Brown Butter Pistachio Popcorn Cookies

I know what you are thinking...  

"Another cookie recipe?!"

But give me a chance...   

I do not typically share the elephantine load of baked treat recipes that one might expect from a food blogger around this time of year.

There is one, very simple reason for that choice.

Most of my favorite holiday cookies really are not that dazzling.  Come Christmastime, I prefer the uncomplicated.  The unadorned, antediluvian cookies that my great-grandmother used to pack into red and green tins.  Sugar cookies as thin as parchment, Russian tea cookies thick with confectioner’s sugar and bleeding with butter, and soft peanut butter balls dipped in rich chocolate ganache - affectionately known as “buckeyes.” 

I will take all the innovation and neoclassicism you can devise come December 26th, but for now, all I want is to be drenched in edible nostalgia.

That being said, yesterday morning I woke up and decided that I wanted to throw pistachios, popcorn, and brown butter (Do I hear angels singing? Oh, no, sorry... That was just my Pandora station.) into my cookie dough. 

Never underestimate the creativity that can come from your 9am cravings. 

It’s been a couple years since I first discovered the magic of popcorn cookies.  Leave it to Deb to come up with something so unapologetically indulgent.  

I understand the skepticism, but trust me on this.  It is the new pretzels-in-your-ice-cream.

Disclaimer: This recipe will tell you to make about twice as much popcorn as you actually need for the cookies, but I do not need to tell you why, now do I?  

Have you ever browned butter before?  

Do you like things that smell wonderful and taste even better?  I know you do, of course you do!  This is why we are friends. 

Butter is heated until it is slowly bubbling, then all of our little bits of fat become toasty brown and we have something that is just about as close to heaven as we can get from these earthly kitchens of ours.

Oh, hello cookies!

These cookies are so full of crunchy, salty-sweetness, it's almost too much for a girl's heart to handle.

Almost. 

Crispy, golden edges and soft, chewy centers.  I think these cookies just may have earned themselves a place next to my great grandmother's sugar cookies. 

Christmas is next week.  Breathe in and out.  Enjoy every moment.  And try, please try, to avoid that post office if you possibly can. 

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

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Brown Butter Pistachio Popcorn Cookies

makes roughly 18 cookies

- 1 tablespoon coconut oil

- 1/4 cup popping corn 

- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, divided (at room temperature)

- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt (plus extra for salting popcorn)

- 1/4 cup brown sugar

- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 

- 1 large egg 

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 1/2 cup roasted, unsalted pistachios

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

Place a 4-quart saucepan over medium high heat and add coconut oil.  When the oil has melted, add popping corn and cover.  

Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the kernels begin to pop.  Once this begins, shake the pan vigorously over the heat until you no longer hear kernels popping. 

Remove the pan from the heat and salt the popcorn to taste.  Set aside. 

Place 1/4 cup butter in a small frying pan and place over medium heat.  Once the butter begins to bubble, watch it carefully.  The goal is for the butter to become rich topaz in color, with tiny darker bits laying on the bottom of the pan.  This should take about 5 minutes.  

Once the butter has browned, remove from heat and use a spoon to scrape off the white froth from the top of the butter.  Allow the butter to cool while you prepare the cookie batter. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. 

In the work bowl of your stand mixer combine remaining 1/4 cup butter with sugars.  Beat on medium speed, scraping down the sides as necessary, until the mixture is airy and well-combined. Beat in egg. 

With the mixer on low speed, slowly incorporate browned butter and vanilla extract.  

While continuing to mix, gradually add the flour mixture until all of the dry ingredients are well incorporated. 

Fold in pistachios and 1 1/2 cups popped corn. 

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and use an ice cream scoop to portion out the dough into 2 tablespoon balls. 

Bake for 9-12 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown.  The centers should still look slightly soft.  

Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool.  Store in airtight containers until ready to serve.  Enjoy!

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Honey, Lemon & Sea Salt Caramel Corn

I’ve been going through a snacking phase.  Do you know those times?

I do not want to eat full meals, like a sensible person, I just want to raid the refrigerator and pantry for whatever can be eaten by the handful.  For no good reason, marshmallows and popcorn sometimes sound far better than making a real dinner.

Popcorn is one of my dearest friends.  Salty or sweet, chocolatey or spicy, I love popcorn.  The kind of popcorn you make with oil and popping corn on a stovetop, not with a fake-butter laden bag and a microwave. 

Did you know that you can make caramel out of honey?  You can.  No corn syrup, no refined sugars, just honey and butter. 

The final product is rich, sweet, and slightly floral.  I used a very floral honey for this recipe, to play off of the lemon. A good orange blossom honey would be an excellent choice. 

This popcorn has a lot going on, it’s sweet, salty, and brightened by fresh lemon zest.  The combination is surprising and addicting.

The lemon is more of an after note, one that keeps you coming back for more. 

Snack dinners aren’t going out of style anytime soon.  

Happy Wednesday!  

Sincerely, 

  Pedantic Foodie

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Honey, Lemon & Sea Salt Popcorn

serves 4-6

• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 3/4 cup popping corn 
• 1 cup honey 
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter 
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt 

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. 

Place a large pot over medium high heat and add coconut oil.  When the oil begins to shimmer, add popping corn and cover.  When the corn begins to pop, shake the pot gently, to prevent the kernels from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

When the popcorn has stopped popping, remove from heat.  Transfer the popped corn to a deep-sided, 15x10 baking dish.  Place the popcorn in the oven while you prepare the caramel sauce.  This will help the corn to stay crisp. 

In a medium saucepan, combine butter, honey, and lemon zest.  Place over medium heat and stir until all the butter has melted and the mixture begins to boil.  Boil for 5-7 minutes, until the caramel has deepened slightly in color.  Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and baking soda.  

Pour the caramel over the popcorn immediately and stir to cover all the popcorn evenly.

Return the popcorn to the oven and bake for 35 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes.  Remove the popcorn from the oven and sprinkle with sea salt.  Toss to coat. 

Allow the popcorn to cool before serving or storing in airtight containers.  Enjoy!

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