Celebrate Earth Day by making Chocolate Popcorn Trees! They are easy enough to create that your kids can even help. Plus, they taste great too!
To celebrate the warm porch sitting weather and the new life of spring, I created some chocolate trees topped with white chocolate popcorn leaves.
These cute trees are made out of milk chocolate stems and green-colored white chocolate-coated popcorn. Some even are adorned with candy fruit.
They are the perfect treat to make for an Earth Day celebration, a summer party, an apple-picking party, or a garden party.
The popcorn trees lay flat and can be packaged to give as party favors. Check out my Rice Krispie Treat Apple Tree tutorial if you'd like to make a 3-D tree that actually stands up.
The tree on the Amazing Apple Cake pictured above is made of popcorn using the same technique shown in that tutorial.
Below, I will show you how to make the easy chocolate popcorn trees.
Before you begin If you don't have much experience working with confectionery coating/candy melts, you might want to read my Chocolate Making Tips.
Ingredients
melted light cocoa candy melts/confectionery coating
melted green candy melts
popped popcorn (air popped works best)
colorful candies, optional - Candy Coated Sunflower Seeds, Candy Buttons, or M&M's
The amount of each of these ingredients will depend on the size and quantity of your trees. I used 6 ounces of the light cocoa candy melts to make the trunks and branches of my 5 trees. I mixed 10 ounces of green candy melts with 6 cups of popped popcorn for the leaves.
Supplies
baking sheets
parchment or wax paper
disposable pastry bag or zip top bag
Instructions
Pipe chocolate tree trunks and branches.
Line baking sheets with parchment or wax paper. Pour melted light cocoa candy melts into a disposable pastry bag or zip-top bag.
Pipe a tree trunk with branches onto the parchment paper. My trunks were about 6 inches long by 2 inches wide with the branches coming out about 2 ½ inches from the top.
Refrigerate for 3-5 minutes, just until hardened.
Continue to pipe trees until you have the desired number of trees.
Make green-colored white chocolate popcorn.
Pour popped popcorn into a large mixing bowl.
Pour melted green candy melts over popcorn and stir and toss until well combined.
Add popcorn leaves to the tree trunk.
Immediately spoon green popcorn over the branches of your trees.
If you don't work quickly, and the popcorn hardens in the bowl, heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds, then stir. Heat more if needed.
Plain popcorn trees.
The trees look great just as they are. I set them on a sheet of paper that looked like a blue sky and added some green coconut grass.
You could make fall trees by coloring your popcorn with red, yellow, and orange candy melts.
Or you could add some candy fruit.
Adding candy apples, lemons, and oranges.
While the popcorn is still wet, add colored candy pieces to create fruit trees if desired. Refrigerate your trees for about 5 minutes until hardened.
I used yellow candy-coated sunflower seeds to make lemon trees, and jumbo candy buttons to make the apples and oranges.
You could use M&M's, Reese's Pieces, confetti decorations, or even make your own using candy melts.
Making the trees sturdier.
You can make your trees thicker by turning them over, piping chocolate on the back of the tree trunk, and adding more popcorn to the backside.
Chocolate Buckeye Tree
In 2003, I created a chocolate popcorn tree filled with teeny tiny chocolate peanut butter buckeyes. I set the tree on top of a sheet of rice krispies and surrounded it with Peeps and other edible props like a chocolate cart, a chocolate picnic blanket, chocolate ducks swimming in a candy pond, and more.
The barn, fence, and airplane were all made out of chocolate too. I won the Ohio division of the contest with this clever creation.
Related Recipes
Be sure to check out all of my other Earth Day recipes.
Recipe
These cute chocolate popcorn trees have milk chocolate chunks and branches and green-colored white chocolate popcorn leaves and candy fruit.
- 6 ounces light cocoa candy melts melted
- 10 ounces green candy melts melted
- 6 cups popped popcorn (air-popped popcorn works best)
- colorful candies like jumbo red candy buttons apples, orange M&M's (oranges), or yellow candy-coated sunflower seeds (lemons)
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Line baking sheets with parchment or wax paper. Pour melted light cocoa candy melts into a disposable pastry bag or zip-top bag.
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Pipe a 6-inch tall by 2-inch wide tree trunk with branches coming out of the top onto the parchment paper.
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Refrigerate for 3-5 minutes, just until hardened.
-
Continue to pipe trees until you have the desired number of trees.
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Pour popped popcorn into a large mixing bowl.
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Pour melted green candy melts over the popcorn and stir just until well combined.
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Working quickly, spoong the green popcorn over the branches of your trees.
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If you don't work quickly, and the popcorn hardens in the bowl, heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds, then stir. Heat more if needed.
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If desired, you can add candy fruit to your trees while the popcorn is still wet.
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Refrigerate your trees for about 5 minutes until hardened.
Store your popcorn trees in an airtight container, preferably a metal cookie tin, at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
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Karen @ Sugartown Sweets says
These trees are amazing! Love~Love! I think these would be so cute around the sides of a cake. Your presentation is adorable..of course! 🙂
molly says
These look delicious! Thanks for the idea...and the Sugar Rush!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Thank you all! I'm so glad to see people reacting so positively to these chocolate trees.
The Partiologist says
Love your trees, I might be able grow some too! 🙂
Carolina - Galletas decoradas says
Great Idea.
Me encanta la idea, es perfecta para los niños
Oltreverso says
Wonderful!!!!! Thanks!!!
Davvero molto divertente!!! Grazie mille...
Paola
Nann from At Nann's Table says
You do the cutest things!! I've got some little grandkids that would love to do this. I'm going to share it with my daughters.
And Beth....don't beat yourself up that you're not doing enough to be green. You are doing an amazing job. If we all did as much as you do then this planet would be a whole lot more greener. It surely does start with each of us. And I didn't even know about that big swirly garbage thing in the ocean. It makes me sick. Thanks for sharing that. Makes me want to do better.
Nann
PS I wanted to make your darling fuzzy coconut chick cake balls for our Grandkids easter party and my husband even helped with making the little balls (a very healthy no bake recipe) but that and a couple of other things we had to forgoe because of time. I showed your pictures to everyone though.
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Hi Nann, thanks for all your kind words. I was shocked when I heard about the garbage pile in the ocean. It was the one major thing that made me more aware of the amount of garbage I had been producing.
Thanks for sharing my recipe pictures with others. Hopefully you'll find time next Easter to make the little chicks:)
MyFudo™ says
Pretty! Everyone will fall in love with this and take care of mother Nature once again. You are genius!
CJ - Food Stories says
These are gorgeous!
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
Okay, these are just amazing. So cute!
Elizabeth Barbone says
These are SO cute!
CuteEverything.com says
The popcorn really works perfect for the trees. Love the lemons! Congrats on your prize, you deserved it. Pinning.
Sue says
So cute, Beth! I love your little scene! I can't imagine what the grand prize looked like because yours is amazing!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Thanks Sue, the grand prize featured George W. Bush Peeps, so my farmer Peeps were beat out by the President. I worked hard and would have loved to win $10,000 but had a great time creating my edible scene. It was the first time I made a sculptural piece out of chocolate.
Naomi Kitchen says
Dear Beth,
I stumble upon your web when I was looking for modeling chocolate recipe and I was glad I found your blog.
You have fantastic ideas and I was so excited when I saw all your creations.
In particular, I love the popcorn trees and the scene you created.
To me, it's like an art piece.
Btw, I am planning a bunny themed party for my son's 1 year old birthday and would like to create something like yours.
Just wondering if you could share the items/ingredients used in creating it?
Would be very grateful if you are able to.
Thanks & regards,
Patsy (Singapore)
Anonymous says
Those are adorable! I love your creativity and am so glad that I started getting your emails.
Tammy Downs says
I thought this was a wonderful idea anyway but after seeing the Ohio reference, I fell head over heels. 🙂 Born and bred Ohio country girl here!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Thanks Tammy. I've lived in Ohio most of my life. I left for a while but came back because it is home.
Brenda says
Your trees are so darn cute and perfect for Earth Day!
Karyn - Pint Sized Baker says
Such a cute idea! You have the best ideas!
Rachel@I Heart Crafty Things says
This is AMAZING!!!! I love it!
Michelle | Creative Food says
I love this idea! So cute! 🙂
Jo and Sue says
What a great idea! So very impressed once again.