Lightly Sweet ‘n Salty Crispy Butter Popcorn Recipe
This Lightly Sweet ‘n Salty Crispy Butter Popcorn recipe delivers a perfectly balanced snack that’s both crispy and flavorful. Using clarified butter or ghee ensures the popcorn remains crunchy without becoming soggy, while a fine powdered ‘popcorn salt’ combined with icing sugar provides an irresistible sweet and salty coating. Ideal for stovetop popping, this easy-to-make treat is perfect for movie nights or anytime you crave a deliciously light snack.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: About 8 cups of popcorn
- Category: Snack
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Popcorn
- 2/3 cup popping corn
- 2 tbsp clarified butter or ghee, or oil (for stovetop popping)
Popcorn Salt
- 1 tbsp salt (to be ground into fine powder, you won’t use it all)
Flavourings
- 3 tbsp clarified butter or ghee, melted
- 1/2 tsp popcorn salt (fine powdered, per directions)
- 2 tbsp icing sugar (powdered sugar)
Instructions
- Pop Popcorn: Pop the kernels using your preferred method. For stovetop, proceed to the next step.
- Heat Fat: Melt the clarified butter or ghee in a large pot over medium-high heat (use medium on strong stoves). Add a few kernels and wait until they pop to ensure the oil is hot enough, then remove the test popcorn immediately.
- Add Popcorn: Add the remaining kernels to the pot. Lift the pot off the heat and shake gently to spread the kernels evenly. Cover with a lid and return the pot to the heat.
- Popcorn Popping: Once popping intensifies, gently shake the pot once to prevent burning.
- Finish Popping: Remove the pot from heat when popping slows to about 3 seconds between pops. Transfer the popcorn to a very large bowl.
- Prepare Popcorn Salt: Using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, grind the salt into a fine powder to ensure it sticks to the popcorn well.
- Sprinkle and Toss: Drizzle the melted clarified butter evenly over the popcorn. Sprinkle half the fine popcorn salt and dust with half the icing sugar through a small sieve. Toss well.
- Final Seasoning: Sprinkle the remaining popcorn salt and icing sugar over the popcorn and toss thoroughly again. Adjust sugar or salt to taste if desired.
Notes
- Use clarified butter or ghee as their lack of water content keeps popcorn crispy and adds rich flavor.
- Popcorn salt must be finely ground; otherwise, it will settle at the bottom rather than coating the popcorn.
- Store fully cooled popcorn in an airtight container to maintain crispiness for days.
- To revive softened popcorn, bake at 110°C (230°F) for 30 minutes without stirring for renewed crispness.
- Clarified butter (ghee) is commonly available in Indian sections of supermarkets or can be homemade and stored for months.
