It’s that time of year again, when gaggles of little ghosts, goblins and ghouls expect sweet treats.
Whether you are hosting a graveyard’s worth of spooks or need to supply the treats for a classroom party, this year consider ditching candy in favor of an easy treat you can cook up yourself. I’m talking about popcorn. It’s not only tasty, filling and easy to prepare, it’s versatile, too. Make it sweet and it’ll win with the kids. Having an adult party? Make it savory!
Start from scratch by popping the corn kernels on the stove. Those microwave bags of popcorn from the supermarket? You don’t need them. Sure they’re convenient, but most of them also are filled with additives, including hydrogenated fat, artificial colors and flavors, and way too much salt.
My recipe for stovetop popcorn cooks up in a jiffy. As in just five minutes start to finish. In fact, the whole process is over so quickly that I urge you to stay near the stove until all the corn is popped. I’ve also minimized the danger of burning by specifying a pan that’s just the right size, one that allows you to set out the kernels in a single layer.
With the corn popped, you can then go sweet or savory. For adults, there are Parmesan-garlic and blue cheese-hot sauce options. (Either version also would also score big on Super Bowl Sunday). For kids, there’s marshmallow popcorn balls (with an optional dash of cinnamon) or double-chocolate popcorn balls. And neither kid option requires any special candy-making skills. You just melt and mix the ingredients with the popcorn, then shape it into balls after it has cooled, a job the kids might want to help with.
HALLOWEEN POPCORN TREATS
For the popcorn:
Start to finish: 5 minutes
Makes 11 to 12 cups
3 tablespoons vegetable or grapeseed oil
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
Parmesan-garlic popcorn
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons finely minced garlic
1 batch popcorn
1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese
Fine salt and ground black pepper
Spicy blue cheese popcorn
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 ounces crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 batch popcorn
Marshmallow popcorn balls
Makes 12 balls
1 batch popcorn
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
5 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
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