What's the first thing to come to mind when topping popcorn?
Butter, right?
Well, we're here to change that!
How does wasabi sound?
What about truffle oil?
Stick around and learn all the tremendously tasty things you can add to your popcorn that
aren't butter!
Do you love the Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme Drizzled Popcorn that's only available for
a limited time at Sam's Club?
If so, what are you going to do when that limited time runs out and this sweet and salty
treat is no longer available?
Or what if you're just now hearing about this tempting morsel after the limited time has
passed and you never got to try the collab between two of your favorite snacks?
"Don't panic!
Don't panic!
Don't Panic!"
"Get in, move it, this is not a drill"
Calm down!
We have a solution!
What you're going to do is ... make your own!
You can replicate the experience and flavor by adding white chocolate and crushed Oreos
to your popcorn at home.
You can do it the simple way by crushing a handful of Oreos, chopping up your favorite
white chocolate bar, and adding both to your popcorn.
Then just give it all a good shake to mix.
You can also go the extra step and melt your chocolate before adding it to the popcorn
and crushed Oreos.
For a sweet popcorn treat that goes above and beyond your typical caramel corn, add
some dark chocolate and matcha powder to the mix.
You can use any popcorn you like — even the bagged, pre-popped stuff.
Just toss in a few teaspoons of matcha powder to taste, spread out your popcorn on a sheet
pan, and drizzle on some melted chocolate.
Not a fan of dark chocolate?
Not a problem!
You can easily adapt this recipe if you're unsure what chocolate to use or how to best
go about melting it.
Feel free to swap out the dark chocolate for white or milk chocolate.
And while popcorn is generally considered to be one of the healthier snack choices you
could make, don't let the inclusion of liberal amounts of melted chocolate dissuade you from
enjoying it.
As you chow down on handfuls of this delicious treat, you can still tell yourself it's a
healthy choice.
After all, matcha powder does come with a variety of health benefits!
And besides, it's green.
Green means healthy, right?
"Totally healthy."
For an incredibly easy addition to your popcorn, go with chocolate chips.
You don't need to melt anything, crush anything, or run to any specialty food stores for an
ingredient you don't regularly keep in your pantry.
All you need are the chocolate chips and the popcorn — two items most home cooks will
already have on hand.
The nice part about using your chocolate chips in your popcorn versus chopped chocolate?
Chocolate chips are designed and formulated to hold their shape better than other types
of chocolate.
So you'll still get a nice, rich bite from the chocolate chips contrasting against the
texture of the light and airy popcorn.
However, if you do want some chocolate that's going to melt as much as possible once it
hits your hot popcorn, we recommend you grab your favorite chocolate bar and break it all
up inside the wrapper before tossing it in.
Peanut butter and honey?
On popcorn?
You'd think that would be a little messy and sticky, but not necessarily.
This recipe combines peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and peanuts with microwave popcorn
for a totally tasty treat that's incredibly easy to make.
You just blend your peanut butter, honey, and vanilla in a saucepan until the ingredients
are mixed and melted.
Then, add the mixture to your popped popcorn and give it a stir.
To avoid the mess, spread the popcorn out on a sheet pan and bake for 10 minutes at
300 degrees Fahrenheit.
Then, toss the popcorn with your peanuts and dig in.
You have a delicious, peanut buttery, sweet popcorn that won't leave a mess on your couch
during movie night.
For best results, go with lightly salted, no-butter microwave popcorn.
Hot chocolate bombs, hot chocolate cookies, hot chocolate lattes — around the holiday
season, everything seems to get the hot chocolate treatment!
But what about your popcorn?
Holidays or not, you can give your microwave or stovetop popcorn a little hot chocolate
love with just a few basic baking ingredients.
Once you have the staple hot chocolate flavor down, you can then add in extra ingredients
to create your own personalized take on this snack.
Just mix a small amount of cocoa powder with powdered sugar to taste and then add it to
your popcorn.
It's easiest to do this with microwave popcorn while it's still in the bag.
All you have to do is throw in the cocoa and sugar, hold the top closed tightly, and then
shake it like a Polaroid picture!
Adjust the cocoa and sugar to taste and then feel free to add in other hot chocolate-appropriate
toppings, such as miniature marshmallows or chocolate chips.
If you've yet to sprinkle a bit of curry powder atop your popcorn, you're missing out.
This versatile addition to your spice cabinet has so many uses, and curries are just the
start!
From popcorn to soup and rice to salad dressings, you can add curry powder to just about everything.
Just sprinkle this spice onto your popped popcorn, either in the bag or in a bowl, and…
"Shake it, baby, shake it!"
Not familiar with curry powder?
The bright orange seasoning is made with an array of different spices depending on the
brand you buy.
Typical ingredients include turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, pepper, cloves, ginger,
and bay leaves, among others.
Curry powder isn't usually salty, so you can add it in to your already-salted popcorn without
having to worry about your snack leaning too heavily on that one flavor.
Plus, beyond the great taste, curry powder is packed with anti-inflammatory properties
and adds some extra health benefits to your popcorn.
If you're craving popcorn with a bit of a spicy kick, consider sprinkling some jerk
seasoning atop the snack.
And if you've yet to experience this Caribbean spice blend, it's typically a combination
of allspice, Scotch bonnet peppers, thyme, garlic, and scallions.
It comes as a marinade in addition to a dry spice rub.
Historically used for seasoning smoked and dried meat, now you can find jerk seasoning
on just about anything, from salmon to pasta.
Jerk seasoning blends are readily available in the international section or spice aisle
of your favorite grocery store.
Just be careful — this spicy, sweet, and smoky flavor is not for the faint of heart.
If the seasoning is made with cayenne pepper, it'll be slightly milder.
But if it's made with the traditional Scotch Bonnet peppers, you can expect the flavor
to rank from 100,000 to 350,000 units on the Scoville scale.
For reference, that's up to 40 times hotter than a jalapeño.
In other words, it's…
"Oh!
Hot!
Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!"
You may already enjoy paprika on some of your popcorn and not even know it.
If you've tried Skinny Pop's popcorn mini cakes in the sharp cheddar flavor, you'll
find this spice lurking in the ingredients list helping to enhance the taste of the snack.
Paprika can add a greater depth of flavor to your salted popcorn.
It has a gentle smoky spice that can be enhanced as you add more, and that smokiness will vary
depending on the brand you purchase.
There are three types of paprika: sweet, smoked, and hot.
Depending on the kinds of flavor you prefer, you might want to opt for one over the other.
How hot exactly is the hot paprika?
It receives a rating of 1,000 Scoville units, or about the same heat level as a poblano
pepper.
Sprinkling some paprika on your popcorn not only adds spice, sweetness, or smoke — it
can also add health benefits.
This spice is packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
Chili seasoning, or chili powder, is one of those vague seasonings that will differ according
to the brand you buy or how you make it.
However, if you find a version that you love, you can mix it in with your popcorn for a
chili or taco-like flavor — all with the ease of adding just a few shakes atop your
bowl or bag of popcorn.
Chili powder typically includes a mixture of chilis, cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic powder,
onion powder, oregano, and paprika.
To achieve the perfect blend of all these spices and seasonings, you can make your own
mix.
If you buy your chili seasoning at the store, though, don't make the mistake of picking
up the chile powder with an "E" at the end instead of an "I." That one letter swap makes
a difference.
While chili powder with an "I" is made with a range of spices and seasonings, chile powder
with an "E" typically only includes dried, ground chiles and pretty much nothing else.
Love wasabi?
You're not alone.
"No, wait, that's wasabi.
- Wait.
Whoa!"
Commonly associated with sushi, wasabi is derived from a plant in the same family as
horseradish.
And it's a popular addition to many foods in need of a kick of spice.
But did you know that most wasabi in the United States is fake?
While real wasabi is extremely difficult to grow and very expensive, you can easily find
fake wasabi powder for much less in the international aisle of your local grocery store.
Luckily, even the fake stuff makes for a good addition to your popcorn.
You can sprinkle the wasabi powder to taste atop your popped popcorn and shake to mix.
You can also try blending wasabi powder with melted butter and drizzling it over your popcorn
like you would plain butter.
If you only have wasabi paste, not wasabi powder, then you'll definitely want to try
the butter mixture for easier flavor distribution throughout your entire bowl of popcorn.
Who doesn't enjoy cheesy popcorn?
If you're a fan of the flavor but not the fat, sodium, or carbs, there's another option.
You can make your own healthier, cheesy popcorn at home!
Simply add some parmesan to your favorite, low-cal, air-popped popcorn.
To get the cheese to stick, make sure to add it while the popcorn is piping hot, and consider
shaking it up in a sealed container to blend everything together.
You can also add some more oil or melted butter to your popcorn for extra help.
And if you're looking for a cheesy option that's keto-approved, you can skip the actual
popcorn altogether and make your own homemade cheese puffs.
Just use a semi-hard or hard cheese like parmesan or gouda.
All you'll need to do is simply slice, dry, and bake your favorite cheese to low-carb
snacking perfection.
For vegan cheesy popcorn, nutritional yeast is a popular option, though, you may not have
heard of it if you aren't a vegan.
But that is understandable, as the vegan lifestyle isn't for everyone.
"Anyone can be vegan!"
"Ovo-Lacto vegetarian, maybe."
Nutritional yeast is literally just inactive yeast that's grown specifically to be a food
source.
And it's filled with — you guessed it — nutrients!
Don't ask us why, but it also magically tastes like cheese.
You can add nutritional yeast to pasta, veggies, soups, and anything else you think needs some
cheesy flavor.
But it's particularly popular for popcorn, especially when you don't want to add real
cheese or even butter.
All you need to do is blend nutritional yeast and salt together in a large bowl or lidded
container.
Add your hot, freshly popped popcorn, pop the lid back on, and give it all a shake until
the nutritional yeast and salt are evenly distributed.
Truffle oil is one of those trendy ingredients that you either love or you hate.
With its unmistakable aroma and earthy flavor, truffle oil is expensive when authentic and
entirely synthetic when it's fake — containing not a single ounce of actual truffle.
But whichever option you decide to go with, truffle oil makes a nice addition to your
popcorn.
Simply drizzle it over a fresh bowl just as you would melted butter.
You can even pair it with other savory popcorn toppings, such as parmesan or nutritional
yeast.
If the first thing to come to mind when you think of truffle oil is…
"Yeeeeeeeeeeee-uuuuuck!"
…it might be because your taste buds aren't interested in the fake stuff that's more readily
available at the grocery store.
Some diners love any truffle oil they can get.
However, experts note that there's a big difference between real truffle flavor and what you'll
get from the mass-produced oil product.
So, if you want to try this topping but you're not keen on truffles, it might be worth it
to invest in the real deal and then see what your taste buds think.
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