Buttered Popcorn Cookies
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil
- ¼ cup (45 grams) popcorn kernels
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- ½ cup (115 grams or 1 stick) butter, softened
- ½ cup (95 grams) packed light brown sugar
- â…“ cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups (155 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions:
Popcorn inside a cookie, however, it’s different. In some bites it provides a little extra buttery crunch, and in others, a soft cloud to break up the crispness of the cookie.
- Pour the oil over the bottom of a large saucepan that has a lid, and add the popcorn kernels, shimmying the pan around so the kernels land in one layer. Cover the pot, heat it over medium-high heat, and, once the kernels begin to pop, keep the saucepan moving until all of the kernels have popped, about 5 to 7 minutes total. Toss the table salt and then the melted butter over the popcorn, then transfer it to a bowl so that you can fish out any unpopped kernels. You should have about 4 to 4½ cups popcorn. Let cool.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour and baking soda together. Stir the combined dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture. Fold in the cooled popcorn so that it is evenly distributed through the batter, which will seem like a ridiculous instruction because there is so much popcorn and so little cookie batter, but it works. Don’t worry if the popcorn breaks up a bit. The mixed-size pieces are part of the cookie’s charm.
- Scoop heaping-tablespoon-sized mounds 2 inches apart onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are light brown. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for a few minutes to firm up before transferring them to a rack to cool.