Coconut Oil Popcorn

OK.  I know.  If you are new to coconut oil, then I know you might be a little weirded out by this particular post.  But, I promise you should give it a chance.

Popcorn has become one of those go-to snacks for me lately.  I think it all had to do with my intense studying for boards recently…I found myself with a raging addiction to snacking while studying.  It didn’t matter if it was an audible lecture, a question book, or a review textbook.  I HAD to be doing something with my hands while studying.  In med school, I had this weird obsession with always listening to classical music while I studied.  The weirdest part was that, during my tests, I could hear the music playing in my head while taking the exam…for some reason, it helped me “see” my notes while taking the test.  Someone once told me that the more senses that you stimulate while focusing on material, the more likely that the material will be learned.  Call it synchronous stimulation of your synapses…whatever.  All I know is that when I find something that helps me cement material in my brain, I use it.

Tangent over.  I digressed.

Back to popcorn.  So, it was blatantly apparent to me that I needed something that would satisfy my salt (or sweet) cravings without adding a lot of extra calories or fat.  Enter popcorn (I love the red or black varieties for their antioxidants and pure white fluffiness…so pretty!).  And….I will also note that the good people over at Kelapo, the makers of fine coconut oil, contacted me to see if I would be interested in trying out their product.  While I don’t try out many of the free offers/book reviews I receive, I thought this might be something I would actually use.  I have heard a lot lately about the health benefits of coconut oil-how it may help with digestion, skin/hair problems, and even immunity. And so it now is something I use.

I also happened to come across this recipe, and I immediately got up, turned on my stove, and popped myself a great big batch of homemade popcorn…flavored with so many new and intense spices.  Forget my usual salt or sugar combination.  These spices add a whole new dimension to a great snack food…full of fiber without the extra fat.  And what can I say?  The coconut oil does add a little of that “movie popcorn” texture, which is sometimes exactly what a hard-working girl needs.

By the way, have you ever noticed how cool popcorn looks up close?  Just wondering.  It’s the simple things that keep me going. 🙂

Coconut Oil Popcorn

Servings:  Approximately 8-10 cups of cooked popcorn

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup popping corn, variety of your choosing

5 tablespoons coconut oil**I know it seems like a lot, but I promise you will be ok.

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch nutmeg, freshly grated

1/2 teaspoon allspice

2 teaspoons finely flaked sea salt

Instructions

1. In a deep saucepan with a lid, heat 2 tablespoons of the coconut oil over medium-high heat.

2. Add 3-4 popcorn kernels to the oil, and once one of them pops (meaning your oil is hot enough), pour the 1/2 cup of popcorn into the pan, covering it with the lid.

3. Gently shake the pan over the heat, still covered, to ensure that all of the kernels pop.  When the popcorn stops popping for about 3-5 seconds, remove it from the heat.  ***Be careful-there will be a lot of steam and random kamikaze popcorn kernels that could potentially hurt you.

4. Meanwhile, while the popcorn slightly cools, mix together the remaining 3 tablespoons of coconut oil and the spices (except for the salt) in a small bowl.

5. Pour the coconut oil mixture over the popcorn and toss gently to coat.

6. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve immediately.

 

Source:  Slightly adapted from Marcus Samuelson.  Check out his site and Kelapo’s website for nutritional information about the health benefits of coconut oil.

 

July 12, 2011 - 7:26 am

Kim (Feed Me, Seymour) - This is genius! I love it when you take something super simple, like popcorn, a really jazz it up and make it stand out. I’ve never used coconut oil, but I’ll be making this for sure and a.s.a.p!

July 12, 2011 - 8:15 am

Notyet100 - Umm this looks so delicious,wish could taste some

July 12, 2011 - 8:29 am

Maureen - I’ve never used coconut oil but you’re the 2nd person this week to talk about it. I’m going to get off my bum and buy some tomorrow. This popcorn looks delicious!

July 12, 2011 - 12:25 pm

Heidi @ Food Doodles - Popcorn is awesome! And especially with coconut oil. My butter loving husband, and I am not joking when I say he LOVES the stuff, says coconut oil on popcorn is way better 😀 Love your spice combo, looks yummy!

July 12, 2011 - 2:47 pm

Laurel @ Lolly's Sweet Treats - Hmm, I’ve never tried coconut oil, but I think you just convinced me. I, too, am a popcorn addict. YUM!

July 12, 2011 - 3:06 pm

Sasha @ The Procrastobaker - wowwwowowww, i neeeed to get my hands on some coconut oil! would you say the end product tastes at all coconutty?

July 12, 2011 - 3:40 pm

srlacy - Hey Sasha! There is definitely a subtle hint of coconut, in my opinion, but I think it was due to this particular recipe. If you just pop the popcorn in the oil and don’t season with it, then I would think the coconut flavor wouldn’t be there. It’s so good!

July 12, 2011 - 4:16 pm

Sheila - Hi – I love to snack on popcorn too & this recipe is something I am going to try out. One thought I’ve had lately is about all the Genetically Modified corn in the U.S. – do you know much about that? And is there a way to get popcorn kernels that are NOT GM? And how do we know the difference? Just some of the things I’ve been wondering about, but I haven’t spent much time ‘researching’ as of yet. Thanks for the idea of using coconut oil!

July 12, 2011 - 4:56 pm

srlacy - Hi Sheila!

That is an incredible question. I have thought the same thing myself, especially after reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma (one of my favorites!). On my Netflix queue right now, I have a documentary about corn in America, called King Corn. I haven’t watched it yet, but I was wondering if they would touch upon the predominance of genetically modified corn in today’s market. My understanding is that it is incredibly hard to either find OR grow unmodified corn nowadays. I DID notice at a local farmer’s market that they were selling popcorn kernels from a local farm….but I didn’t ask if it was GMO. If you find anything out in your research, please send it my way. I have a big interest. 🙂

Shanon

July 12, 2011 - 6:37 pm

Jacqueline - I totally know what you mean about stimulating senses! I used to listen to lectures while running and it was the strangest thing because when I would remember something the lecturer said, I would picture where I was along the running trail! It really helped me out.

July 12, 2011 - 7:59 pm

Claire - I’ve been eating popcorn while studying for the bar for the very same reason! Coconut oil will be next on my list to try. 🙂 I purchased a Cuisinart popcorn popper which is awesome. Happy studying to you!

July 14, 2011 - 4:06 pm

Liz - Yum! I love Coconut oil as a moisturizer and I feed it to my cats (2 of them just like it and one gets it for a chronic mouth infection) but I had never considered it on popcorn. Wish I had heard of this sooner!

July 15, 2011 - 1:03 pm

Rosie - Coconut oil is the ONLY oil I use when popping popcorn! Love it!

July 15, 2011 - 2:22 pm

Kelsey - What a fun recipe! I now can’t wait to make this for a movie night with my sweet hubby.

November 26, 2011 - 12:25 am

Lynne - Awesome, we are looking to use coconut oil for popcorn, can’t wait to try this,
we get organic popcorn from a local farm, I think you can contact a popcorn company to ask if it is gmo or not, they will tell you.
eg. niblets canned corn i phoned and they said, not yet, not gmo. that was a year ago.

COCONUT OIL IS SO healthy, we just got Fife’s book, he has two on coconut oil tons of uses and helps for infection, fungus, lots and lots of things. Essential to use for alllll coooking.

April 10, 2012 - 8:36 pm

ok you can eat popcorn if you make it yourself! « - […] make your own popcorn with coconut oil Like this:LikeBe the first to like this post. Posted by Leah Shuchter Filed in Uncategorized […]

June 2, 2012 - 9:43 pm

Blueberry Banana Loaf with Lavender-Vanilla Streusel | Sufficiently Suffonsified - […] I’ve also been substituting vegetable oil with coconut oil in my baking and I really like the results. Maybe it’s just me, but all my pastries seem just a bit more moist since making that change. I turn my baloney detectors on when I hear or read about this kind of stuff, but apparently its supposed to be pretty good for you, too. Coconut oil is a little more expensive but I think it’s worth the price, especially considering how often I bake (about once or twice a month). I’d like to eventually eliminate canola from my pantry and start using this stuff when a recipe requires oil. Even for my popcorn!  […]

July 14, 2012 - 2:13 pm

LL - Most natural markets stock organic popcorn sometimes in the bulk section. The kernels are so beautiful and succulent. I have been using organic popcorn because of the quality before I converted to other organics. I highly recommend it is a whole different food than GMO Corn.

December 8, 2012 - 9:11 pm

Coconut Oil: A Prepper’s Panacea - […] can also make popcorn in coconut oil over popcorn for a lightly flavored sweet […]

January 9, 2013 - 2:36 pm

Two New Ingredients « Wheatless Rochelle - […] ways to use it, I think this Coconut Oil Popcorn looks great. Coconut oil and spices on popcorn? Yes, please! Here’s a recipe for Vegan Kettle […]

February 2, 2013 - 7:37 pm

Bev - I started using coconut oil for sauteing and baking recently. The Trader Joe’s brand is so much more economical than at the grocery stores. I will definitely try the popcorn as the microwave popcorn has so many additives.

May 5, 2013 - 6:41 pm

Josh - Coconut oil is actually the standard oil used commercially for movie theaters and other places. The best commercial popcorn oils are basically all coconut-based. They just add carotene for yellow coloring to give it that buttery look.

September 25, 2013 - 12:26 pm

Susan - I love to make stove top popcorn. I recently started using coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and not using butter, but 2 TBSP of Nutritional powered from Whole Foods. It is healthy and tastes so good!

November 3, 2013 - 12:15 pm

how to: homemade popcorn | a birdie wanders - […] popcorns: salted caramel popcorn, spiced kettle corn, coconut oil popcorn, siracha ranch popcorn, and sea salt honey butter […]

March 15, 2014 - 4:34 pm

judith - Forget the air poppers, too much trouble, popcorn everywhere, and if it has no turn off or on, you get burned popcorn. This recipe with coconut oil is the best, and I have always just used a pan, stainless, pops in two minutes, and you get to add what you want. It is healthy, it is clean, use organic popcorn, no GMO’s and coconut oil is good for so much more than just popcorn. In this recipe with the great spices, that are also healthy, it just makes a great snack, and even good enough for guests. Just don’t overdo on any one spice. Or any spice, or it takes over, and not too much of the oil, when putting any oil on pop corn, get a glass spray bottle and that works great. And putting a lid on popcorn popped in a pan, makes it tough because the steam penetrates the corn and it gets soggy. So use a steam screen over the popcorn while popping, much fluffier and light. And of course coconut oil makes all food light and fluffy, chicken fish etc. This is health folks, eat it up!

September 3, 2014 - 2:11 pm

Coconut Oil for Preppers - Backdoor Survival - […] can also make popcorn in coconut oil over popcorn for a lightly flavored sweet […]

December 17, 2014 - 6:00 am

Coconut Oil: A Prepper's Panacea | Apartment Prepper - […] can also make popcorn in coconut oil over popcorn for a lightly flavored sweet […]

January 23, 2015 - 10:23 am

Coconut Oil: A Prepper’s Panacea | The Organic Prepper - […] can also make popcorn in coconut oil over popcorn for a lightly flavored sweet […]