Cheese popcorn Popcorn Recipe - Crispy Cheese popcorn Popcorn Recipe

Cheese popcorn is an all-time favorite for a lot of different occasions. You can make your own fresh cheese popcorn at home. There are plenty of different ways to do it. It all depends on your personal style and what kinds of cheese you love the most. Warning: once you try this, people will want you to do it again!

Pop your popcorn kernels first, since you'll be making your cheese mixture separately. You're going to create a "base" of melted butter and add spices to taste. Figure on 1/4 cup of butter per 2 cups of popped corn. There are three basic approaches to making cheese popcorn.

1. Powder it. This is simple, quick, and cheap, and it will still impress your friends. Stir powdered cheese mixture into the butter. You might want to add a bit of salt as well. Do this at medium heat and stir briskly to avoid burning the mixture. Once the butter is melted and the cheese powder is completely stirred in, pour over the popped kernels and serve.
2. Bake and sprinkle it. This approach works well if you're using real cheese with pre-popped corn from the night before. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and pour the butter mixture over the kernels. Mix the popcorn and cheese fully together and spread on a baking sheet. You only need to bake it for 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of the popcorn and let it melt.
3. Melt it in a pan. Melt the butter, add spices, and then stir grated cheese into the butter mixture. You can do this slowly and gradually until you have a uniform mixture of cheese sauce. Pour it over the kernels and coat it evenly. You can take this a step further; bake it and sprinkle some more cheese on top for a "double cheese" delight.

You can eyeball the quantities of cheese, and they'll vary. Try playing around with different spices. For example, chili powder or paprika will add a kick if you want spicy cheddar popcorn. You might also try different kinds of cheddar cheese from your deli (like smoked cheddar, for example). You can also try adding a bit of fresh garlic or chopped onion to your butter base to add a bit of extra flavor. You can even experiment with adding some very finely-minced peppers to the butter base before adding the cheese. This will give your popcorn a little "something extra" that will make your friends curious.

bon appetit