Caramel Corn
Are you Looking for the perfect snack for your next gathering or a delicious treat for your holiday exchange? I have you covered – homemade caramel corn.
A delicious balance of sweet and salty, this caramel corn is ridiculously easy to make, keeps well for several days (if it lasts that long!), and feeds a crowd. I’ll keep this post short so you can go make a batch stat. Enjoy!
What is your favorite holiday treat? Let me know below!
Paula’s Notes:
- I use my air popper to prepare the popcorn. You need about 20-22 cups of popcorn total, which is about 1 cup of kernels (popped in 2 batches in the air popper). I would assume you could also buy pre-popped popcorn, pop it on the stove, or use microwave popcorn, but I have not used these methods myself.
- When I make the caramel topping I keep the popcorn in a large roasting pan in the oven. This keeps the popcorn warm and makes mixing the caramel easy.
Caramel Corn
Yields: ~20-22 cups
Total Time: ~ 1 hr 15 min (1 hour inactive cook time)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
- Can substitute margarine for vegan option
- 2 cups brown sugar – packed
- 1/2 cup corn syrup (spray your measuring cup with cooking spray before measuring, it prevents the syrup from sticking)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 20-22 cups popped popcorn
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
- Spray a large roasting pan with cooking spray.
- Put popped popcorn into roasting pan and store in the oven while you make caramel sauce.
- In a large sauce pan over medium heat combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt.
- Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Once mixture reaches a bubble, continue boiling for four minute without stirring.
- After four minutes, remove caramel from heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda until smooth. Mixture will bubble quickly.
- Stream caramel mixture over warm popcorn, stirring to combine. Gently stir popcorn until all kernels are covered with caramel.
- Return popcorn to oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove popcorn and stir. Repeat this step an additional three times for a total of one hour in the oven.
- **Note – If your oven runs hot, your last 15 minutes in the oven may need to be shortened to 10. I usually remove mine after 10-11.
- Transfer popcorn to a cookie sheet and allow to cool completely. Once cool, break up any large clumps and enjoy!
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.