Family Movie-Night Treats
Family movie night is a tradition worth making for many reasons, but these are our favorite two: 1) You connect with one another over a shared piece of entertainment (as opposed everyone watching their own show on their own devices), and 2) you’re pretty much required to have some fun snacks while you watch. While we can’t do much to ensure that choosing the movie is a simple decision (Essentialism author Greg McKeown has some ideas here), the snack selection is a breeze. The easy, addictively delicious recipes are also incredibly adaptable depending on your group’s particular cravings: popcorn three ways (vegan-cheesy, fresh-herby, and chocolaty-coconutty), plus a fizzy kombucha float for the kids and a smooth beer float for the parents. These snacks are sweet, savory, bubbly, and creamy—and so good, you might have to make it a double feature.
Cocoa Pop
This salty, sweet, chocolaty combination works well with the subtle nuttiness of the coconut oil. This is the perfect treat for the candy fiend.
Vegan Cheesy Popcorn
Nutritional yeast is a controversial ingredient in the goop test kitchen—one of our food editors swears by it; the other can’t handle the fake-cheese taste when it’s used in vegan mac ’n’ cheese—but they both agree it makes for some pretty damn good vegan cheesy popcorn. That alone makes it worth stocking in your pantry.
Olive Oil and Herb Popcorn
We love using hearty herbs like thyme and rosemary in this recipe (giving them a rough chop helps release their essential oils before you add them to the hot popcorn), but you can play around with other aromatics, like toasted chili flakes, lemon zest, or fennel pollen.
Kombucha Float with Cherries and Whipped Cream
This soda-free float is just as fun as the original, with a touch of sweetness and plenty of bubbles. The whipped cream and cherry on top give it an old-school drive-in vibe.
Stout and Coffee Float
Beer, ice cream, and coffee are a pretty fantastic trifecta. The combination is so good, it makes sitting through the latest kid flick (again) significantly more pleasant.
