The holidays are about giving, eating, loving, and eating. Why not make something to eat and then give it away? There's still time for all of you panicked gift givers! What about some caramel popcorn? Yum.
My Dad loves caramel popcorn, especially the brand Cracker Jack®. This is a take on that all time favorite (sans the toy). I added Spanish peanuts to make it authentic, but you could add skinless peanuts or another nut if you desire. (Of course you can leave nuts out all together)
This recipe is quick and easy, it takes less than 15 minutes to pull altogether. Because everything happens so fast, make sure that you have all your ingredients out and your baking sheets ready. I made the mistake of trying to mix the popcorn before putting it on the sheets to cool. Do not do this. The caramel will just stick to the bowl. Divide your popcorn between the two baking sheets before you cook the caramel, so you can move quickly once the caramel is done cooking.
I cheated and didn’t pop the popcorn. I am not the best at making stovetop popcorn. I always burn it. My brother can make great popcorn, but like rice, I just can’t cook it. So, I bought already popped popcorn. It was on sale, organic and wasn’t flavoured. Perfect! It saved me probably an hour of burning popcorn repeatedly.
If you are giving this as a gift, buy a tin or some gift bags to present your popcorn in a nice way. Enjoy!
Caramel Popcorn
12 cups popcorn
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
6oz Spanish or regular peanuts
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
Get out all your ingredients and lay out two baking sheets lined with silpats, parchment or wax paper. Silpats works best since nothing will stick to them.
Divide popcorn and nuts between the two baking sheets.
Put brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, vanilla and salt into a large saucepan.
Bring mixture to a boil, stirring to incorporate ingredients.
Boil for 5 minutes, stirring a couple of times.
Off heat stir baking soda into the caramel.
Working quickly, pour caramel over popcorn evenly and mix popcorn into syrup.
Let the popcorn cool and then pack in an airtight container.
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