Crites Family Stuff

Description

This cookie was entered in the 2013 Family Reunion Cookie Contest.

Ingredients for 36 servings

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• .25 cup popcorn kernels
• .25 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp butter, melted
• .5 cup butter, softened
• .5 cup packed brown sugar
• .33 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• .5 tsp vanilla
• 1.25 cups flour
• .5 tsp baking soda

Steps

1. Make pop corn. Pour oil over the bottom of a large saucepan that has a lid and add the popcorn kernels, shimmying the pan around so the kernels land in one layer. Cover the pan with the lid and heat it over medium-high heat. Once the kernels begin to pop, keep the saucepan moving until all the kernels have popped, about 5-7 minutes. Toss the popped corn with the salt and melted butter, then transfer it to a bowl. Sort out any unpopped kernels. You should have about 4 1/2 cups of popcorn. Let cool.
2. Mix dough. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together softened butter, brown sugar, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour and baking soda together. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture. Fold in the cooled popcorn so that it is evenly distributed through the batter, which will seem like a ridiculous instruction because there is so much popcorn and so little batter, but it works. Don't worry if the popcorn breaks up a bit. The mixed-sized pieces are part of the cookie's charm.
3. Bake cookies. Scoop heaping-tablespoon-sized mounds 2 inches apart onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until edges are light brown. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for a few minutes to firm up before transferring them to a rack to cool.

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