Marcona Almond + Dried Cherry Popcorn with Crispy Rosemary

This post has been compensated as part of my ongoing partnership with Barlean's. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

Upgrade your date night with an upscale twist on classic movie theater popcorn. Make it right in the comfort of your own home with only 6 ingredients!

My husband and I don't do date nights out as often as we used to. Although we did just have a really lovely overnight trip (plus the most epic brunch EVER) to a local Inn to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary yesterday.

With work schedules, babysitter logistics, and a son that wakes up waaaaay too early every morning (seriously - where does he get THAT from?!) we tend to do date nights in a lot more often.

So after our 5-year-old is in bed, we'll sit out on the patio with a cocktail or 3, play some video games, or binge watch some Netflix or Hulu.

We also do our fair share of movie nights, and what movie night is complete with out buttery, delicious popcorn?

Aside from ditching the bags of microwave popcorn in favor of using a silicone popcorn popper or the stovetop method, the biggest homemade popcorn game changer for my family has been the Butter Flavored Coconut Oil from Barlean's.

We've been using it for quite some time now, and let me tell you - it smells and tastes just like the stuff you get in the movie theater. But this is stuff totally vegan (which is a huge plus for my lactose-intolerant date!), USDA Organic, Non-GMO, and free of trans fats and cholesterol.

It's flavored naturally with botanical extracts and doesn't have a coconut oil flavor or odor, which you get when using standard coconut oil. It satisfies butter cravings while supplying you with the health benefits of MCTs.

It's a win/win for us!

I've tried a few microwave popcorn makers, and this one from Lékué is my favorite to date. You just put some kernels inside of it, lay the lid on top, and pop it (pun very much intended) into the microwave for a few minutes.

I like that the lid keeps the popcorn warm after you take it out of the microwave until you serve it. The whole thing collapses down to save space, which is ideal when you're working with a tiny kitchen like I am.

It holds up to 10 cups of popcorn, which is perfect for my family of 3 since my kiddo is obsessed with it these days. It's also dishwasher safe (hooray!) and you can control the amount of butter or coconut oil (if any) that you add.

I love knowing what's going into the food that my family eats. This helps me keep it simple and straightforward!

This particular recipe was inspired by a comment my husband's cousin made on one of my Instagram posts recently. She said that the bar at Tavern on the Green serves Marcona almonds with dried cherries and rosemary and that the combination is incredible.

So I figured why not add popcorn into the mix?

For the rosemary, I decided to go with one of my favorite preparations - quickly frying the leaves to get them nice and crispy. To amp up the rosemary flavor even more, I fried them right in the coconut oil, then stirred some salt into that rosemary-infused oil and drizzled it over the popcorn once it was ready.

It was totally delicious and really drove the butter and rosemary flavors home.

The Marcona almonds I bought were skinless and had already been fried and salted, so I didn't want to add too much additional salt here. But feel free to drizzle and salt to your taste preference.

Want to know what makes Marcona almonds so special? This article has a lot of great information.

Aside from substituting it 1:1 for butter in baking, cooking, and frying under 375°F, butter flavored coconut oil is great in lots of different recipes. Here are some of our favorites:

• Skillet Garlic Parmesan Bread
• Tex-Mex Meatballs with Mexican Cauliflower Rice
• Rich Cocoa Brownie Bites
• Banana Superseed Scones with Banana-Orange Curd

Want other ideas for using popcorn? Check out these recipes:

• Bluecoast’s Raw Tuna with Pickled Peach & Corn Relish
• Tolon’s Strawberry Basil Shortcake
• Smoky Seared Scallops with Roasted Fennel, Rainbow Carrots + Popped Sorghum

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