Type | Snack food |
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Place of origin | United States |
Main ingredients | Cornmeal, flavoring |
Puffcorn or corn puffs are puffed or extruded corn snacks made with corn meal, which can be baked or fried.
Puffcorn belongs in the snack group products made with corn grits, rice, wheat, or other cereals. Puffcorn is often flavoured with cheese, caramel, oil, chili, onion, or garlic powder, and many other spices.[1] Types of puffcorn can vary in length, density, hardness, springiness, gumminess, chewiness, and level of redness and yellowness, especially when using different percentages of oat flour.[2] Some products sold as puffcorn are given the appearance of popcorn, although they are not made from whole grains as popcorn is.
Puffcorn is commonly known as a ready‐to‐eat functional breakfast cereal or an extruded functional snack.[2] Some puffcorn is made with oat flour, flaxseed and chia corn.[2] Due to the health benefits, there has been increased interest in developing functional food products containing chia.[3] Extrusion has been shown to be an effective method for incorporating other functional ingredients into food products.[4]
Manufacturers include Frito-Lay,[5] and Old Dutch Foods.[6]
Sweetened (Corn Pops, Reese's Puffs, etc.) and salty/seasoned (Kurkure, various cheese puffs, etc.) varieties also exist.