Description
Enjoy a perfect balance of lightly sweet and salty crispy butter popcorn made with clarified butter and a delicate dusting of popcorn salt and powdered sugar. This stovetop popcorn recipe delivers a wonderfully crunchy and flavorful snack that’s simple to prepare and perfect for movie nights or anytime cravings.
Ingredients
Scale
Popcorn
- 2/3 cup popping corn
- 2 tbsp clarified butter or ghee (or oil, for stovetop popcorn)
Seasoning & Topping
- 1 tbsp salt (you won’t use it all)
- 3 tbsp clarified butter or ghee, melted
- 1/2 tsp popcorn salt
- 2 tbsp icing sugar / powdered sugar
Instructions
- Pop Popcorn: Pop the kernels using your preferred method: either a popcorn maker or stovetop as detailed below.
- Heat fat: Melt clarified butter in a large pot over medium-high heat (or medium for strong stoves). Add a few kernels and wait for them to pop, indicating the fat is hot enough. Remove the test popcorn quickly.
- Add popcorn: Add the remaining popcorn kernels, lift the pot to shake and spread the corn evenly. Cover with a lid and return to heat.
- Shake during popping: Once popping intensifies, gently shake the pot once to prevent burning and ensure even popping.
- Remove from heat: When popping slows to about 3 seconds between pops, remove from heat and transfer popcorn to a very large bowl.
- Prepare popcorn salt: Place salt in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and grind into a fine powder; you will not use all of it but this quantity makes working easier.
- Season popcorn: Drizzle melted clarified butter over the popcorn surface. Sprinkle half the powdered salt, then dust half the icing sugar through a small sieve.
- Toss well: Toss the popcorn thoroughly in the large bowl to evenly coat with seasoning.
- Final seasoning: Sprinkle the remaining salt and dust the remaining icing sugar over the popcorn, then toss again to combine.
- Adjust taste: At this stage, add more sugar or salt to your liking for the perfect lightly sweet and salty balance.
Notes
- Clarified butter or ghee is preferred for its high smoke point and rich flavor, but oil can be substituted for stovetop popping.
- Salt quantity is more than needed to ensure even seasoning; adjust according to personal taste.
- Grinding salt finely creates popcorn salt which adheres better and enhances flavor.
- Shaking the pot during popping prevents burning and uneven cooking.
- Use a very large bowl for tossing to avoid spilling popcorn during seasoning.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Snack
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: butter popcorn, stovetop popcorn, sweet and salty popcorn, crispy popcorn, popcorn snack
