Healthy Peanut Butter Popcorn (Gluten-Free with Sugar-Free Option)
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Looking for kid-friendly, budget-friendly, and healthy snack ideas? This Healthy Peanut Butter Popcorn is going to knock your popcorn-loving socks off.
We LOVE popcorn in this house and this peanut butter popcorn is one of our all-time favorite snacks.
And I suspect it will soon be yours too.
To make this popcorn, all you need to do is pop the popcorn, combine the topping ingredients in a pan, heat and stir, and then drizzle them on top of the popcorn.
That's all.
And the recipe is easily adaptable for special diets too.
Ingredients
This is a simple list of what you'll need to make this recipe. For the full list with amounts, scroll down to the recipe card.
- popcorn (I recommend using organic)
- coconut oil (for popping)
- peanut butter (I recommend peanut butter made from Valencia peanuts because it has a lower mold content. Almond butter or another nut or seed butter can also be used.)
- sweetener (you can use either honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, or a low-carb sweetener)
- vanilla (optional, but recommended)
- salt
Variations
- Add chopped nuts or seeds to the drizzle or sprinkle on the popcorn after drizzling.
- Melt this Homemade Chocolate Bar or a store-bought chocolate bar and drizzle on top in addition to the peanut butter drizzle. A white chocolate drizzle would taste great as well.
- Top the popcorn with chocolate chips after making. These White Chocolate Chips would be a great topping too.
Recipe Notes
- Peanut butter and almond butter are particularly scrumptious, but any nut or seed butter will work. We love making Homemade Nut and Seed Butters all the time.
- You can use any healthy sweetener for this recipe. Honey and maple syrup are sweeter than sugar, so you will likely need less of those.
More Healthy Popcorn Recipes
If you love popcorn as much as we do, you'll love these other healthy popcorn recipes.
- Dorito Popcorn – The great taste of Doritos, but on popcorn! You can use this seasoning in so many ways.
- Healthy Kettle Corn – Use whatever sweetener you like. Make this delicious popcorn totally sugar-free just refined sugar-free. Yummy no matter how you make it.
- Homemade Popcorn Seasoning – Put this on your popcorn and prepare to see it disappear.
- Herb Popcorn – Deliciously seasoned with garlic and herbs.
The BEST Stovetop Popcorn Popper
This popper is really great. Your kids will have a great time helping in the kitchen with this safer popper. Plus, it's stainless steel, not aluminum, which is a sturdier and I think, a much better option for a healthy kitchen.
Between the healthy coconut oil, the homemade nut or seed butter, and the organic popcorn, this really is a nice option for an easy healthy snack for the whole family.
Healthy Peanut Butter Popcorn
Ingredients
- 8 cups popped popcorn (I recommend organic)
- 1/3 cup sweetener
- 6 tablespoons peanut butter or almond butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat sweetener and peanut butter in a small pan, stirring over medium heat, until blended.
- Add salt and vanilla. Stir to combine.
- Immediately pour over popcorn and stir to coat using large utensils.
Notes
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- Peanut butter and almond butter are particularly scrumptious, but any nut or seed butter will work – see Homemade Nut or Seed Butter to make your own.
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- You can use any healthy sweetener for this recipe. Honey and maple syrup are sweeter than sugar, so you will likely need less of those.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It may vary depending on ingredient brands, substitutions, and preparation methods. Optional ingredients are not included. Net carbs are typically calculated by subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols (such as erythritol) from total carbohydrates. This information should not be relied upon for medical or nutritional purposes.
Do you have a favorite popcorn topping to share?
Just made this (using peanut butter and a stevia baking blend) and it is delicious! I’ve been hounding your blog and trying out new recipes weekly, thank you so much for the fantastic ideas!
Yea!!!! We haven’t made this in awhile. Time to do it again :).
There are not currently any GMO varieties of popcorn. Feed corn, corn syrup, corn additives ect. and recently Bt sweet corn, which just came out on the market summer 2012 are mostly all GMO though. If anybody finds some definitive information to contradict the info about popcorn, please post a link. Thanks!
I have heard that, but I am very suspicious that this is not the case. I read some old info on the internet about it…is there anything more recent to validate this? I have had some really styrofoamey-tasting popcorn that makes me think GMO has crept into popcorn somehow. Thanks!
I would like this a lot, but corn is so full of mold and I am trying to get that stuff out of my body.
Peanuts are also loaded with mold.
We don’t eat peanuts at least. I know–they are really bad. I think much worse than corn b/c of how they are grown.
Adrienne,
Seems as if you think organic is non-GMO.
not true.
The organic assc. allows GMO without labeling.
Support Prop 37 in CA if you really want to know what you are eating.
Hi Susan. Can you share more please? I have been sharing a lot about Prop 37 on my FB page. Thanks for bringing this up!!
I just found this which appears to contradict what you are saying, but please share if you know differently:
Hi Adrienne,
I recently came across your site and have been very inspired by all your recipes 🙂 Just one question: I made this today, but my popcorn didn’t turn out as crunchy. They got kind of soggy and lost their characteristic crunchiness due to the caramel nut butter mixture. Is that supposed to happen? I think I might have had too much of the mixture as compared to the popcorn :/ maybe that’s what did it? Ok, thanks !
Hi Afrina. The popcorn doesn’t turn out that crunchy. The photo is misleading…sorry about that. I posted this at the beginning of my blogging adventure and just couldn’t make myself post the “real thing” as it isn’t that attractive. Maybe now that I have a better camera I can try to get something. I’ll add it to the post that the popcorn is not crunchy really like caramel popcorn. But if you add less of the topping it is more crunchy, which is what we typically do.
There is a “photo credit” at the bottom of the post to show that the photo isn’t mine, but maybe I should move it up to just under the photo to make it more clear. Thanks for the compliments!
Another great recipe that I will be trying with my daughter!! Everyone loved the Baked Oatmeal btw! I linked your blog throughout my post!
https://lgilifeandfitness.blogspot.com/2011/12/lgi-food-baked-oatmeal.html
Happy New Year you ROCK!!!
Thanks, Kenda! Happy New Year to you as well! Hope you like the popcorn!
No, I haven’t completely given up eating corn. I just try to make sure it’s organic when I do eat it.
Us too. We just eat popcorn and very occasionally homemade organic corn bread and organic chips when they are at a function.
This looks so yummy,I have never tried to make popcorn 🙂
Never tried to make popcorn? You must start :-).
Adrienne, I just want to say that there are many people who think that all corn, even organic corn, is GMO. There is no longer such a thing as non-GMO corn. This is, thanks to Monsanto, the result of cross-pollination. So I think you have to be careful about your corn consumption, if you are avoiding, as you should be, GMO foods.
Hello Willom. Yes, I was aware of that issue. I don’t know what to do about it. Have you completely given up eating corn? Ugh.
Hi,
I am hosting a Holiday Cookie Recipe swap and would love to get the word out to other bloggers to post and share their recipe. I do get good traffic on my site so it would mean traffic for others.
I would love it if you could share the idea with you blogger friends.
Cindy, thanks for letting me know – I’ll try to drop by :-).