Recipe: Caramel Popcorn

Probably one of the best gifts I ever received was this recipe for caramel popcorn from my friend, Elaine.

My family LOVES this!  In fact, my grandpa gets a re-stocking of it every time he comes to visit and my dad will eat a whole batch in one sitting.  Then there’s my kiddos and husband–I have hidden today’s batch in the laundry room and it still managed to be half eaten by the time I wrote this tonight!  It makes a great gift for all sorts of occasions, including Christmas.  I hope your family delights in this as much as mine.  And it is pretty simple.  Takes about 15 minutes to oven.

Elaine is the super creative, artsy, musician type.  I had to show you the original recipe card.  It makes me smile every time.

Ok, now for my recipe commentary (I always change recipes to make them my own) and photo gallery :o)

I had a few helpers today…

The popcorn:  (I use air popped to save on fat–never mind the 2 sticks of butter going in! :o)

At the point where you boil without stirring for 5 minutes is where I diverge.  I found that if you boil for 4 minutes, the end result is more of a toffee crunch coating rather than a smooth candy-like caramel coating.  That is my family’s preference.  The boiling process:

I have messed up this recipe a few times by forgetting to add the baking soda and vanilla when I take it off of the heat.  TIP ALERT:  In order to remember, I nestle those ingredients right in the popcorn (wish I had a pic of that). Here it is! (I made this recipe again today!)

And now for the magical pairing of caramel and popcorn!

Stir, then in the oven.

See that toffee crunch finish? Mmmm!

More recipes forthcoming….

Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below; I’d love to hear from you!  Then, subscribe to this blog! –Jen