Caramel Corn

I've been meaning to post this fantastic recipe for ages now! Prior to trying this recipe, I had a loathing for caramel corn. lol. Yes, it's true. The only experience I've had with caramel corn was from my childhood, when you'd get the stale kind from a large tin can. Remember those? They had painted santas on them and always contained a super disgusting array of sweet and salty popcorn. We'd get them from family and friends around the holidays. Ick! What a bad way to start off the holiday season.


I got this recipe from my dear friend, Colleen, who frequently inspires me in the kitchen. She is a domestic goddess in her own right and we often take on cooking adventures together. One day, she brought me a small batch of this caramel corn, whipped up fresh from her kitchen. Taking little interest in it, I set it aside and promptly forgot about it...until I was extremely hungry the next day and needed a snack to hold me over. Desperate times calls for desperate measures. And really, beggars can't be choosers. Thinking it would be exactly like those stale batches from my childhood, I took a small bite.

To my surprise, it was crunchy, salty, and utterly deeeeelicious! I felt like doing cartwheels. Yes, this recipe is just that good.


The recipe says to pop your own popcorn with kernels and everything. That was waaaay too intense for me. So I microwaved mine. The good ol' fashioned way of making a quick batch of popcorn. AKA the lazy way. Teehee.

Cover a large cookie sheet with tin foil and brush it lightly with oil. Set aside.

Now comes the fun part - making the caramel! Let a stick of butter melt in a heavy bottomed saucepan.

Now add brown sugar and corn syrup. Let it all melt together.


Then let it boil. Don't stir! Wait until it reaches 300F. This is super important. If the temperature doesn't get high enough, you will not get a hard, crunchy caramel.


It'll reach 300 degrees really quickly, so you have to watch it carefully. Once it does, add in baking soda and salt.

The baking soda will make it swell - like double in size. Then quickly, and I mean quickly, add in the peanuts and popcorn.

Fold it as fast as you can!!!!

The caramel will start to harden instantly and you'll have a hard time coating it if you wait too long.


Try and fold everything in as evenly as possible. Otherwise, you'll get huge lumps of hardened caramel without popcorn... and popcorn without any caramel on it. Which would be super sad.

Get it all nice & evenly coated!

Again, quickly spread the popcorn into a single, thin layer on your cookie sheet. You want to do this fast too, because the caramel will harden quickly and it'll clump into a ball if you don't spread it out in time. Basically, the mixing and the spreading should take less than a minute.

You'll freak out because your beautiful pan will be caked with hardened caramel in less than 30 seconds. And you won't be able to chisel it off with anything. Don't worry! Soak it in water for an hour and when you come back, it'll be completely dissolved and you'll have a perfectly clean pan again!

See? Ta-da!! Good as new!

Let it sit and cool. It'll become completely firm and crunchy. The caramel dries very fast. Wait like 5-10 minutes. Then comes the fun part - break it up into smaller pieces!

I like to store it by lining a covered pan with parchment paper. Any kind of air-tight container will work. It'll still be crunchy (not stale!) the next day.

I just LOVE this recipe. It's super easy to make - takes about 15 minutes and it makes a ton! I've made it several times now and it's always been a huge hit at parties! Everyone always goes crazy over it and asks me for the recipe. If you've never had fresh, homemade caramel corn, you're in for a treat! Give it a try - it'll soon be a favorite among your family and friends too!


Click HERE for the recipe.