Lightly Sweet ‘n Salty Butter Popcorn
Anyone who has attempted butter popcorn probably did what we all tried at some point: Douse fresh popcorn with regular melted better. Seems obvious enough, right? Only … you found after 10 minutes your popcorn turned soggy and sad (and totally ruined your movie night). The reason it goes soggy is because butter contains 15% water. Yes, water is what is making your popcorn soggy! So if you’re wondering how to keep popcorn from going soggy, the secret is to use clarified butter instead of normal butter. Clarified butter is just butter with the water evaporated out!
You can buy it or make it yourself (it’s dead easy). It also keeps for months, without refrigeration! In Australia, you’ll find ghee in the Indian section of supermarkets or at Indian grocers. Clarified butter can be found in specialty food stores in Australia, but it’s common in Europe.
What you need for Lightly Sweet ‘n Salty Butter Popcorn
Here’s what you need: Popcorn kernels, salt, icing sugar/powdered sugar and clarified butter to keep the popcorn crispy (it’s just simmered normal butter! Read on…).
Popcorn kernels
Just normal popcorn kernels. Make the popcorn any way you like – stove or popcorn maker. I’ve provided directions in the recipe card for stovetop popcorn.
Clarified butter (or ghee)
Why you need it – For an intense buttery flavour, and keeping your popcorn crispy instead of going soggy like with normal butter, as explained above;How to make it (else buy it) – Melt butter and simmer for 10 minutes to evaporate the water content. See separate recipe for full directions – How to make Clarified Butter and Ghee.
Note: Ghee is a purer form of clarified butter that is used in Indian cooking. It tastes virtually the same as Clarified Butter which is more associated with European cookery (like Swiss Potato Rosti!), but it’s slightly nuttier (which is delicious!)
“Popcorn Salt“
Why you need it – Normal salt grains are too large to stick to popcorn. As you eat the popcorn it falls off and all ends up at the bottom of the bowl! We need finer salt, purpose-made for popcorn, that will stick.How to make it – Just grind ordinary salt into a fine powder using a mortar and pestle, or a spice grinder. It takes seconds. How much to use – I only use 1/2 teaspoon of popcorn salt for 13 cups of popcorn (which is 2/3 cup of kernels). This does not sound like much, but remember it’s much finer now and has halved in volume from the original regular salt. Also this popcorn is deliberately made to be only slightly salty because it also gets flavour from a touch of added sweetness. If you prefer just salted popcorn, add a little more.
Icing sugar / powdered sugar
Why you need it – Dusting the popcorn for a lightly sweet note. We need icing sugar/powdered sugar because normal sugar won’t stick to popcorn unless you use lots and you melt it, like with Caramel Popcorn or my variation of it, Christmas Popcorn Candy!How to do it – Use a small sieve to sprinkle the icing/powdered sugar over the popcorn, for even coverage and to remove lumps.How much to use – I only use 2 tablespoons which makes it lightly sweet. Because the whole point of this popcorn is that it’s slightly sweet and slightly salty, an addictive and can’t-stop-nibbling combination that won’t leave you reaching for glass after glass of water!
Storage: Keeping Butter Popcorn crispy for days!
Using clarified butter instead of normal butter means the popcorn will stay crispy for ages. 12-hour Star Wars marathon? Too easy. I’m talking days here! Super-handy snack stash, school lunches, and making ahead for parties. As soon as the popcorn has fully cooled, transfer to an airtight container and store it in the pantry. Here are a few tips:
It will go stale sooner or later though! Popcorn does go stale quite quickly, being the fragile little things they are, so don’t leave them lying around uncovered for a long if you want to preserve freshness for another day;Fully cool – Make sure it’s fully cool before putting the lid on. Impatience with this step results in condensation inside the container which will make your popcorn soggy (and so you will have come full circle🤣);Bake to resuscitate – If your popcorn has gone a bit stale and needs a perk up, pour it into a baking pan (up to about 5cm/2″ deep is fine) then bake in a low 110°C/230°F oven for 30 minutes to dry it out. Note: There will be slight shrinkage.
So now you know the secrets to stay-crispy, ultra-buttery homemade popcorn! Well actually, those of you who are familiar with my Yellow Movie Popcorn recipe already know these tricks. We’re just bringing everyone else up to speed! In case you need a reason to get on the Popcorn Train, here’s 6 reasons why you should should try homemade butter popcorn: Movie night tonight?? – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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