Easy-Peasey Homemade Microwave Popcorn!

Microwave popcorn is one of my very favorite snacks, but like everyone else I have been reading about the yucky chemicals found in typical microwave bags bought at the store. I'll admit that this didn't stop me right away from enjoying them, but I recently came upon a link on Pinterest describing an easy way to make your own microwave popcorn with a paper lunch bag (unfortunately I can't locate that original link). I found it hard to believe that it could be so easy, but I decided to buy some popcorn kernels and try it out, and not only was it incredibly easy but the popcorn came out perfect, and my husband and I both liked it even more than the store-bought version!

Below I show you all that you need. I use a "giant" sized paper bag (mine are Target brand) to allow plenty of room for popping, standard yellow popcorn kernels (mine are organic ones from Sprouts, but you can find them pretty much anywhere in the snack aisle), some vegan Earth Balance butter, and some sea salt or whatever type of salt you have.

• 1 large paper lunch bag
• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
• 1 tablespoon vegan butter
• 1/2 teaspoon or so of salt (more or less to your taste)

Measure out 1/2 cup of the popcorn kernels and dump them into the paper bag. Fold the top of the bag over tightly several times (3-4) so that it fits upright in the microwave but there is still enough room for popping. (Note: you can put it in the microwave flat, folded side down, but I have read and have found myself that it will not pop quite as much and there is more risk for burning. When I set it upright, it is always perfect). 

No need to seal the bag otherwise. Set the microwave for 3 minutes and pop as you would with a normal bag! (We use the one-two-pop-STOP! method, so basically stopping it when it slows down to a 2-second interval between pops).

Pour the popcorn into a large bowl (1/2 cup makes a very large bowl of popcorn). Melt the butter in a small bowl or ramekin in 10-second intervals in the microwave. Pour it evenly over the popcorn, then sprinkle with salt. Mix it around with your hands a little bit to evenly distribute the butter and salt.

That's it!

You will have a beautiful, delicious bowl of popcorn :)

The beauty of this method, besides being inexpensive, healthy and delicious, is that you can customize it however you want! You can do 1/4 or 1/3 cup popcorn if you want a smaller bowl, you can make it with no butter or with melted coconut oil for an even healthier version, you can do 2-3 tablespoons of butter if it's movie night and you want it nice and buttery, or you can try different seasonings such as nutritional yeast, cinnamon and sugar or Italian herbs and garlic powder (I am a popcorn purist, so I stick with the butter and salt :)

I hope that you love this method as much as I do. Let me know if you have any other tips or come up with a great seasoning combination!