Buttered Popcorn Cookies

A combination of two movie theater standbys, this cookie will now go down in history as one of my favorites (an ever-growing list). I may have eaten an obscene amount one day. As in, when my husband came home from work and asked what I wanted for dinner, I realized that I had eaten nothing but these cookies all day. I also may have made 3 batches of these this week, because I wanted everyone to try them. Zero remain.

I was feeling pretty down last week and needed a pick-me up. The thing I love about dessert is that no other meal is as completely unnecessary for your body, yet essential for your spirit. Cookies in particular are inviting because they're not pretentious. Cookies are like, "Hey, you wanna watch three crappy romantic comedies in a row today? It's cool, I won't tell anyone."

The other thing about cookies is you can make a basic cookie with stuff you probably already have in your pantry. I immediately thought of malted milk balls. Not gonna lie, it's because I forgot what Milk Duds were, and both candies have "milk" in their names, and a friend had given me a malted milk ball the day before. But my brain's misfire ended up creating something insane.

These cookies lifted my spirits like you wouldn't believe. The crushed malted milk balls caramelized in the oven, which made them thinner and chewier than the cookies I tested with only popcorn. Some of the malt balls turned to dust while being chopped, and the dough became infused with the malt flavor. The salt on top of the cookies tied everything together in perfect sweet & salty harmony. I danced around my kitchen.

I'm sick today, and will probably confine myself to movie-watching in bed for most of the day. If I could taste anything, I might make another batch of these cookies. But since I can't, you should do it and I will live vicariously through you.

Ingredients

4 cups popped microwave popcorn (plain white popcorn, not butter-flavored!)
1 cup roughly chopped malted milk balls
1 large egg
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1¼ cup flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup light brown sugar
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Adjust oven racks to be in the top and bottom thirds of the oven.

Place popped popcorn in a large mixing bowl, sifting through your fingers to avoid getting unpopped kernels in the bowl. Pour 1 tablespoon melted butter over the popcorn. If your popcorn does not already have salt added, sprinkle in a pinch of salt. Toss with a spoon to cover the popcorn.

Combine salt, flour, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. Combine butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in the mixer and Beat for a few minutes. Add vanilla, egg, flour mixture and mix well.

Pour in popcorn and fold into the dough carefully. Add chopped malted milk balls and fold into the dough.

Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat mat, spacing each dough ball at least 1 inch apart. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 12 minutes, rotating and switching the top and bottom trays halfway through baking. The edges will look slightly brown (12 minutes was the time that worked best in my oven!).

Let cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Enjoy!