Ultimate Peanut Butter Popcorn Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What can I add to popcorn to make it better? ›

If you use oil for popping your popcorn, the seasoning will stick to it easily. However, to get flavor and stick to air-popped popcorn without fat, you can mist your popped popcorn with a bit of water or some other liquid. Sprinkle your popcorn as you move it to the bowl with a little liquid spray bottle.

Before you pour melted butter over your freshly popped popcorn, stop! Consider clarifying that butter. Clarified butter is an easy, quick way to get that theater-butter flavor without getting soggy popcorn.

The flavor all comes down to one ingredient: Flavacol. You've likely never heard of Flavacol because, really, only movie theaters use it. Essentially, it's butter-flavored salt. It's a really fine, bright orange powder that adds that buttery flavor you crave and the signature yellow color.

The baking soda reacts with the acid in the recipe (i.e., brown sugar) to create an airier, more brittle texture that's not as sticky as the recipes without it. The charms of caramel corn finally made sense. Once coated, the popcorn goes into the oven for about half an hour. Credit...

Other theaters cook their kernels in a mix of oil and real butter, helping to maximize that butter flavor and fine salt taste before the actual popcorn kernels are popped. However, many don't know that the main reason for the taste of that movie popcorn is a topping called Flavacol.

2045 Flavacol popcorn salt.

In fact, movie theaters use a combination of ingredients you would probably never have in your pantry to create the addictive flavor of their popcorn. The main ingredient used is called Flavacol (via Extra Kripsy). Flavacol is a fine salt that gives movie theater popcorn its yellow color.

You add seasoning after popping the popcorn. However, keep in mind to always add your seasoning while the popcorn is still hot. That way, moisture residue from popping steam will help your seasoning stick to the popcorn.

Flavacol popcorn season salt is a very fine salt that easily sticks to the popcorn, whereas regular granulated salt tend to fall off.

What do movie theaters use for popcorn butter? ›

Movie theaters use butter-flavored oil, which has a lower water content than butter so it makes popcorn less soggy. Real clarified butter has the same effect. To make it, melt 2 sticks butter in a glass measuring cup in the microwave. Let sit for a few minutes; the butter will separate into 3 layers.

Movie theater butter has no butter in it, but it does have partially hydrogenated soybean oil (a.k.a. trans fats), beta carotene (a coloring, makes carrots orange), tertiary butylhydroquinone or TBHQ (synthetic preservative that keeps the color and texture from changing as the product sits) and, polydimethylsiloxane ( ...

Microwave the butter until it melts; about 30 seconds if whipped and 1 minute if cold. Place the popcorn you just popped into a bowl. Take out butter and pour over the microwave popcorn. Toss the popcorn to allow the butter to coat it evenly.

Experiment with different spices to give your popcorn a different taste. Some interesting combinations include: cumin and chili powder, garlic powder and rosemary, and cinnamon and cloves.

Butter & salt, but grated Parmesan cheese & melted butter works well. If I want something sweet, I would enjoy coating my popcorn with caramel and any nut, preferably macadamia. For savory, I prefer coating the popcorn with melted butter, garlic powder, dried parsley and some salt, sometimes cheese.