Chocolate covered popcorn topped with sea salt

Chocolate-covered popcorn topped with sea salt

1 C popcorn kernels
2-3 T vegetable oil
1 bag (12 oz) milk chocolate chips
2 T melted butter
Sea salt

Start by popping the popcorn.  If you have a stovetop popcorn popper, which is what I used, you can us that.  Otherwise use a large saucepan with a cover.  Heat the oil on medium.  Wait a few minutes until it is hot, then add the kernels.  If you are using a saucepan, you may want to shake it sporadically to get the kernels moving around.  Once popping is a few seconds in between, remove from heat and crack the lid to vent.

Voila.  The best kind o' popcorn.

Put half of the popcorn in to one large bowl, and half in to another large bowl.  That way it is easier to stir the chocolate in.  Pour 1 T of melted butter evenly over 1 bowl and 1 T evenly over the other.  Toss both bowls a bit.

Now the tricky part, melting the chocolate.  Pour your bag of chocolate chips in to  a microwave-safe bowl.  I microwaved the chips at 70 percent power, stopping every 30 seconds or so to stir the chips with a spatula, until they were melted.  Drizzle half of the melted chocolate over one bowl of popcorn and the other half over the other bowl.  Mix the popcorn until thoroughly coated.

Next I dumped all of the popcorn in to a paper grocery bag like so:

Shake sea salt over popcorn, little by little.  I am partial to Trader Joe's Sea Salt Crystals with grinder. Shake the bag in between each addition, until it tastes right - the perfect balance of sweet and salty.

Enjoy!

KCK