Vanilla And Popcorn Are The Unlikely Flavor Combo You Need To Try

Gone are the days of boring old butter and salt — popcorn has evolved to a snack of infinite flavorful possibilities. One of the more iconic twists is to opt for a sweet and salty combo, which leads us to vanilla popcorn. This doesn't mean dowsing your popcorn in vanilla extract and calling it a day but rather using vanilla as the key flavoring agent in toppings that are better suited for drizzling.

The best way to make vanilla popcorn is by coating the popcorn in a sugary butter mixture with added vanilla extract. By cooking down butter and adding a few other thick and sweet ingredients like corn syrup, then adding the extract for that classic vanilla flavor, you can easily pour it over your prepared popcorn. This simple yet delicious mixture will step up the taste of a classic microwavable bag or any other store-bought popcorn.

You can also flavor the kernels before they're popped, and while you could learn how to microwave popcorn kernels without the bag, we recommend using a stove-top for this method. Popping popcorn on the stove only requires a large pot, some oil, and your vanilla flavoring mixture so that your kernels take on the flavor as they pop. This is a great way to add homemade flavor and save a trip to the store for microwave bags.

The base recipe for homemade vanilla popcorn is relatively consistent, making it easily replicable and customizable. When you've already gone the sweet route, why not go full throttle and stick with the sugar? Try making a cinnamon-sugar popcorn recipe and incorporating your vanilla mixture. The cinnamon-sugar powder will adhere more readily to the popcorn thanks to your vanilla-butter, and you'll balance out the sweetness with the extra kick of cinnamon.

Another possibility is avoiding the mess of a powdery mixture and opting for a drizzle topping instead. Caramel corn is another iconic popcorn twist that you can easily make by pouring caramel sauce over your vanilla mixture. You could combine the caramel with a chocolate drizzle as well for more depth of flavor, or keep the two separate for a simpler snack. Both Torani caramel sauce and Ghirardelli chocolate sauce can be purchased on Amazon, but you can also make these sauces at home by melting sugar and chocolate respectively, making them a great last minute addition that adds even more to your vanilla kernels.