Whenever we are out camping for the weekend, we always explore. What better way to see all that mother nature and the campground has to offer than to get out and walk around. When choosing a campground, we tend to gravitate towards ones that have miles of hiking trails for us to wander. We always make it a point to spend about a half day of our camping weekend hiking. There are so many benefits to hiking that go way beyond the exercise you’re getting. The sheer beauty of nature is what we are really after.

But after a few hours of stomping the trail our bellies get to rumblin’. I always pack a healthy snack for us to chow down on. There are a few snacks that we really love and make all the time, like these no bake granola bites. But I am always on the search for a new recipe and I am sure glad I came across these Peanut Butter Popcorn Clusters, they are an excellent quick healthy snack for the trail.

When you’re making something to eat while hiking, it needs to be high in protein, it needs to be easy and most of all it needs to be tasty! All of these conditions are true with the peanut butter popcorn clusters. This is a snack that you will want to prepare ahead of time as melting peanut butter and caramel at the campsite is a lot to take on. We originally found this recipe over at canadianliving.com and made a few adaptions to fit our tastes. We aren’t a huge fan of chocolate covered raisins so we skipped it when making this quick healthy snack and found that it was still delicious. But if you’re a big fan of raisins, we’d suggest adding it in.

Quick Healthy Snack: Peanut Butter Popcorn Clusters

 

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Author: Chelsey Janes

Recipe type: Snack

Cuisine: American

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 10 cups popcorn, popped (2 bags will do it)
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup roasted salted peanuts
• ½ cup white corn syrup
• 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 1 cup chocolate covered raisins (optional)
• 

Instructions

1. In large bowl, combine popcorn with peanuts; set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter and corn syrup, stir together over medium-low heat until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high and let it boil, without stirring. If you are using a candy thermometer when it reaches 250ºF you can remove it. If you are not using a candy thermometer, let it boil for right around 8 minutes, then remove from heat.
3. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the ½ cup of peanut butter until it is liquid, about 30 seconds. Carefully, stir the peanut butter into the caramel mixture you have created. Drizzle over popcorn mixture, stirring to combine. Add raisins if you would like. Mix until popcorn is coated and chocolate is melted.
4. Spread on waxed paper–lined baking sheets. Let stand in cool, dry place until set, about 20 minutes. Break into clusters.

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