Cheesy Popcorn

To all those close to me (and many who attempt to stay away from me), I am known as a popcorn fiend. Perhaps it is a sign of a deep calling within me to become a corn farmer, or perhaps it is just because I'm a salty food snacker. Regardless, I'm always looking for new and exciting ways to make popcorn. And what can be more perfect than combining popcorn with cheese?
I did some research on cheddar popcorn before I started. First, I didn't really know how to find cheese powder to sprinkle on the popcorn. Surely there must be an easy way to get my hands on it that doesn't require scouring all of the local grocery stores...

Oh. The Mac and Cheese I already have will do the trick.

Now that I had my cheese flavor, it was time to whip up some popcorn. Following the instructions I found, I put the popcorn in a brown paper bag and threw it in the microwave. I got about 50% popped corn and 50% "Old Maids" that didn't pop. Clearly, this wasn't the ticket.

I decided to change it up. I pulled out a small pan, covered the bottom with canola oil (about 3tbsp) and heated, covered, on medium-medium-high heat until the three kernels I put in popped.

With the oil now hot, I added 1/4 cup popcorn kernels and covered the lid. Within a minute I began to hear popping and shook the pan to ensure my hard work didn't get burned. Once the popping completed, I pulled it off the heat and mixed in 2tsp of mac and cheese sauce mix and a tiny bit of popcorn salt to bring out the cheese flavor.

Simple and delicious. Now, I need to go so I can stop getting cheese on my keyboard...


Inspired by "White Cheddar Popcorn" from How Crazy Cooks