Popcorn Cookies

Friends, let me be honest with you. This recipe is surprisingly delicious, and I’ve been holding on to it for months. Now, you might be saying, “popcorn cookie? that sounds ridiculous why would I want that!” But you do! So I’m sorry I’ve been holding out because you’re gonna like this recipe.

I got this recipe from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. I’m a big fan of hers, but when I saw this recipe I was skeptical. But I had to know what it would taste like. And it’s amazingly good. Salt, sweet, crunchy, buttery – WHAT COULD BE BETTER?! I shouldn’t have been skeptical, Smitten Kitchen came through and this recipe is lovely. I’ve brought it to two workplaces and the cookies always get devoured. It’s a yummy surprise cookie and you should make it and wow people in your life.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 cup popcorn kernels

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup of butter, softened

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/3 cup of sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions:

1. Get a large saucepan with a lid. If it’s a see-through lid that’s going to be helpful. Pour the oil in the saucepan and add the popcorn kernels. Make sure the kernels are on the bottom of the pan in one layer.

2. Cover the pot, heat it over medium-high heat. When you see/hear the first kernel pop, start to shimmy/shake the pan continuously. Keep the pan moving until all the kernels have popped, which is about 5 minutes. This part is really fun for me because I’ve really only ever made popcorn in the microwave. It’s fun to see the transformation.

3. Transfer the popcorn to a separate bowl. Pour the salt and melted butter over the popcorn and mix it up. Let it cool.

4. Preheat oven to 350°.

5. In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix together the butter, brown sugar, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth.

6. In a separate bowl mix together the flour and baking soda.

7. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture. The amount of batter you will have will look small. Don’t worry.

8. Mix in the cooled popcorn so it’s evenly mixed and coated with the batter. This is a little challenging because there isn’t a ton of batter, but it will work out ok, just don’t get too crazy. Now, don’t just pour in the popcorn because you’ll end up with kernels in your cookies. Instead, take handfuls and place them in your mixing bowl.

9. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop big tablespoon size cookie dough balls onto the baking sheet.

10. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are a little brown. Let cool and then enjoy!

Messy Level: This is a two spoon recipe. It’s messy in the way all cookies are messy because flour gets everywhere and you have to handle the dough. But otherwise it’s not going to create an out-of-control mess.