The Best Popcorn... Ever

Family Favorite Popcorn

Approximately 1/3 cup unpopped popcorn kernels

2-3 tbsp virgin coconut oil (the stuff that still smells like coconut)
1/4 cup butter (or to taste)
Salt to taste

*Place a stainless-steel or other heavy-duty 3-quart saucepan on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high.  (You may use a 2-qt. pan, but decrease the amount of popcorn slightly.) 
*Spoon the coconut oil into the pan and wait a minute or two, until oil is melted and hot.
* Add the popcorn kernels and cover the pot, venting the lid slightly to let steam escape (but not enough for popping kernels to fly out. :) )  Alternatively, you may cover the pot tightly with aluminum foil, and use a sharp knife to poke several steam vents in the top of the foil.  Keep the heat set at medium-high, and listen for the sounds of popping... these should start within a minute or so. 
*Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat... this will only take about 2 minutes.
*As the pot fills up with popped corn, give it a few gentle shakes to encourage unpopped kernels to fall back to the bottom.  You need not shake the pot the whole time.  Listen carefully, and when the popping slows to a solid 1-2 seconds between pops, remove from the heat and carefully remove the lid or cover.
*Pour popcorn into a large serving bowl, and drizzle with melted butter and salt to taste.  I usually evenly drizzle about 1/3 of the butter over the popcorn, lightly sprinkle with salt, toss, and repeat two more times.  This ensures an even coating of butter and salt.  Serve immediately.

*This is just the way my kids like it best, but if you're feeling more adventurous, try sprinkling on some yummy add-ins like crushed rosemary and grated parmesan, garlic salt instead of regular salt, Italian seasoning, cinnamon-sugar in place of salt, etc.... mmmmm!  


*If you don't have virgin coconut oil, you can use other oils, but the popcorn won't have the same excellent flavor.  A good quality peanut oil is a close second to coconut oil, though. :)

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies - Batter tricks

So what is the trick to getting nice, chewy chip cookies that hold their shape?  Well, there's a few little tricks I've learned along the way that you can use with your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe (or for starters, you can use the Tollhouse recipe on the back of Nestle chocolate chips):

1) Use room temperature or softened butter.  If you want your cookies to hold their beautiful shape, don't melt the butter - just let it be softened. Often, this is "room temperature," but if your room temperature is only 60 (as it often is at my house during the winter) then you will need to gently soften it, either in the microwave on low power, checking frequently, or near a place that is warmer than the rest of the room (wood stove, near the oven while something else is baking - not too close, though! - etc.)


Note: Most recipes call for part butter and part shortening.  You can use part shortening if you wish, but if you are concerned about trans fats, use one of the following alternatives to Crisco-type shortening--
            *Lard (do NOT use lard that has hydrogenated lard added in)
            *Organic virgin coconut oil
            *Organic palm oil (also sold as all-natural, non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening)
            *Or, just use all butter in place of the shortening called for in the recipe.  Vegetable shortening does contribute to chewiness, but the following tips will still give you chewy cookies regardless of whether you use all butter or not.

2) Replace part of the white sugar in the recipe with more brown sugar.
             *Most single-batch recipes call for 3/4 cup EACH of brown and white sugar.  I use 1 cup of brown sugar, and    1/2 cup of white sugar.  It's still 1 1/2 cups of sugar total, but brown sugar acts more as a humectant, to help hold the moisture (and therefore chewiness) in the cookies.

3) CREAM THE BUTTER AND SUGAR ON LOW SPEED UNTIL FLUFFY.  I can't emphasize this step strongly enough.  Yes, it's such an easy step to skip, or at least to be stingy with... but you don't want to do that if you're looking for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. :)  You're looking to achieve a consistency similar to whipped cream, which is also another reason why you want that butter softened, but not melted.  How do you know when it's ready? 
           *Light, fluffy consistency that is almost white in color
           *Little to no graininess left from the sugar
Yes, this takes a long time - usually about 10 minutes with a stand mixer on the lowest, or second lowest, setting.  I got a stand mixer a few years ago and it has been SUCH a help with this step, because standing there that long with a hand mixer in one hand and a baby in the other arm was a real challenge - but worth it for those perfect cookies nonetheless. :)  Why low speed?  ...Because the sugar granules do a better job of breaking down the fat and adding air to the mixture if they aren't rushed into it. :)

*Again, use your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe with these tips, but please do use decent-quality chocolate chips if you can.  Ghirardelli makes fantastic chips (especially the double chocolate or bittersweet varieties) but you don't need to go that fancy... Nestle (esp the mini chips, which spread nicely throughout the batter) or Hershey's Special Dark are also excellent choices.

Coming soon: Tips for baking that yummy dough!