How To Give Popcorn An Irresistibly Sweet Upgrade With Store-Bought Cookies

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Even if you heat up one of the best microwaveable popcorn brands, you might find yourself wondering how you can jazz it up. Sure, popcorn is satisfyingly tasty and crunchy on its own, but its relatively neutral flavor profile lends itself so well to a variety of added flavors. The options are endless — we ranked 28 of the best popcorn seasonings, and the list included everything from garlic, cheese, and everything bagel topping to Old Bay, bacon salt, and Frank's RedHot Buffalo Ranch. But what if you're craving something sweet?

Store-bought cookies are a quick and easy way to turn simple popcorn into an irresistible confection of Willy Wonka-esque proportions. Simply pick any of your favorite cookies and use your blender or food processor to crush them into a powder. In a pinch, you can even just put them in a sealed bag and smash them, which could give you more cookie chunks. You can dust the popcorn with your new cookie seasoning, or bind it to the popcorn with butter or oil. You can also mix in any number of other ingredients to combine flavors, like crushed chocoolate chip cookies with a caramel drizzle. You'll end up with one of the most genius unconventional uses for store-bought cookies, and it will only take you a few minutes longer than popping the popcorn. It's even faster and easier to use one of the best bagged popcorns — just pick an unflavored variety.

One of the most basic cookie-topping ideas is the good, old-fashioned chocolate chip cookie. Pick one of the best chocolate chip cookie brands you can find at the supermarket and blend or crush them — use just a few for a light dusting, or a whole sleeve for a big batch for the entire family. Mix the cookie dust and popcorn, or drizzle a bit of melted butter over the popcorn for binding. For more even results, spread the popcorn on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and use a spray bottle to lightly mist it with butter.

Oreos will give you instant cookies-and-cream results, especially if you use melted white chocolate for binding. Oreo has so many different flavors, you've got plenty of inspiration right there. Use the Lemon Creme Oreos with white chocolate and lemon zest, the Mint Oreos with chocolate sauce and chocolate chips or crushed Andes candies or peppermints, or the Birthday Cake Oreos with sprinkles. Mix in powdered Nutter Butters with melty peanut butter or hot fudge, oatmeal cookies with cinnamon and maybe some chocolate-covered raisins; gingerbread cookies with ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon; or Biscoff cookies with melted cookie butter, or melted dark chocolate to balance the sweetness with some bitterness. Another tasty balance to sweetness is heat: Anything with chocolate like Chips Ahoy! or Keebler Fudge Stripes would make a great match for cayenne or chili powder. You'll start to see all your favorite cookies as doubly useful.