Cinnamon Popcorn Recipe

By
Pete Scherer
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Pete Scherer
Pete Scherer is a cook and baker with a decade of experience across many facets of the Southern California food scene.
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Updated on 01/20/23
cinnamon popcorn with cinnamon sticks

Pete Scherer 

Prep: 2 mins
Cook: 8 mins
Total: 10 mins
Servings: 15 servings
Yield: 15 cups

Sometimes you’ve got to get creative with your snacks. The right snack variation adds much needed novelty to average events like movie night at home. All of a sudden, there’s a total experience—maybe even the emergence of a theme. It could be as simple as using sea salt to enhance your popcorn for a screening of Titanic.

Popcorn is, of course, an essential, even fundamental snack. It’s easy to make: Delicious, cheap, and equally craveable in sweet and savory forms. This version leans in a sweet direction. With the warm woody flavor of ground cinnamon, it's reminiscent of a certain crunchy, toasty breakfast cereal. The sweetness is light, not as syrupy as more thickly coated caramel corn, so it still qualifies as a snack rather than candy. A bit of salt helps to balance the flavor.

The preparation here is very basic. There’s no baking, no melting of sugar. The one innovation, if you can call it that, is the use of an old fashioned mortar and pestle to grind the sugar into a finer sandy texture that sticks to the popcorn better than granulated sugar would. You can buy superfine sugar instead, but every kitchen should have a mortar and pestle. There’s nothing better than fresh ground spices, herb powders, and pastes. Powdered sugar is not a recommended substitution, as the tossing step tends to get a little dusty.

Kids and adults alike are guaranteed to love this popcorn. Teenagers will consume huge quantities. It’s mild sweetness heightens rather than weakens this popcorn’s addictive power. Luckily, popcorn is a naturally high fiber food, so you needn’t feel too guilty about your kids putting away more than a bowlful... or three.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup popcorn

  • 2 tablespoons ghee

  • 2 tablespoons sugar

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. Add 1 tablespoon of ghee and 3 individual popcorn kernels to a large pot over medium-high heat. Put lid on pot.

  3. When you hear the first kernel pop, remove lid from the pot, add all remaining popcorn, and replace lid.

  4. Shake pot periodically until popping eventually comes to a stop. Remove from heat.

  5. Transfer popcorn to a large bowl.

  6. Add remaining 1 tablespoon of ghee to pot and melt, using residual heat.

  7. Add sugar, cinnamon, and salt to the bowl of a mortar and pestle. Grind to a consistency like find sand, something between granules and powder.

  8. Pour melted ghee evenly over popcorn and quickly toss it around in bowl to coat.

  9. Sprinkle fine cinnamon sugar onto popcorn and toss again. Adjust seasoning as you see fit.

Recipe Variation

  • If you don't have ghee, use a high-heat oil such as canola. It won't have the same buttery flavor, but won't scorch like regular butter does.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
23 Calories
2g Fat
2g Carbs
0g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 15
Amount per serving
Calories 23
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 2g 2%
Saturated Fat 1g 5%
Cholesterol 4mg 1%
Sodium 37mg 2%
Total Carbohydrate 2g 1%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 1mg 0%
Iron 0mg 0%
Potassium 1mg 0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)