Food bites back: Caramel Corn!
Oh yeah... I forgot to say "Happy New Year" in my last post! LOL, when I get focused on cooking I don't remember what day it is!
Okay, so my husband and I were in sunny San Diego for Christmas and my wonderful sister-in-law had this caramel corn sitting in bowls with all the other assorted yummy holiday treats on her kitchen counter. Because I have braces, I typically try to avoid caramel anything so I kind of poo-pooed it and ate the fudge instead. ;-) And I didn't realize this caramel corn was HOMEMADE until I'd been there for 5 days! She asked me if I'd help her make it and being the avid home chef/cook that I am I thought why not? I wasn't going to eat any but I could enjoy the smell of caramel (one of the best things on earth!).
Let me tell you something, this stuff is CRACK. Way addicting. Beyond the normal caramel corn you get, even at the county/state fair or down at the local sweet shop. Making it yourself just adds that special something. And I mean it when I say it's crack. You and the family will eat the entire batch in one day. :-)
So here is the recipe and remember to thank me when your boyfriend proposes or your husband gives you flowers or a really big bauble as a gift 'just because.' My husband loves this stuff but I'm happy to say I don't have to make it to get any presents. He's one of those wonderful guys that surprises me with presents without warning. I know... I'm lucky. :-) So I went ahead and made him some caramel corn today!
Okay, here is the recipe. Remember to thank me. I'm keeping track of all of you. :-)
Homemade Caramel Corn
Ingredients
Cook your popcorn according to your favorite method. Put cooked popcorn into a very large bowl or stockpot for mixing with caramel.
Preheat your oven to 275 degrees F.
Line a large baking or cookie sheet (I like the industrial pans with low walls that double as sheet cake pans.) with foil.
Melt butter in a tall sauce pan (I'll explain this a little further down), add brown sugar, Karo syrup and salt. (Notice I didn't melt the butter separately in the picture - I seriously need to read my own directions!)
Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 5 minutes without stirring. (One of the reasons you want a taller sauce pan/stockpot.)
Remove from heat, add vanilla and baking soda. (Warning: your syrup may decide to look like lava and start to bubble up from the reaction to these two ingredients. I strongly recommend a tall saucepan especially for this reason.)
Immediately add to your popcorn and stir until mostly coated. Be sure not to be too rough with the popcorn so it doesn't break up.
Spread your coated caramel corn onto the lined baking sheet. Put in the middle rack of your oven. Bake for 1 hour, stirring the popcorn every 15 minutes to mix the caramel that has dripped to the bottom.
Turn onto foil on the counter. Let cool and break apart. Then proceed to eat and remember to thank me later. :-)
This popcorn keeps beautifully if you put them into Ziploc bags. Seriously make this stuff as gifts!!
Okay, so my husband and I were in sunny San Diego for Christmas and my wonderful sister-in-law had this caramel corn sitting in bowls with all the other assorted yummy holiday treats on her kitchen counter. Because I have braces, I typically try to avoid caramel anything so I kind of poo-pooed it and ate the fudge instead. ;-) And I didn't realize this caramel corn was HOMEMADE until I'd been there for 5 days! She asked me if I'd help her make it and being the avid home chef/cook that I am I thought why not? I wasn't going to eat any but I could enjoy the smell of caramel (one of the best things on earth!).
Let me tell you something, this stuff is CRACK. Way addicting. Beyond the normal caramel corn you get, even at the county/state fair or down at the local sweet shop. Making it yourself just adds that special something. And I mean it when I say it's crack. You and the family will eat the entire batch in one day. :-)
So here is the recipe and remember to thank me when your boyfriend proposes or your husband gives you flowers or a really big bauble as a gift 'just because.' My husband loves this stuff but I'm happy to say I don't have to make it to get any presents. He's one of those wonderful guys that surprises me with presents without warning. I know... I'm lucky. :-) So I went ahead and made him some caramel corn today!
Okay, here is the recipe. Remember to thank me. I'm keeping track of all of you. :-)
Homemade Caramel Corn
Ingredients
- 6 quarts of plain, cooked popcorn (My sister-in-law used an air popper and got the right amount with 1/2 cup of uncooked kernals. I did the stove top method and needed almost a full cup of it. Go figure!)
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1/2 cup light Karo syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cook your popcorn according to your favorite method. Put cooked popcorn into a very large bowl or stockpot for mixing with caramel.
Preheat your oven to 275 degrees F.
Line a large baking or cookie sheet (I like the industrial pans with low walls that double as sheet cake pans.) with foil.
Melt butter in a tall sauce pan (I'll explain this a little further down), add brown sugar, Karo syrup and salt. (Notice I didn't melt the butter separately in the picture - I seriously need to read my own directions!)
Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 5 minutes without stirring. (One of the reasons you want a taller sauce pan/stockpot.)
Remove from heat, add vanilla and baking soda. (Warning: your syrup may decide to look like lava and start to bubble up from the reaction to these two ingredients. I strongly recommend a tall saucepan especially for this reason.)
Immediately add to your popcorn and stir until mostly coated. Be sure not to be too rough with the popcorn so it doesn't break up.
Spread your coated caramel corn onto the lined baking sheet. Put in the middle rack of your oven. Bake for 1 hour, stirring the popcorn every 15 minutes to mix the caramel that has dripped to the bottom.
Turn onto foil on the counter. Let cool and break apart. Then proceed to eat and remember to thank me later. :-)
This popcorn keeps beautifully if you put them into Ziploc bags. Seriously make this stuff as gifts!!
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