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If you’re looking for the perfect treat, these sweet and salty popcorn bars are simply fabulous! Made with pretzel, walnuts and M&M’s, these are great for kids of all ages!

Sweet and salty popcorn bars

I made these amazing sweet and salty popcorn bars simply because I was sick of the old plain popcorn my daughter keeps asking for as a snack. I mean I love popcorn but sometimes enough is enough! She can have it all since I just made a new best friend.

These bars are awesome and the perfect treat for a person like me who happens to experience both a sweet and a salty tooth every once in a while. There’s something magnificent about this combination that I just can’t resist! That’s why I didn’t make a huge batch of these sweet and salty popcorn bars because I would eat them all in one go!

These are super simple to make and only take minutes so are great for a quick sweet/salty tooth fix as you can whip them up in no time. They’re also not too sticky or gooey so little hands will not get messy; although I found that my little one is not crazy about these, she’s just picked the M&M’s and left the bars for mommy. But if you do have a sweet and salty lover in your house, keep these hidden, they’re quite the calorie bomb and you don’t want the little ones to devour them all at once.

I simply chopped some popped popcorn, salty pretzels and walnuts, made a delicious caramel marshmallow sauce to mix with then sprinkled M&M’s all over. Easy peasy, right? The only problem with these delicious sweet and salty popcorn bars was that I had to move real fast to make the sauces and assemble the bars. There simply was no time for step by step photos. When you’ll decide to make these you’ll know what I’m talking about.

And guess what I paired these with? Wait for it! Wait for it!…BEER!! That’s right, I found that a non alcoholic beer with a touch of lemon juice is the perfect match to these divine treats for me! Call me cuckoo, but the image of the combo makes me drool every time. People are crazy like that and I’m no different!

Sweet and salty popcorn bars recipe

Ingredients:

2 cup pretzels
2 cup walnuts halves
4 cups popped salty popcorn
M&M’s as much as desired (I used a 15 oz bag)
9″x 6″ baking sheet
cooking spray
no stick spatula
non stick spoon
large glass bowl

For the sauce:

4 oz pink marshmallows, small (or chopped)
1/2 cup half and half
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons water

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Directions:

Prepare the baking sheet by lightly spraying with cooking spray.
Mix pretzel, popcorn and walnuts and chop roughly (use a food processor or put them in a kitchen towel or a fabric bag and lightly smash them with the meat beater; I’m rudimentary like that! lol). Then transfer to a large glass bowl.
In a medium saucepan bring half and half to a boil, reduce heat to low and add marshmallows. Stir in until completely melted using a spatula.
Meanwhile make the caramel sauce. Pour sugar in a medium large saucepan and add water. Bring to a boil then turn the heat on low. Keep on heat until the sugar gets an amber color (not brown, that means it’s burnt and it will taste super funky). Keep the marshmallow sauce on the stove until the caramel sauce is ready.
Once caramel sauce is done, slowly pour marshmallow sauce over, stirring with a whisk. Be careful, the combination will bubble at first. Mix until well combined.
Immediately pour over the popcorn pretzel walnut mixture, in small batches and mix well with a non stick spoon. Continue pouring and mixing until all ingredients are well coated.
Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, firmly press down (I used the side of a mug), then sprinkle M&M’s and gently press the M&M’s into the popcorn mixture using your hands.
Immediately cut into bars. If you pressed down the mixture well, you’ll be able to easily remove the bars from the baking sheets.
That’s it! Enjoy your super delicious sweet and salty popcorn bars!

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