This may not come as a surprise to anyone, but did you know that you can make popcorn in a microwave? Yes, shocking, I know. But what I dislike about buying bags of prepared popcorn ready to go into the microwave is that they are mostly filled with unpronounceable substances that I would not put in my body given a choice. They are also a ridiculous amount of money for what you get. This afternoon, I went out and bought a bag of regular popcorn for almost nothing. I placed a handful of kernels into a brown paper bag, folded up the top and placed it in my microwave oven for about 2 1/2 minutes. 2 and 1/2 minutes later, I was enjoying a bowl of cheap as dirt popcorn seasoned with my favorite smoked salt. I’m not as surprised at how easy this is as much as I’m blown away by the idea that I hadn’t thought to try this long ago. I’m sure many of you reading this may already know how easy this is, but this was my mini epiphany. Now I can make popcorn flavored with just about anything I like and I don’t have to take out the pot and oil, or pay more than movie popcorn prices for a simple bag of microwaved popcorn. This is, by far, the simplest popcorn recipe I have ever come across and works incredibly well.
These popcorn balls are easy to make and disappear in an instant. This recipe can be used to make regular caramel popcorn, however the kids really like the balls and I kind of do too. It also makes them easier to distribute when you can toss them across a room when the time comes. If we want to take them somewhere we put them in little wax paper sandwich bags to keep them safe. Personally, I prefer to pop my own popcorn, however in a pinch I have used 2 bags of microwave popcorn and no one will know the difference.
Ingredients
10 cups of popcorn
1/2 bag of Kraft caramel pieces (about 25 – 30)
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon water
A dash of salt
extra butter for greasing up hands
Directions
1. Put the popcorn in a large bowl, large enough to allow for the mixing of the ingredients as the popcorn will be tossed around.
2. In a medium saucepan, place the butter, water, salt and caramel pieces and over a medium-high heat, melt the caramel, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula to keep it from burning on the bottom of the pan. When melted, remove from heat and keep stirring for a minute.
3. Slowly pour the melted caramel mixture into the bowl while using two large forks to keep tossing the popcorn like a salad. I often recruit my wife to pour while I stir, but it can be done by one person.
3. When the caramel has been incorporated into the popcorn, grab a hunk of butter and rub it all over your hands so they are nice and buttery. This will allow you to shape the balls without the popcorn sticking to your hands. It also adds a nice coating of butter to the popcorn that adds tremendously to the flavor, but isn’t enough to make them greasy. Pick up a handful of the popcorn mixture and shape into a ball. Press lightly to shape them into spheres. You should have plenty of time to do this before all the popcorn cools, as when warm it will shape easily, but if you leave it to cool first, you will have a tough time shaping it into balls.
4. Eat before your kids see them or you won’t get any.
0 Comments 
This may not come as a surprise to anyone, but did you know that you can make popcorn in a microwave? Yes, shocking, I know. But what I dislike about buying bags of prepared popcorn ready to go into the microwave is that they are mostly filled with unpronounceable substances that I would not put in my body given a choice. They are also a ridiculous amount of money for what you get. This afternoon, I went out and bought a bag of regular popcorn for almost nothing. I placed a handful of kernels into a brown paper bag, folded up the top and placed it in my microwave oven for about 2 1/2 minutes. 2 and 1/2 minutes later, I was enjoying a bowl of cheap as dirt popcorn seasoned with my favorite smoked salt. I’m not as surprised at how easy this is as much as I’m blown away by the idea that I hadn’t thought to try this long ago. I’m sure many of you reading this may already know how easy this is, but this was my mini epiphany. Now I can make popcorn flavored with just about anything I like and I don’t have to take out the pot and oil, or pay more than movie popcorn prices for a simple bag of microwaved popcorn. This is, by far, the simplest popcorn recipe I have ever come across and works incredibly well.
