I know what you’re thinking.  Why would I put popcorn and bacon together? But trust me, it is the perfect sweet and savory combination that will leave you eating the whole bowl before you even realize it.

Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks from childhood, although I don’t eat much of it these days.  My favorite flavor is the Chicago Mix.  One year, my parents went to Chicago to visit family and brought us some popcorn straight from the famous Garrett Popcorn Shop. This made my day! LOL

When, I saw this recipe on Ayesha Curry’s show on the Cooking Channel some time ago, I put it on my list of things to try.  It has the same sweet and salty combination that I love about the Chicago Mix and knew I would love it.  I didn’t feel like looking up a recipe, so I gave it shot on my own to see what happened.

Here is what I did step by step:

I used about 5 or 6 long pieces of bacon and cooked it until it became brown and crisp. Once the bacon was done, I put it to the side and transferred the bacon fat to a sauce pan.  On high heat, I added in 3 kernels and waited for it to pop. Then I removed the 3 test kernels, poured in the rest and covered the pan with a lid. I kept it covered until the popping sound was a second or two apart and removed it from heat, moving the popcorn to a large bowl.

For the maple glaze, I melted unsalted butter and mixed it with a little maple syrup (real maple syrup).  Then poured it on top of the popcorn, sprinkled a little Himalayan Sea Salt to taste, crumbled the bacon, and mixed it all together with a spatula. Oh, it was so good!

I have to let the cat out of the bag and confess…  The first time I made this, I used Applegate’s Turkey Bacon (which is formed from whole thigh meat and chopped, not the very familiar processed version), and cooked it in a little pork bacon fat, so that is what you see in the picture.  Don’t judge me. Haha! I usually don’t combine the two.  I was already cooking regular bacon for my husband and didn’t feel like removing the fat; although this brand does give off some juice, just not as much as the pork. The second time I made it, I used pork bacon, though.

…

When my husband came over to see what I was doing, he looked at me with a crazy expression. But when he had a taste, he loved it! Mmmmm, I’m making myself hungry just writing about it.  I think I’m going to make some after I finish this.

Note: I could’ve used the microwaved popcorn, but I wanted to make it fresh. Either way, I think it would work well as long as the flavor is plain.

Do you have a favorite snack that you probably shouldn’t eat because it’s not in your diet but you eat anyway? Comment below.

Peace and Love!

Yasmin

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