The Easiest Microwaveable Air-Popped Popcorn

It's the beginning of a week of Circus-themed fun in our house, so we started today with a quintessential circus snack: popcorn! Do you know about the easiest (and fastest) way to air-pop some corn kernels? Allow me to share!I love this method for making popcorn so much that I haven’t even bought the microwaveable bags in years. It’s fast, easy, and you can control all of the ingredients that go into your snack (i.e., not too salty, and none of those weird chemicals!). All you need is a microwave, a brown paper lunch bag, some plain popcorn kernels, and the seasonings of your choice.

First, measure ¼ cup of kernels into the paper bag. Roll over the top of the bag to make sure that it’s sealed shut. Place your paper bag in the microwave and cook on high for about 1 minute (it might take a few seconds longer, depending on the strength of your microwave). When 1 minute is up, you will have a bag full of fluffy, air-popped popcorn.

You can leave your snack unadorned, or you can season it with melted butter, olive oil, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, whatever! We usually opt for the classic butter + salt combination, but it’s obviously very customizable.

For more circus fun, I served our popcorn in these little boxes, which I found at the local dollar store (Amazon.com also sells them).