Don't settle for plain popcorn flavor.
Almost every American grew up viewing popcorn as a snack flavored with butter and salt. While this is a tasty way to serve the snack, there is a world of flavorings for popcorn that have nothing to do with the traditional tastes. Popcorn is a whole grain food with very little flavor. It's the perfect base for any taste you want to add, much like rice or tofu. Whether you're in the mood for sweet, hot or something in between, you can find a flavor profile that fits nicely with a bowl of popcorn.
Sweet Coatings
Turn your popcorn into a sweet candy treat with the addition of sugary coatings. Try caramel and toffee toppings by creating syrups and mixing the popcorn in with them. Put the coated popcorn onto a pan and bake it in a low oven to set the coating. The result is a sweet, crunchy treat.
Cheesy
Commercial cheese popcorn is often coated with a bright, orange powder that tastes faintly of cheddar cheese. This is not the stuff of gourmet popcorn bowls. Make your own tasty cheese popcorn by mixing your popped corn with shaved Parmesan cheese, finely grated cheddar or some salty Romano shavings. The real cheese flavor in these toppings will give your cheese corn a flavorful edge the orange stuff can't touch.
Savory
If you're fond of spicy food, popcorn is the ideal base for many savory snacks. Toss freshly popped popcorn with Italian seasoning, garlic salt, onion powder or cracked pepper. Make ranch corn by sprinkling ranch dressing powder on your popcorn. Make it spicy by adding cinnamon or take it south of the border with powdered taco seasoning.
Diet Flavorings
For people who are watching their fat or calorie intake, adding flavoring to popcorn often ruins what used to be a very healthy, albeit boring, snack. Change your bland air-popped popcorn to a tasty treat by spraying the popcorn with butter-flavored cooking spray, then sprinkling it with any number of calorie-free popcorn seasonings. The spray allows the seasoning to stick to the popcorn. Purchase seasonings in the grocery store usually stocked next to the popcorn in flavors, such as cheese, barbecue, ranch or caramel.
Mix-Ins
While mixing other treats with popcorn won't change the flavor of the corn itself, it will add another dimension to each handful of the snack. Turn your plain popcorn into the base for a trail mix-type treat by adding raisins, dried cranberries, coated chocolate candies, pretzel sticks, yogurt covered raisins or nuts. Make a big bowl of this mix for an unusual snack for your next party.
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