Let me start by saying that I am not a fan of fancy popcorn toppings. I’m not the sort to drench my popcorn in garlic, pepper or seasoned salt. For a while, I picked up a trend that I experienced in European movie theaters, which often implement sugar instead of salt for flavoring. But after a few months, even that wore off. Just plain butter and plain salt for me, thank you very much. So when a friend of mine told me about this unusual topping, I certainly didn’t believe that it was truly the “World’s Best Popcorn.” How could it be when I loved my regular flavoring so very much?
I don’t know what convinced me to give it a try, but I did – and I was an instant convert. So if you’re not an adventurous popcorn eater, if you don’t like sweet toppings, or if you think you already know the world’s best popcorn topping, I challenge you to try this method just once, and to see if you are as swept away by its deliciousness as I was. Here we go.
Step 1: Make Your Normal Unflavored Popcorn
I prefer to use my air popper to make fluffy, delicious popcorn without any added calories from oil or butter, but you could also pop your corn in a pan or buy unflavored microwave popcorn. My favorite popping corn is a special blend from an Almish Farmer’s Market that is low on aggravating kernel shards, but as long as you’re happy with your regular popcorn, this step is easy.
Step 2: Prepare the Oil
This is the first secret to creating the World’s Best Popcorn is… are you ready?… olive oil. I’m not a huge fan of olive oil, so I mix it half-and-half with margarine. Butter separates too easily when heated, I’ve found. If you love olive oil, feel free to skip the margarine. Olive oil is a heart-healthy fat and is the key to creating a really healthy popcorn topping. It also adds a special flavor that really complements the taste of the corn. So at this point, melt the margarine (if you’re using it) and heat the olive oil.
Step 3: Cover the Popcorn with the Oil
I think it’s important to start with the oil instead of the seasonings. This prevents the seasonings from falling through the kernels and ending up in a tasty but useless heap on the bottom of your bowl.
When proceeding with this step, and with the seasoning steps to follow, that you take the time to make sure that the popcorn is really well coated. It certainly wouldn’t be The World’s Best Popcorn if half of it was plain and unseasoned. Blech. So be sure to follow the proper popcorn covering technique: apply a bit of oil, shake the popcorn vigorously, apply a bit more, shake some more, and repeat until all of the popcorn is nicely coated. The same holds true with the seasonings. Don’t just dump them on the top.
Step 4: The Salt Phase
OK, now you’re going to add regular, plain, everyday, unseasoned salt (nothing fancy, get it?) just like you would if you were making regular salted popcorn. Well, maybe just a tad less. When you test the popcorn, it should taste like a slightly bland version of the salty popcorn you’d get anywhere. Make sure to use the proper popcorn coating technique outlined in step 3.
Step 5: The Sugar Phase
OK, now we’re getting wild! We’re adding sugar to our salty popcorn, but not too much. The sugar should be like a surprise – you don’t want to get it every time you pop a kernel into your mouth, like with that kettle corn stuff (kettle corn is just so 2006!) I’d say you should use about half the amount of sugar as salt. Don’t slack off on your season-shake-season technique now, you’re nearly done!
Step 6: The Final Secret Ingredient!
And now, we’re up to the final secret ingredient, the one that really sets this apart from all other popcorn toppings… cinnamon! But we don’t want the typical cinnamon-flavored popcorn, that would surely not qualify for World’s Best status. What we want is a sneak ingredient, even rarer than the sugar we added in step 5. There should be just a hint of cinnamon in every third or fourth mouthful of popcorn, so don’t go overboard – just add a pinch, shake, add a little more.
Step 7: Enjoy!
That’s it! The secret the The World’s Best Popcorn really is that easy, and if you’ve followed these steps, you’re probably mmming and yumming right now. If not… what are you waiting for? Try this method today and see if you love it as much as I do!
