Honey and Cinnamon Popcorn (Gluten Free)

Is there anything in this world that can't be improved by adding cinnamon and honey? I really don't think there is, and the satisfying crunch of nice salty buttery popcorn is no exception.

For a time, as I may have mentioned, I was very allergic to chocolate. Between the ages of 6 and 21 I couldn't touch the stuff or I would get severe migraine headache with full aura, stomach upset and become incredibly bad tempered. During that time, I tried eating it once or twice but always resumed to abstinence.

When at 21 I realised that I could eat it again, I began making up for lost time by eating shedloads of it quite often, and now it has become quite a part of my life. However, I have recently noticed that after I eat chocolate I get stomach upset and my skin breaks out in spots. 

  

It seems that from birth to death I will always have some difficulty with chocolate in one expression or another, and because of this I am removing it once again from my diet, except for special occasions or if I'm feeling homicidally pre-menstrual and nothing else will do. I can't tell at the moment if it's the cocoa that's causing it, or the dairy and the cocoa in conjunction, but I'm just cutting it out anyway and reducing my dairy intake in general.

Luckily for me during my 15 years of chocolate abstinence I developed a taste for varying different kinds of flavours and desserts, my favourites being anything to do with toffee or fudge. Also, since making my diet a lot more raw food based I have begun to fully appreciate the wonders of honey, and I feel this is sounding in an era of more natural based sweets and confectionery into my diet.

Earlier this week I went to a movie night, and every movie night needs popcorn. I opted to make a sweet popcorn instead of my usual chocolate brownies tactic to remove the temptation of being in the same vicinity of something chocolatey and delicious.

FREE FROM
☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Wheat
☑ Gluten
☑ Eggs
☑ Nuts
☑ Refined sugar products

CONTAINS
☒ Dairy (but the butter can be replaced with margarine or left out)

INGREDIMENTS

• 4 tablespoons (60 millilitres) popping corn kernels
• 3 tablespoons (45 millilitres) sunflower oil
• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) butter or margarine, or omit
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) salt
• 4 tablespoons (60 millilitres) honey

HOW-TO

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.3, or moderate).
• Add the oil, butter and cinnamon to a large heavy-based saucepan and gently heat until the butter melts. Add the kernels and cover; heat on medium to pop the kernels, shaking often to prevent burning.
• Lightly oil a large mixing bowl and add the honey to the bottom. Once the corn has popped, pour into the bowl, sprinkle with the salt, and mix very thoroughly. You can't over mix this mixture, but you can definitely under mix it, much like granola.
• Pour the honeyed popcorn out onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Dry out in the oven for about 10 minutes, tossing half-way through.
• Allow to cool slightly before serving.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR: Minty Millionaire's Shortbread