I'd been debating about what cookie to bring to our ladies cookie exchange when Emily piped in that I should try one of Deb's recipes. Surprisingly, she doesn't have a ton of cookies in the book but I did find one that interested me, just because it was so different. You know how there are always people who bring chocolate chip, sugar, and snickerdoodle cookies to these events? Well, I love all those types of cookies but...do I want to be one of the crowd, showing up with what people kind of know will be there? Not me! At least not with my daughter waiting to hear of me stepping up my game a bit to come up with a slightly more unique cookie.
Well, you gotta admit; a cookie that includes POPPED popcorn in the batter isn't exactly run-of-the-mill. That's what I chose and that's what I made. I was pleased with the results but something was missing. They tasted great, the consistency was nice, and the finished product looked good, so what was the deal? As silly as it sounds, I realized I wanted something that looked a little more Christmas-y so the only possible solution was to tweak the recipe a bit. SAY WHAT???? ME, PLAYING AROUND WITH A RECIPE?????!!!! That's exactly what I did - throwing in some Andes mint cooking bits with the dough, just to get a red Christmas-y look to the dough. Actually, I experimented with red and green sprinkles for one test cookie, blue snow flakey sprinkles for another and, finally, the red mint chips that looked and tasted best in the finished product.
The cookies are yummy, with a softness combined with slight airy crunch of the popcorn. I loved them and I guess the ladies at my church did too, based on the fact that my popped popcorn cookie won two different categories in the judging part of our exchange evening. One was "most unique" and I don't remember what the other one was...."best use of popcorn"? "one most despised by picky husband but liked by church ladies"?
Popcorn Peppermint Cookies
Yield: 24 cookies
adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup popcorn kernels
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup Andes peppermint crunch baking chips
Make Popcorn - Pour the oil over the bottom of a large saucepan that has a lid. Add the popcorn kernels, shimmying the pan around so the kernels land in one layer. Cover the pot, heat it over medium-high heat and, once the kernels begin to pop, keep the saucepan moving until all of the kernels have popped, about 5 - 7 minutes total. Toss the table salt and then the melted butter over the popcorn, then transfer it to a bowl so that you can fish out any unpopped kernels. You should have about 4 to 4 1/2 cups popcorn, Let cool.
Mix Dough - Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour and baking soda together. Stir the combined dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture. Fold in the cooled popcorn so that it is evenly distributed through the batter. There will be lots of popcorn and less batter, but it works! Don’t worry if popcorn breaks up a bit. The mixed size pieces are part of the cookie’s charm. Stir in peppermint crunch baking chips.
Bake Cookies - Scoop heaping tablespoon sized mounds 2 inches apart onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are light brown. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for a few minutes to firm up before transferring them to a rack to cool.
