Movie nights at home can be an exciting event, especially during the holiday season! Add special popcorn to your favorite tradition, settle in with some cocoa, and enjoy. Here are some easy homemade options, from colorful pink popcorn and gingerbread caramel corn to savory flavoured popcorn.
Pink Popcorn
Yields 15 Cups
Put the popped popcorn in a large bowl, carefully picking out any unpopped kernels (I do this by popping into one bowl, then lightly scooping out the popcorn with my hands into another, leaving the unpopped kernels in the bottom). Preheat the oven to 250oF. Line one or two rimmed baking sheets with foil.
In a medium saucepan (with room for the mixture to at least double in size), bring the sugar, Jell-O®, water and butter to a boil. Once fully boiling, cook for four minutes without stirring, swirling the bowl occasionally. Remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla and baking soda. Pour over the popcorn and toss with tongs to coat completely. Spread out onto the baking sheets and bake, stirring once or twice, for an hour.
Set aside to cool.
Sriracha Caramel Corn
Yields 10 Cups
In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, and butter and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and boil without stirring, swirling the pan occasionally, for four minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda and sriracha – it will foam up at first, but stir it well to get any lumps of baking soda out.
Quickly pour over the popcorn and stir (with a heatproof spatula or tongs) to coat well. Spread out onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice. Cool and break apart.
Gingerbread Caramel Corn
Yields 8 to 10 Cups
Preheat the oven to 250oF and put the popcorn in a big bowl.
In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, molasses, and salt and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and boil without stirring, swirling the pan occasionally for four minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda and vanilla – it will foam up at first. Stir in the cinnamon and ginger, and quickly pour over the popcorn; stir with a heatproof spatula or tongs to coat well.
Spread out onto a large rimmed baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice. Cool and break apart.
Popcorn Flavorings
Here are some great spice blends to sprinkle on your popcorn. I find they won't stick to dry air-popped popcorn, so I like to sprinkle them over lightly buttered microwave popcorn and shake it up in the bag while it's still warm. That way, the popcorn tastes buttery too! If you do it this way, you may want to eliminate the salt, since microwave popcorn is already salted. The nutritional analysis will really depend on the brand of popcorn you use – the spices add virtually no calories. The Parmesan cheese adds 57 calories and 3.6 grams of fat per two tablespoons. You could also try using prepared powdered dip mixes, such as ranch and dill.
Cajun
Southwestern Chili Cheese
Italian
Curry
Pesto
Julie is a Calgary-based food writer, CBC Radio columnist, and the author of over a dozen best-selling cookbooks. Check out her recipes and cookbooks online at dinnerwithjulie.com or on Instagram at @dinnerwithjulie.
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