Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed until they are smooth, about 1 minute.

Add the vanilla and egg to the butter mixture and mix on medium speed until they are fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cheddar cheese powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two batches to the butter mixture, and mix until the ingredients are just combined, about 1 minute.

Roughly chop the caramel popcorn and add to the cookie dough. Using a rubber spatula, fold the popcorn pieces into the cookie dough.

With a standard ice cream scoop, form 12 even balls of dough.

Place filled dough balls about 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the baking sheet.

Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the cookies are browned and caramelized along the edges and the centres are just set. If you would like your cookies to have the crinkled edges, give the pan a few taps on the oven rack before you take them out of the oven.

Press a few additional pieces of caramel popcorn onto each cookie right when they come out of the oven. If you place the popcorn pieces on top of the dough balls before baking, the popcorn will burn by the time the cookies are baked.

Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

After the cookies have cooled, dust cheddar cheese powder on each cookie.