Caramel Popcorn

Despite all the baking and cooking I do, I have never ventured into candy making. It always seemed a little daunting, but so did working with yeast. Since I've gotten over that fear, I thought it was time to get over the fear of candy making. Of course, caramel popcorn isn't really candy making, but it's something. Since this did turn out well, I'll definitely have to experiment with hard candy and caramel candies too.

I definitely went with the easy caramel recipe, but it tastes just as great. I know there's a way to make caramel by cooking heavy cream and sugar and stirring constantly, but I found another way to make it by boiling brown sugar and butter for just five minutes. You don't even touch it during those five minutes, so how much easier can it get? The most difficult part of this for me was making sure the popcorn was evenly coated with the caramel. I used the biggest bowl that I had, but pieces of popcorn still went flying everywhere. Baking the popcorn afterwards made breaking it apart more manageable.



Try this recipe! It's so easy to make. I took it to the cooking group I talked about in the previous post and it was a big hit, so I'm sure it'll be a hit at the next gathering you take it to. You could also opt to make popcorn balls instead for better snacking purposes. Enjoy!

Caramel Popcorn
From Baked Bree

8 cups popped popcorn (well salted)
3/4 cup brown sugar
6 tbsp butter
3 tbsp corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda

Add brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup to a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and let boil for 5 minutes. Do not stir. Take the mixture off of the heat and add the vanilla and baking soda.

Pour the caramel over the popped popcorn. Toss until all of the popcorn is coated.

Spread the popcorn out on a parchment or foil lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 200 degree oven for 10 minutes.