Dairy-Free Birthday Cake Popcorn

We LOVE our family movie nights – it’s a great way for us to connect as a family! This is sweet treat movie night addition for those of you that have a sweet tooth. And the bonus is that it’s dairy-free, although it is certainly not SUGAR free!

This is a SUPER easy and quick recipe. You start by melting two 8.8 oz bags of dairy free white chocolate chips and popping two bags of popcorn. While dairy free “milk” chocolate chips are becoming easier to find, the white chocolate chips can be challenging to find, so I keep them on hand at home for recipes like this one.  Moms experienced with dairy free cooking already know that cooking can be somewhat of an adventure, as dairy free ingredients don’t always behave like you think they will.  It will take a while to melt these down. If you want to use regular white chocolate chips, go for it!  I put them in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave them a minute at a time until they are smooth and creamy.  Next, stir in 2 cups of dairy-free white or yellow cake mix onto the white chocolate chips.

This is going to be VERY, very clumpy and you’re going to think that you have failed.  Don’t worry, keep going!!  Mix it up as best you can.  Then, add 1-2 tablespoons of Vanilla Almond Milk.  Stir, and then place in the microwave for about 10 seconds.  Don’t walk away, and don’t put it in for much longer than that, because you can start to cook the cake.  Pull it out of the microwave quickly, because the chocolate will start to set.  Add about an 1/8 cup of almond milk, stir, and microwave to another 15 seconds.  Repeat this a few times until you get the mixture to a consistency that you can pour over the popcorn – it won’t get super liquidy, but when you get it back to a consistency of the melted chocolate you will be good to go.  It will take about 4-5 times of microwaving and adding almond milk.  After pouring over the popcorn, toss the popcorn gently with your hands to coat the popcorn evenly.

Then, let your kiddos pour in a 14.5 oz container of rainbow sprinkles.  Many will fall to the bottom, but there will be a fun moment when they get to dump ALL the sprinkles in.

Toss those to coat again, and then quickly (before the chocolate sets) spread the popcorn out onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and let set about 20 minutes until the chocolate fully sets.  But don’t be surprised when some sampling occurs!

The popcorn will fully set in about 15-30 minutes, and then it’s time to enjoy! What are your favorite movie night snacks?