Strawberry Lemonade Popcorn

Lemonade, that sweetened lemon beverage, is popular throughout the world. Sometimes carbonated, sometimes flat, sweetened with sugar or honey, it's a classic summer refresher. Strawberry lemonade goes one better with the addition of blended strawberries or juice to sweeten the tangy drink. We love the flavors so why not use them in a popcorn recipe?

You can buy pre-made strawberry lemonade popcorn but those are usually just made with artificial flavorings and we wanted real strawberry lemonade flavor. So we used real strawberries and real lemons. Some of the best lemon flavor comes from the zest so we used both zest and juice in our sugar syrup to make it nice and tangy. Freeze dried strawberries (look for the kind with no other ingredients except strawberries) are packed with concentrated flavor and grind up into a powder very easily. We reserved some pieces to mix in at the end but crushed the rest up and added it to our sugar and lemon syrup. It tasted like concentrated strawberry lemonade and that's exactly what we wanted.

As with other wet coatings, we like to bake it in the oven for a few minutes to seal in the flavor and maintain the popcorn's crunch. You can make this more or less tart depending on your personal tang tolerance. We promise this snack won't last long in your house because it sure doesn't in ours.

Strawberry Lemonade Popcorn

Dell Cove Spices

Servings

6

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

15 minutes

Our recipe for strawberry lemonade popcorn is the perfect blend of sweet and tart. Everything we love in the beverage but in crunchy snack form.

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

• ⅓ Cup Dell Cove Movie Night popcorn kernels

• ¼ Teaspoon salt

• 2 Tablespoons butter

• 1 Tablespoons water

• 1 ½ Tablespoons lemon juice

• 2/3 Cup granulated sugar

• Zest of one lemon

• ½ Cup freeze dried strawberries

• Pinch of salt

Directions

1. To make the popcorn, add the vegetable or canola oil and 2 to 3 of the movie night kernels to a large pot with a lid. Heat on high until the kernels pop. That will let you know that your oil is hot enough.

2. Add the remaining kernels and the salt. Cover, continue cooking on high, shaking the pot often, until the popping stops. Remove the popcorn to a large bowl.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees F.

4. Crush the freeze dried strawberries with a rolling pin or the bottom of a mug until most of the pieces have turned to powder.

5. Add the butter, water, lemon juice, lemon zest, ground freeze-dried strawberries and salt to a large pot set on medium low heat. Stir until the sugar has fully dissolved.

6. Stir in the popcorn until fully coated and pour onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes, stir and continue baking for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving.

7. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to three days.