So I posted way back about how I use the Vermont Powered Cheddar cheese from King Arthur Flour to make a home-made version of Smart Food popcorn. I’ve loved the cheesey popcorns since the first time someone introduced me to Smart Food when I was a kid. The stuff’s addictive and I can’t NOT eat a whole bag in one sitting. So since I could really stand to loose a few (ok, several) pounds I don’t buy it at all any more. But that left the cheesey popcorn craving just so unsatisfied till I found the cheese powder at King Arthur.
Just the difference in calorie counts is huge. According to the Smart Food link above a 1oz serving (of which I usually eat 3 or 4 of) of Smart Food contains 160 calories, 10g of fat, and 14g of carbohydrates.
My homemade cheezey popcorn (recipe to follow) approx 95 calories, 4.5g of fat, and 9g of carbohydrates (nutritional data for the cheese powder is on the above link, for plain popcorn see here)
See what I mean? And my recipe makes a whole lot more than a single 1oz serving.
How to make homemade cheezey popcorn:
First off pop your popcorn in the method of your choice, keeping in mind that if you pop in oil it may raise the above numbers a bit. I use a Whirley Pop popcorn popper and love it (got mine locally, Amazon is a handy link). My Whirley Pop will do a 1/2 cup of corn comfortably so thats the amount I usually do at one time.
Sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons of the cheese powder over the top of the popped corn and mix in (yes this requires a very large bowl, or you’ll have popcorn everywhere).
Then sit down in-front of your favorite movie and enjoy!
If you wish to save some for later bag it up into single serving size ziplocks as soon as its cool enough to handle (which happens pretty quick), as the longer you let it sit the more stale it’ll taste later. Make sure you get all the extra air out to help keep the popcorn from going stale. You could bag it up in a single big bag, but I find the single serving size handy when I’m rushing out the door to work. I’ve found it’ll keep that way just fine for at least a couple days. Might keep longer, but I’ve usually eaten it by then!