All of the recipes below have been adapted from Jolly Time Popcorn’s recipes, many of which use margarine, white sugar, corn syrup and other unfriendly ingredients. So I decided to set up a popcorn kitchen and transform their recipes into UnDiet friendly popcorn snacks. Thank you very much and you’re welcome.
Sweet Corn
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
- 3 tablespoons unrefined sugar
- sea salt
Heat coconut oil in a heavy medium-sized pan until hot. Add popcorn kernels, sprinkle with sugar and a dash of salt. Cover and shake quickly and CONTINUOUSLY until all the kernels are popped. Remove from heat immediately.
Makes about 1 quart.
Italian Popcorn
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 cups popped popcorn
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregeno
- 1 teaspoon grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Heat oil over medium heat in large pan. Add the remaining ingredients to the hot pan and toss until well mixed and heated, about 5 minutes.
Almond Butter Crunch Popcorn
adapted from the Jolly Time popcorn site
The original recipe contained corn syrup which is an ingredient we try to avoid. I’ve substituted honey for the corn syrup with good results, probably tastes even better than the original recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup unrefined sugar
- 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2-1/2 quarts popped popcorn
- 1-1/2 cups whole nuts, toasted*
Preheat oven to 250°F.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in the sugar, honey and salt.
Raise the heat to medium to bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Boil for 8 minutes, stirring only once, over the lowest heat possible to maintain the boil. Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. Slowly pour the syrup over the popcorn and nuts.
Mix well. Pour onto a large, shallow baking pan or use the same cookie sheet you toasted the almonds on. Bake for 30 minutes, mixing well after 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Break apart and store in a tightly covered container.
Makes about 3 quarts.
*To toast nuts, spread them on a large cookie sheet and bake at 325°F for 15 to 20 minutes until they smell nutty and are slightly darker.
White Chocolate Pecan Corn
adapted from the Jolly Time popcorn site
For variety I’ve used grain-sweetened chocolate chips in place of the white chocolate. I’ve also used peanut butter, and espresso flavored chips with good results.
Ingredients:
- 1 (3.5 oz.) butter-flavored microwave popcorn, popped
- 10 ounces grain-sweetened white chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup pecan halves, (toasted)
Dump popcorn into a large bowl.
Put white chocolate chips in a large glass measuring cup and microwave on high for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes, or until chocolate is shiny. Stir until smooth Then stir in pecans. Pour chocolate mixture over popcorn and mix well. Allow to cool completely.
Makes about 2 quarts.
Southwestern Crunch
This is a spicy popcorn snack with a just a bit of heat. You can always increase the heat though with another dash or two or three of the cayenne.
- 12 cups popped popcorn
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- Dash of cayenne pepper
Dump the popcorn into a large bowl.
In a small bowl melt the butter in a microwave. When melted stir in the remaining ingredients. Drizzle over popcorn and toss lightly.
Makes 3 quarts.
Patchwork Popcorn
Ingredients:
- 1 (3.5 oz.) butter-flavored microwave popcorn, popped
- 2 cups whole grain cereal squares
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries or dried tart cherries
- 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon maple or vanilla extract
Melt the butter in a small pan over low heat or use a microwave safe bowl in a microwave.
Stir in maple or vanilla extract. Pour over popcorn mixture; toss to mix. Store in tightly covered container.
Makes about 3-1/2 quarts.
Cinnamon Apple Popcorn
Dried tart red cherries or dried cranberries can be substituted for the dried apple.
Ingredients
- 1 (3.5 oz.) butter-flavored microwave popcorn, popped
- 1 cup walnut pieces, toasted
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons unrefined sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup dried apple chunks
In 4-quart glass mixing bowl combine the popcorn and walnuts. Drizzle the butter over the popcorn and nuts and toss well.
Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle over popcorn mixture. Microwave on high 2 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir in dried apple chunks.
Cool. Store in tightly covered container.
Makes about 3 quarts
Popcorn S’Mores
This decadent recipe seems like the perfect finish to this post. I hesitated to put this one on here because it does require a hard to find ingredient (the marshmallow cream) which I discovered one day while browsing the baking aisle at Mother’s Market (a Southern California health food store). It isn’t always in stock and I could probably find it online, but I haven’t tried that yet.
You could always go old school and make it yourself. Cheese Slave came up with an incredibly easy recipe for marshmallow fluff using healthy ingredients. In fact it would probably take less time to make your own marshmallow fluff than it would to search for it at your local health food store.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup unrefined sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup honey or agave nectar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 10 cups freshly popped popcorn
- 8 to 10 oz. marshmallow fluff
- 2 cups mini graham cookies or whole crackers broken into bite-size pieces
- 1 cup grain-sweetened chocolate chips
Combine sugar, butter and honey in a medium saucepan. Cook over high heat for 5 minutes without stirring; remove from heat and stir in baking soda.
Combine popcorn and marshmallow fluff in a large bowl. Pour honey syrup over popcorn. Stir in graham crackers and chocolate chips. Spread mixture evenly into a lightly oiled baking pan. Let cool completely. Break or cut into pieces. Store in an airtight container.
