This homemade Moose Munch recipe will be one of your favorites for any event! It’s a copycat recipe for the chocolate and caramel popcorn you will love!
Moose Munch Recipe
If you haven’t had Moose Munch and love caramel popcorn, you need to make this recipe as soon as you can. It’s popcorn and nuts with caramel and chocolate.
It’s a perfect dessert for a crowd or to make as a gift during the holidays or Christmas! I’ll make a bunch and add them to bags or decorative tins to give out to friends.
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What is Moose Munch?
Harry & David’s Moose Munch is a treat that I often got during the holidays, but it can be a bit expensive. It’s got caramel popcorn and nuts that are drizzled in chocolate to make the perfect sweet, salty, and chocolatey bite.
Do I need to make my own popcorn?
You can, but you definitely don’t need to! I’ll use two bags of popcorn in a natural sea salt flavor to give about the same amount of popped popcorn that is required for the recipe.
Avoid using any popcorn that has flavorings especially butter as that won’t pair really well with the sweet toppings.
How do I make the caramel?
It’s a pretty quick caramel to make! You’ll need the following ingredients:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup corn syrup
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 tsp baking soda
Grab a saucepan and heat the brown sugar, corn syrup, and butter together over a medium heat. You want to keep it over the heat and stir until the caramel boils. Give it 2 minutes to boil without stirring then add in the baking soda.
It’ll bubble quickly so have your popcorn on a baking sheet ready to go.
Be sure to line your baking sheet with wax paper or parchment to help with the clean up! It gets messy and sticky very quickly so any help to clean up is much appreciated.
What kind of nuts should I use?
I use peanuts that are salted since I usually have those on hands. You could use something like cashews or almonds to change up the textures and flavors!
What kind of chocolate should I use?
I typically use semi-sweet chocolate chips, but any type of chocolate would be good to use! Milk chocolate or dark chocolate would be more traditional, but white chocolate could be a great option too!
How long does copycat moose munch last?
Not long in my house! If you don’t finish it as soon as it’s done, it should last around a week in an airtight container before the popcorn gets a little stale tasting.
Looking for other dessert ideas? Try one of these:
Moose Munch Recipe
This homemade copycat Moose Munch recipe will be one of your favorites for any event! It's a great recipe for the chocolate and caramel popcorn with nuts you will love!
Ingredients
Popcorn
- 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
Moose Munch
- 2 bags popcorn or about what the kernels above will make
- 1/2 cup peanuts or your choice of nut
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup corn syrup
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Make popcorn according to the bag. If you're making from kernels, heat oil over medium heat in a large pan, throw a few kernels in, and put the lid on. Once those pop, quickly put in the rest of the kernels and cover. Slightly move over heat while popping to stop the kernels from burning. Take off heat once you hear 2-3 seconds between pops.
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- Put popcorn and nuts over parchment paper or silicone mat for a baking sheet.
- Heat brown sugar, corn syrup, and butter together in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Constantly stir until the caramel boils. Let boil 2 minutes without stirring. Stir in baking soda.
- Immediately pour caramel over popcorn and nut mixture and mix until well coated.
- Put in oven for 45 minutes stirring every 15 minutes to ensure it's all coated. Let sit in baking sheet on counter until set.
- If you'd like chocolate chips, heat chips in a microwave proof bowl at 30 second intervals and stir until melted or use a double boiler to melt. Use a fork to drizzle over popcorn mixture and let set. Enjoy!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 363Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 2gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 324mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 3gSugar: 30gProtein: 3g
Nutrition provided is only an estimate.
Here’s the original post and image from 2016 when I paired it with this Pomegranate Mimosa. Let’s all celebrate an upgrade in camera equipment:
Oscars night is one of my favorites of the award show season just for the pure glitz and glamour of the entire event. The celebrities look gorgeous and are probably really hungry… while I’m in sweats and munching on this AMAZING copycat Moose Munch and sipping on my Red Carpet cocktail debating on which dress I would wear if I were ever in that situation.
Read – I will never be, but if I was, I’m pretty sure I’d just take a tumble like my girl J-Law.. probably much less elegantly too.
Popcorn and the movies are synonymous with one another, but I felt like it needed to be just as fancy as the night itself and what’s more fancy than that luscious caramel.. Nothing. Maybe chocolate.. which is why that’s thrown on there too.
Like… that caramel and peanuts… and chocolate together. I can’t stop eating it. If I knew it was so easy to make, I would’ve been doing this years ago. There were so many cravings for caramel corn and Moose Munch that were completely unnecessary when I JUST COULD’VE MADE IT. It’ll all be okay from now on.
Champagne was the obvious choice for the night. The red carpet needed to be honored beyond the multiple hours of interviews going on right now. Add a little pomegranate juice and homemade sour mix and bam. Perfect Oscar night drink. I probably could’ve been a little more creative with the name, but I have the Oscars to watch.
If you hear excessive cheering when (fingers crossed) Leo wins the Oscar finally, that’s me.
Edit: He did get the Oscar.
My Info Lynda White
Sunday 18th of December 2022
Have you ever made this with jars of caramel sauce rather than making your own?
Sam
Sunday 18th of December 2022
Hi Lynda, I haven't made this recipe using caramel sauce before! It seems like it could be a little more liquidy and not set quite the same way, so you'll have to let us know if you try it!
Julie
Saturday 17th of December 2022
Semi-sweet chocolate chips or regular milk/dark chocolate chips?
Sam
Sunday 18th of December 2022
I usually use semi-sweet chocolate chips since the caramel is pretty sweet, but you could definitely change it up to whatever you're feeling!
Daja
Thursday 29th of July 2021
could i still make this without the corn syrup?
Katie
Saturday 17th of December 2022
@Daja, I just substituted equal parts honey and it came out great!
Sam
Tuesday 3rd of August 2021
Good question, Daja! I haven't tried it, but you may be able to replace it with more butter and sugar. I'd try replacing it with 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup sugar to make up for it. If you try it, definitely let me know how it goes!
Anne
Thursday 18th of March 2021
I made this and it turned out great! When I immediately poured the caramel onto the popcorn, I was worried because it was so sticky and didn't spread as evenly as I would've liked. However, when I pulled it out of the oven to stir it after 15 minutes, it was much thinner and I could easily coat every piece of popcorn! Awesome recipe, thank you!
Sam
Thursday 18th of March 2021
So glad to hear, Anne! It's one of my favorites.