Buttered Popcorn Cookies

Popcorn in cookies? Trust me, once you try these Buttered Popcorn Cookies, you'll want to start putting popcorn in all your cookies! They're perfectly buttery and chewy and in addition to the popcorn, there are also toffee bits mixed in!

(This recipe was originally published in October 2013, but was updated with new contents and photos in 2021).

Oftentimes, after I spend a bunch of time in the kitchen baking or cooking, I’m not really in the mood to eat. Weird, right? I always do anyway (obviously), but I rarely absolutely pig out on anything I make at home, even if it’s really, really ridiculously delicious.

I have no idea why as this is very different than if someone is cooking for me or if I am out to eat. This is also very different than what happened with these cookies. Really, really different.

Like oh my God, my stomach hurts because I’ve eaten about a hundred of these in just two days. Well, that can’t quite be true since one batch only makes 2 dozen. But still.

What's so good about these cookies? Definitely the fact that there's popcorn in them. Freshly popped popcorn. Freshly popped buttered popcorn.

But also toffee. Ultimately, these cookies are chewy and buttery and seriously addictive.

🍿 Best way to pop popcorn

When making theses popcorn cookies, you'll need to start by popping the popcorn. If you’re feeling super lazy, you can feel free to purchase plain popcorn from the store.

But popping popcorn on the stovetop is seriously the easiest ever.

You need just a small amount of popcorn for these cookies (just 3 cups), so you only need about 2 tablespoon kernels.

My favorite way of popping popcorn is to put canola oil in the bottom of a saucepan over medium heat and pour in popcorn kernels.

I cover the saucepan and when I hear the first kernel pop, I remove it from the heat and let it sit for a minute. Then I put the saucepan back on the heat and shake the pan around until all of the popcorn is popped. Easy!

I recommend putting 3 cups of the popcorn in a bowl (there will. be a tiny amount leftover... snack on it!) and drizzling 1 tablespoon melted butter over it and sprinkling on ¼ teaspoon salt.

If you purchase the popcorn and it's plain, be sure to still drizzle on the butter and salt!

Let the popcorn come to room temperature before mixing it into the cookie batter.

Once your you have your fresh popped popcorn, you can make all kinds of delicious mixes, like this s'mores popcorn or this simple sweet and salty popcorn.

🍪 How to make buttered popcorn cookies

Now that your popcorn is popped, you're ready to make these buttered popcorn cookies!

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer or in a bowl with hand mixer, cream butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.

Mix in egg and vanilla until combined.

With the mixer on low, add in flour mixture, mixing until just combined, taking care not to overmix.

Add in the 3 cups popped popcorn and ⅓ cup toffee pieces.

And gently fold into the batter to just combine.

On a parchment paper-lined or Silpat-covered baking sheet, place scoops of about 3 tablespoon of dough about an inch apart. 3 tablespoon sounds like a lot of dough, but these cookies really don't turn out that large.

I find using a cookie scoop is the easiest way to get uniform cookies. For these, I use a large #20 cookie scoop, like this one.

Bake at 350 degrees for about about 10-12 minutes, until cookies are just browning around edges.

Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving to wire racks to cool completely.

Now, try not to eat all of these in one sitting. It’s hard. Oh, so very hard. And I am most certainly not the right person to go to for advice.

They’re sweet; they’re salty. They're very buttery. And they’re most definitely the stuff dreams are made of.

They’ll also have you counting down the hours at work so you can get home and eat more. Who needs dinner anyway?

It's probably enough that there's buttered popcorn in these cookies, but I had to go ahead and add toffee, too, right?

The toffee really adds to and compounds upon the buttery aspect of these cookies since it has its own buttery flavor. Of course, the toffee isn't an absolute must and you can leave it out if you want, but I do think it takes the cookies to a different level!

🎉 More fun cookie recipes

If you're not sold on putting popcorn in your cookies... Or you just want more ridiculously fun cookie recipes, check out some of my other favorite cookies. There are the kind of treats that both kids and adults will love!

• Fruity Pebbles Cookies
• Strawberry Lemonade Shortbread Cookies
• Banana Split Cookies
• Lavender Lemon Cookies
• Doughnut Sugar Cookies
• Strawberry Milk Cookies
• Fudge Stripe Cookies
• Milk Bar Cornflake Cookies
• Cinnamon Roll Cookies (from Sally's Baking Addiction)
• Peanut Butter Monster Cookies (from Baking By Nature)

Before making these buttered popcorn cookies, I probably would have told you it was crazy to add popcorn to cookies. And I admit, it does sound a little crazy.

But now? Now I know it's the best idea ever and I will be making these over and over again!

What are your favorite most interesting cookie add-ins?

📖 Recipe