Sweet and Salty Smoked Paprika Popcorn

I will brag a little about this snack – a friend of ours said, “This is the best popcorn I have ever had.” Even my toddler loves it. This recipe is easy enough to make if it is just a regular night in but it is also different enough to make when you are having company over to watch “insert favourite sporting event“. It is a step up from opening a bag of chips and jar of dip – shows you went to a bit of effort.

If you haven’t tried smoked paprika (sometimes called Smoked Spanish Paprika) – go to the store today to get some. It will be a great addition to your spice cupboard. I got mine from our local gourmet store (Vincenzo’s) but I have seen it at the grocery store too. The smoked paprika gives the popcorn a delicate smokey flavour that isn’t over-powering and works well with the brown sugar and butter. There is a good amount of butter in it, but it is spread over 10 cups of air-popped popcorn so it is still a relatively healthy snack. Keep in mind that the measurement for salt is with Maldon salt, so reduce the amount accordingly if you are using fine salt. The amount of unpopped popcorn you need will vary with how good the popcorn you have is and how good your air popper is.

Ingredients
1 cup (approx.) unpopped popcorn or about 10 cups popcorn
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp Maldon salt
1/2 tsp smoked mild paprika
1 tbsp brown sugar

How-to
Pop all of the popcorn into a large bowl – a big bowl will help when you need to stir the butter mixture to coat the popcorn evenly. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan melt the butter with the brown sugar, smoked paprika and half of the salt. Stir with a mini whisk frequently. Allow the butter to bubble for a minute or two but keep a close eye on it because you don’t want the milk solids to burn. I like to let the sugar dissolve a bit into the butter – it helps when you coat the popcorn. You will know it is ready because the sugar has blended with the butter a bit, but don’t worry if there is sugar on the bottom of the pot; it doesn’t need to dissolve perfectly. Pour the butter mixture over the still warm popcorn, slowly, while stirring the popcorn with a large spoon. Keep stirring until it seems like all the pieces of popcorn have some butter on them. Sprinkle over the remaining salt and test some to see if more salt is needed for your personal taste. Enjoy!