Homemade Caramel Corn

Holy Hannah, this is my new favourite thing to make. Not only is it absolutely delicious, it makes a TON of snack food, and it stores really well, so you can pack it up into single servings for when you have a sweets craving. Also? It's incredibly easy to make! You kind of feel like a rock star when you give it to people to try and they're all "Whoa, you made this?" and you can be all "Yea, no big deal, I'm kind of a professional" (For this reason, it makes a GREAT gift)

Homemade Caramel Corn

adapted from Baked Perfection

Ingredients:

For the Popcorn

1 1/2 cups unpopped popcorn kernels

6 tbsp vegetable oil 

2 tbsp salt

Caramel Coating:

1 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp vanilla

Method:

To make the popcorn:

Spray a generous amount of cooking spray in a turkey roasting pan.

Coat the bottom of a large pot with 3 tbsp of vegetable oil. There should be complete coverage at the bottom. Put on medium heat and toss 3 kernels into the pot and cover. When you hear the kernels pop, the oil is ready. Remove pot from heat. Put 3/4 cup of kernels into the pot along with 1tbsp of salt and shake the pot for 10 second. Turn the lid in slightly to let steam escape. Return to heat and continue moving the pot over the element. You will hear kernels start to pop. Continue to move over hear until the popping noise slows & remove from heat. Put popcorn into the turkey roasting pan. Repeat with the remaining kernels and put into the roasting pan. 

Set oven to 250 degrees F.

To make the Caramel Coating:

In a pot on medium heat, combine the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Stir continuously with a spatula, until mixture begins to boil. Lower heat a touch, and continue to boil for 5 minutes, stiring the whole time. After the 5 minutes, remove from heat and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. When you add the baking soda, the mixture will bubble up, and that's ok! 

Next, pour the caramel mixture over top of the popcorn and mix together with a spatula sprayed with cooking spray, until popcorn is evenly covered. Pop into the preheated oven and bake for 45 mins, taking the pan out every 15 minutes to stir with a well coated spatula. 

When 45 minutes is up, remove from oven and give popcorn another stir. Leave to cool in pan for at least an hour (overnight is preferable). Make sure that the popcorn is completely cooled before you store it. I put mine in leftover jars, but you could also store in Ziploc bags!

Enjoy!

 
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest too!