Bonjour sweetpea's!
You and I are going on a delicious, special, cinnamon bun, Valentine's Day, popcorn journey today.
Oh yeah! It's gonna be good.
Firstly, allow me to apologize for the light quality of the pictures, they will not be the greatest because I made this recipe for my fiancé and I when I was with him in Kansas, for a special animé movie date night. Unfortunately, it was later in the day and lighting quality was not great to begin with, and I had left my trusty iphone with it's much better camera, back home in Canada. Needless to say, the recipe will still be fabulous and delicious-promise.
Poppa bear is a plain popcorn purist, I have since converted him to treats of specialty popcorn, like this recipe and even got him into buttered popcorn. Funny thing was that he was not into the sweeter popcorn at first, but when I put the rest of it away in the back of the cupboard, in a ziploc bag, he came a lookin' for it. Turns out he liked it so much that he waxed off the bag over the following two days, I at least managed to get a few handfuls before it vanished.
This recipe uses a mix of ingredients that I decided I was happier with than all the sugar lump recipes I had come across, everywhere else. We still found this sweet, it was just waaaaay toned down, and it allowed the chewiness to be balanced with the crunch and yummy cinnamon bun flavour.
I also added a really nice Lemon Cream Cheese Drizzle, which my PB adored! I was truly surprised by this, as I really only threw it on as an extra, when I got the idea to try this recipe. He asked me where it was the second time he ate it.
You do not have to use it if you don't want to.
This recipe was great for date night, is perfect for Valentine's day, as a gift for wedding favours, to serve at a party, or just for a nice change of pace on family movie night. We watched some old animé that we had started months ago but never got to finish. It's called Fate/stay night, is the second installment in the Fate/zero series, and we really enjoyed it. You should check it out if you have not seen it, but if you are not into the animé scene, then by all means watch what you will. We also really liked SAO aka Sword Art Online.
So, back to cinnamon bun popcorn. This recipe seems like there is a lot but it is really quite simple; as long as you read through the recipe first, make sure you have all the ingredients along with equipment, and do the recipe as it says to. Don't rush it, just make it with love. You and your honeybunz will enjoy it loads.This is really a treat food, and should be eaten as a special celebration item, not too often but just enough to let them know how special they are.
As always, pictures guide you below the recipe.
Celebration Cinnamon Bun Popcorn
Ingredients:
1 Stick salted butter
3/4 Cup Organic coconut sugar aka palm sugar
2 Tbsp Organic or regular corn syrup (Can use agave nectar, I did not have any left.)
2 Tbsp Maple syrup
1 Cup pecan halves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp pink sea salt
1 tsp real vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda-aluminum free
1/2 Cup organic popcorn (pop it just before starting recipe)
Method:
Preheat oven to 225 degrees F
-Pop popcorn and keep aside in a big bowl, until recipe calls for it.
-Line a cookie tray with parchment paper and set aside.
-In a medium sized pot, on medium temperature, heat and melt together the butter, coconut sugar, corn syrup, and maple syrup, until melted and combined.
-Stir in vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.
-Remove from heat, add in baking soda, stirring well. BE CAREFUL! The baking soda will make the mix bubble and double in size. At this point, I usually transfer this mix to a bowl and allow to cool for 5 minutes, before I continue.
-Add pecans to popcorn bowl and mix, then pour the liquid cinnamon mixture over the popcorn.
-Carefully mix, until well coated and covered. Spread the popcorn mixture evenly on the parchment lined cookie tray.
-Bake for 20-25 minutes, until crisp and golden. DO NOT BURN!
-Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.
-Transfer to whatever serving container you like or package as a gift*.
*Stores well in ziploc bags in a cool, dry, dark place for several weeks.
The next picture is with a lemon cream cheese drizzle I added to it, just before serving, the recipe for that is here:
(Just remember to chill it for 15 minutes before drizzling it on the finished popcorn, and do not put it on the popcorn before. It will cause it to turn mushy, only drizzle it on just before serving).
Lemon Cream Cheese Drizzle:
Ingredients:
1/4 Cup Plain cream cheese
zest of half a lemon
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 Tbsp maple syrup
Method:
-In a bowl beat ingredients together with a beater until smooth and liquidy enough to drizzle, chill in fridge 10-15 minutes or until thickens up. It might be very liquidy at first, the chilling process will thicken it up to the right consistency.
-When popcorn is ready, drizzle over popcorn just before serving.
I miss!!!!!!!! Nomnoms!
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