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Caramel Popcorn

This is a modification of a recipe I found on allrecipes.com for My Amish Friend's Caramel Corn.

Stacey's Caramel Popcorn Ingredients:
5-6 quarts plain popped popcorn, organic
2 tbs sunflower oil, organic (for popping)
1-2 tsp salt

2 cups dry roasted almonds, local (optional)
1 cup dark brown sugar, organic, loose and unpacked
1 cup white sugar, organic
1/3 cup light corn syrup, organic
6 tbs butter, organic
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tsp vanilla bean paste

First I popped the popcorn in my Whirley-Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper (which I love for popping popcorn). It took 2 batches to make all the popcorn and I used 1 tablespoon of oil for each batch. Probably 1/3-1/2c of kernels for each round.  Just enough so that 80-90% of the bottom of the pot is covered with kernels with no overlap. Overfilling is bad.

Then I preheated the oven to 275F and spread the popcorn and the nuts in a jelly roll pan and a 9x13 metal cake pan lined with foil.  I really wish I had a roasting pan.  It would have been awesome. Instead I fought to not make a giant mess when I had to stir in the caramel. :)

Next, I put the sugars, corn syrup, butter and vanilla paste in a pot and cooked it until it was boiling and I didn't see anymore sugar granules.  I removed it from heat and then added the baking soda and stirred to combine.  Then I poured half of the mixture over each portion of popcorn and stirred as well as I could with a heat-safe rubber spatula. 

I put both trays in the oven and then stirred them every 10-15 minutes for about 35 minutes so that they got an even coat.  Then I took them out of the oven and let them cool. 


My friends really liked it.  "I want the recipe!" demanded my friend Helen.  So, here. :) 

Happy New Year!

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Comments

  1. sharockJanuary 1, 2012 at 2:06 PM

    nom nom. another friend enjoying this. happy new year!

    ReplyDelete

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