of popped corn, preferably with no butter or salt (see above for stovetop instructions)
• 10 oz of Ghirardelli White Melting Wafers or 2 cups of white chocolate chips
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 3/4 cup of Valentine colored M&M’s
• 1 1/2 cups of chocolate covered pretzels
• Valentine colored sprinkles (optional)

Instructions:

Line a sheet pan with parchment or wax paper and set aside.

Add the white melting wafers or white chips to a heat safe bowl, and place the bowl over a pan of steaming water. 

Slowly melt and stir the wafers until they are completely melted and smooth.

Alternatively, pour the melting wafers or chips into a microwave safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds. Stir and keep microwaving in 15 second intervals until the wafers are completely melted and smooth.

To a large bowl, add your popcorn. 

Pour the melted candy coating or white chocolate over the popcorn. 

Moving quickly, use a rubber spatula to toss the mixture until all the popcorn is evenly coated.

Dump the coated popcorn onto the prepared sheet pan and spread out into an even, single layer.

Before the candy coating sets, sprinkle on your salt, M&M’s, and sprinkles.

Distribute the chocolate covered pretzels evenly over the top of the popcorn mixture. They won’t really stick at this point, but it helps to later distribute them evenly when you’re breaking up the mix.

Chill for 15-20 minutes until set.

Break into chunks and store at room temperature in an airtight container or package in cute tins to give to your loved ones.

Storing your Valentine Snack Mix Treat

Store this Valentine’s Day popcorn mix at room temperature in an airtight container. It will keep for up to a week!

I don’t recommend refrigerating this snack, but if you live in a hot and humid climate, try to keep it in a cool, dry place if possible.

Or you’ll just have to eat it all in one sitting. No shame in that!

This makes a great Valentine Snack for the classroom!

If you’ve recently been handed a list of your child’s classmates and need a cute Valentine’s Day treat for the classroom, look no further!

This Valentine’s Day snack mix checks all the boxes!

It’s made without nuts, it’s peanut free, and the ingredients can easily be swapped for gluten free versions if needed.

As always, if you’re making this snack mix for a friend with food sensitivities, just make sure to read your labels to ensure no allergens are sneaking in!

This recipe also makes about 12 servings–which is good for a classroom size, but it can easily scale up or down if you need more!

Oh, and the best part is, this stuff takes less than an hour to make! Get the kids to help too! They’ll have a blast decorating and breaking up the popcorn!

OTHER FUN ADDITIONS AND VARIATIONS

This is my favorite thing about this Valentine’s Day Snack Mix recipe–customization. The candy coated popcorn is your base and as far as the toppings go, you’re only limited by your imagination! Here are just a few suggestions:

• Add some peanut butter flavor to the mix–swap out the M&Ms for the peanut version or use Reese’s Pieces. Add some peanut butter cups and maybe a drizzle of melted semisweet chocolate!
• Cookies and cream- add chopped up Oreos and Cookies N’ Cream candy bars to the top of the vanilla coated popcorn
• Customize for other holidays or special occasions! Change out the M&M’s and the sprinkles for Christmas themed colors, Easter colors, or even St. Patrick’s day colors!
• Cookie Monster Popcorn- add chopped up Oreos, chocolate chip cookies, and M&Ms for a cookie popcorn explosion!

Other Recipes You Might Like:

Chocolate Covered Popcorn

Valentine’s Day Rice Krispie Treats

Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers

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