Today I made a batch of kettle corn for tomorrow’s Vegan Bakesale here in Austin. Steph, also known as The Lazy Smurf has organized a killer bake sale tomorrow outside Counter Culture from 2:00 – 5:00 pm. Proceeds from the sale will benefit SARA Animal Sanctuary. The sanctuary is currently home to over eight hundred and fifty animals including dogs, cats, and farm rescues.
Delicious treats will abound. There are tons of home bakers donating their goods as well as a number of pro-bakeries from all over town.
From The Lazy Smurf Blog:
We are going to have so many items from Austin’s vegan friendly bakeries including Capital City, Happy Vegan Baker, Sugar Circus, Mr. Natural, Sugar Mama’s, andCeleste’s Best. There are going to be Pumpkin Spice Cookies, Goji Bites, Peanut Butter Cups, Pumpkin Loaves, Mini Mud Pies, and tons of Gluten Free items too! There is going to be live music from Ken Atkins and the Honky Tonk Kind and dogs to pet from the animal sanctuary! So please come, invite your friends and buy everything.
How cool is that? I love how folks in Austin are always coming together to do good.
Anyway, my homemade donation will some bags of Spicy Coconut Kettle Corn. I found some pretty festive packaging to make my popcorn extra appealing.
It helps a lot if you have a Whirley-Pop
type gizmo, but with a little determination and a lot of arm power, you can make this in a regular pot with a lid. The trick is keep the popcorn moving no matter what. When I tried it in a big pot it burnt, but just a little. So, for perfect results, get yourself a whirly-pop. I’ve had one for about five years now, and it’s seriously one of my favorite pieces of kitchen equipment. When Scott and I moved to China and sold 90% of our possessions before the trip, the whirly-pop was one of the things that made it to the storage unit, so that should tell you how attached to it I am.
Another thing that would strongly improve your kettle corn is using a specialty corn blend. I just used regular-old kernels, but I’ve heard great things about Mushroom Popcorn Kernels
and kettle corn specific blends.
Spicy Coconut Kettle Corn
Makes about 12 cups
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup virgin coconut cream oil
- 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
- 1/3 cup sugar (I used turbinado)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces spicy peanuts (any brand will do)
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut
Directions
- Add the coconut oil and four little kernels to the pot. Turn the heat on to medium or medium-high, and wait for those little kernels to pop.
- Once they do, add the rest of the popcorn, salt, and sugar. Stir immediately, then cover the pot and continue shaking or stirring until the popcorn starts to pop. If you are using a regular pot, you might want to try stirring with the top off up until that last moment that corn starts popping.
- When the kernels start popping start shaking or stirring the pot like crazy. The idea is to keep that sugar moving so it doesn’t burn.
- When the popping slows down, take the pot of the heat immediately, and get it into a bowl as fast as you can.
- Shake the shredded coconut and peanuts over the popcorn and toss it all together. I like to use two large mixing bowls to move the popcorn around a lot. You can also add a little extra salt if you think the popcorn needs it.
- Let the popcorn cool completely before bagging it up, or just eat it while it is hot.
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