Stove Top Popcorn

When I was little, snack time was a scheduled occurrence. Monday through Friday as soon as my brother and I got home from school, we would sit down at the kitchen table and have snack with my mom. There were many classics – crackers and cheese, apples and peanut butter, veggie sticks and the occasional cookies and milk – but one of my favorites was popcorn. We even had a special popcorn pot. My mom would place it on the stove, pour in a little oil, let it heat up, and then add the popcorn kernels. My brother or I would have the job of turning the crank, which spun a propeller on the bottom of the pot to keep the kernels moving. When the once lively pops grew few and far between, we would take the popcorn off the stove and toss in melted butter and salt in a giant bowl.

As my brother and I got older and started staying after school for sports and activities, the popcorn pot made fewer appearances. In fact, I cannot remember the last time we used it. A couple of weeks ago, however, I started noticing popcorn recipes on various food blogs, and they reignited a hankering for popcorn. Last week, I gave in and bought a jar of kernels at FroGro. Of course, our little high-rise kitchen at school doesn’t include a popcorn pot, but I read online that you can make popcorn just as easily in a normal pot. Sure enough, in less than ten minutes, I was able to make my first pot of popcorn, and I haven’t stopped since.

Back in the days of snack time, we made normal butter and salt popcorn most often, but I also liked a sweet variation with peanut butter. Over the past week, I’ve been embracing the sweet side. I’ve mixed popcorn with melted nutella, peanut butter, and almond butter, and I’m thinking about trying a version with melted jam soon. I’ve also seen lots of delicious although slightly more complicated variations online.
Kate from Cookie + Kate blog provides a great description of how to make stove top popcorn here. The process is super simple, but her advice is helpful.

Also, here are just a couple of popcorn variations that caught my attention:

Chocolate from Simply Scratch
Cinnamon Spice from The City Sisters
Chocolate and Peanut Butter from Brown Eyed Baker
Sticky Date from Colourful Palate