We rarely eat popcorn at our house. As in almost never. The last time I ate popcorn was last Christmas time. We had family visiting and a trip to the movie theater was involved. Yup. Movie theater popcorn was the last time I actually had popcorn. Probably with extra artificial butter stuffs. Super bad for you and super unappetizing when you think about it, but oh so addicting. I mean it's hard to resist that salty bucket of bad stuff when your husband is sitting next to you chowing down on it so loud that you can't even hear the movie let alone think. So, you don't think and the next thing you know your hand is shoveling fistfuls into your own mouth. But hey, I can't blame it all on Adam. I mean, I did let him get the popcorn to begin with. And hey, it only happens like once a year anyways, so whatever.
Anyways, since we don't really consume popcorn at our house, I don't buy it. Ever. But somehow it still seems to make an appearance in the pantry. That I can fully blame on my father-in-law. Purveyor of all things sweet or snack-like. Which means popcorn. But then it just sits in the pantry, waiting to be popped. Or thrown into a gift basket with movies and candy.
Well, I just found a new use for popcorn. Cookies. Originally the recipe called for kettle corn, which you can most definitely use, but I, of course, only had microwaveable light butter popcorn. So, I popped up a bag and used it. But beware, it doesn't use all of the bag, so you might find yourself munching on the extras, or you could probably just make a double batch of cookies. One batch or two, these cookies won't last long at all, unlike the unpopped bags of popcorn in my pantry...
Caramel Corn Cookies
14 Tbsp butter, divided
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp molasses
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups popcorn, crushed (this measurement is for the crushed amount of popcorn, try about 3 cups uncrushed to equal the 2 cups crushed. I just crushed a little bit at a time until I had the 2 cups of crushed)
Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt a stick of butter (8 Tbsp). Stirring occasionally, cook for 7-10 minutes, or until butter begins to brown. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining butter until completely melted. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, sugar, and molasses. Add in melted butter. Mix until sugar is completely moist. Add in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix completely. Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Gently fold in popcorn. Place 1" balls about 2" apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 9-12 minutes. The longer they bake, the crunchier they will be, so depending on how you prefer your cookies, bake accordingly. I baked mine for 10 minutes and they were lightly crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Store in an airtight container (if you need to).
Source: Adapted from Sugar Hero
Anyways, since we don't really consume popcorn at our house, I don't buy it. Ever. But somehow it still seems to make an appearance in the pantry. That I can fully blame on my father-in-law. Purveyor of all things sweet or snack-like. Which means popcorn. But then it just sits in the pantry, waiting to be popped. Or thrown into a gift basket with movies and candy.
Well, I just found a new use for popcorn. Cookies. Originally the recipe called for kettle corn, which you can most definitely use, but I, of course, only had microwaveable light butter popcorn. So, I popped up a bag and used it. But beware, it doesn't use all of the bag, so you might find yourself munching on the extras, or you could probably just make a double batch of cookies. One batch or two, these cookies won't last long at all, unlike the unpopped bags of popcorn in my pantry...
Caramel Corn Cookies
14 Tbsp butter, divided
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp molasses
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups popcorn, crushed (this measurement is for the crushed amount of popcorn, try about 3 cups uncrushed to equal the 2 cups crushed. I just crushed a little bit at a time until I had the 2 cups of crushed)
Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt a stick of butter (8 Tbsp). Stirring occasionally, cook for 7-10 minutes, or until butter begins to brown. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining butter until completely melted. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, sugar, and molasses. Add in melted butter. Mix until sugar is completely moist. Add in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix completely. Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Gently fold in popcorn. Place 1" balls about 2" apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 9-12 minutes. The longer they bake, the crunchier they will be, so depending on how you prefer your cookies, bake accordingly. I baked mine for 10 minutes and they were lightly crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Store in an airtight container (if you need to).
Source: Adapted from Sugar Hero
OH ELIZABETH-YOU SWEET LITTLE TEASE! Now I am going to go home after work and make these because I love carmelcorn, popcorn, crackerjacks, fiddle faddle, pink popcorn bricks, etc. The kernels and shells do not like my gums but that's what floss is for and a really good toothbrushing. So I am really going to enjoy this and may not share with my 3 Dudes. Your Aunti Loves you
ReplyDeleteAunti, since the popcorn is crushed, I didn't have a problem with the parts that typically get stuck in the teeth. Except when Moira and I were munching on the plain popcorn...but then again, I didn't get too many of the cookies before Adam had devoured them :)
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