Test Kitchen: Movie Night Snacks!

Looking for some tasty treats for your next movie night? Here’s a roundup of some easy favorites or hacks discovered on Pinterest. They’ve been tested, reviewed, and streamlined for your snacking enjoyment.

1. Cookie Dough! Looking for that special ice cream topping or just some cookie dough to snack on but don’t feel like baking? Check out this eggless cookie dough from Lilluna! Review: Eggless cookie dough is the way to go if you’ve got those cookie dough cravings. I bet scoops of this would be bomb as an ice cream topping too! See the tips below for how I made mine dairy free. If you’re looking for it to have the typical cookie dough texture I would recommend putting it in the fridge after making it to chill before eating. Tips: If it’s too sweet after an initial taste test do yourself a favor and grab some flaky salt and stir that in to taste, just be careful not to put too much or you’ll end up with salted cookie dough like I did. Also if you’re looking to make this more allergy friendly you can easily make it dairy free (and vegan) by replacing all ingredients that would’ve contained dairy with their vegan/dairy free alternates, such as using EnjoyLife brand chocolate chips (or another brand that is vegan and allergy friendly) and vegan butter. See below for a snapshot of my dairy free ingredient stack. 
2. Easy (and “healthy”) Paper Bag Popcorn Looking for a slightly healthier take on popcorn? You can air-pop individual portions in brown paper bags. Check out the instructions from The Creek Line House. Review: This is a great option if you’ve got popcorn kernels and brown paper lunch bags on hand. It makes 1-2 servings at a time and you’ve got a bag for each person who wants popcorn without making a bowl dirty. The other plus of this simple recipe is that you know exactly what you’re putting into the bag and therefore eating (unlike a lot of microwave popcorns). Tips: The recipe warns that the oil will soak through the bag in a few places, this is true so if you don’t want to use a bowl you’re going to need a napkin or paper towel to hold the bag. 
3. Easy Fudge Looking for that extra chocolate kick for your movie night? Check out this easy fudge recipe from Live Well Bake Often. Review: You can’t beat a 3-ingredient recipe that makes a creamy and decadent fudge. Yes, you do need a stove for this one to melt the chocolate, but it’s super simple. I made mine dairy free by subbing some of the ingredients and it was delicious! One of the keys here is not burning the chocolate, so make sure to keep it on the stove and stir continuously until everything is just melted. I would recommend using parchment paper instead of foil to line your container if possible. Tips: To make an equally delicious dairy free version I used the following – 1 bag of EnjoyLife semi-sweet mega chunks and roughly 1/2 bag EnjoyLife dark chocolate morsels, 1 full can of coconut sweetened condensed milk and ~1/4 cup from a second can, and Forager vegan butter.

Dairy Free Ingredients Used for the Cookie Dough and Fudge:

EnjoyLife brand dark chocolate morsels and semi-sweet mega chunks Califia Farms Unsweetened Oat Milk Forager buttery spread (vegan butter) Nature’s Charm sweetened condensed coconut milk Flour Vanilla extract Sugar Light brown sugar