Caramel Candy Corn

What would you do if you were perusing the Internets and you came across this picture on your journey?

Hopefully you said you would start drooling. That's what I did. Then I read how easy it was to make it AND realized we had every single thing needed to make our own version of Caramel Candy Popcorn, so we did. It seemed like the perfect snack during a blizzardy day in April.

 

First, you need popcorn. That's obvious. But the type of popcorn you use is up to you. The original recipe calls for fresh popped popcorn. The only popcorn seeds we have are baby rice and I didn't think those little delightful morsels could stand up to the thick caramel sauce. I opted to use microwave popcorn. I buy the mini bags of unbuttered, boring, plain popcorn. It took two mini bags to get the 8ish cups needed. You use whatever your little heart desires. It is your caramel corn after all.

Line a big roasting pan with a sheet of parchment and dump your popcorn onto it.

To start, add some butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup into a large pot. You do not want to use a pot that is too small. Caramel gets all bubbly and is really hot and sticky, so you want to make sure there is ample room for movement.

While you are waiting for your butter to melt and start mingling with the brown sugar and corn syrup, mix some vanilla, salt, and baking soda in a little dish.  Just set that little guy aside for a second.

 

Hi, there. My name is Stacy. Nice to meet you caramel. Aren't you a good looking bubbly pot of sticky happiness? Come here often?

Sorry. We will get a room.

Alright. So once your caramel sauce starts doing this, remove it form the heat. Add your vanilla mixture and stir it up really well.

Then pour it over you popcorn. Carefully stir it all around, making sure you cover all those kernels. If you wanted, this could be your caramel corn. You could just cook it as directed and have a simply delicious clump of caramel corn. If nuts are your thing, you could stir some peanuts in at this point. It's yours. All yours. So you can do whatever you like with it.

I plan on adding some Easter M&M's and mini peanut butter cups to the top of my caramel corn. I'm kind of a bad ass like that. Hey, they can say that on T.V. so I figure I can throw it in, just this one time. That's how bad ass I am. Sorry, that was twice.

OK. So, we are going to cook this at 250 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes and it needs to be stirred every 10 minutes.

After your 40 minutes have passed, dump it out onto a sheet of parchment paper. I loosely formed my glob into a rectangle just so it would be easier to top.

At this point, I melted some white chocolate chips. To do that, put them in a microwave safe bowl. Zap 'em for 30 seconds. Remove and stir. Put it back in for 30 more seconds. Take it out and stir again. Stir, stir, stir. Mine only took two 30 seconds zaps. It doesn't seem like it at first, but the heat in the chips with melt them without burning them. Do not over microwave. If they start to clump, start over. They are past the point of no return.

Sprinkle your candies on top. Then, using a regular old spoon, drizzle the melted chocolate over the top. If you really want to go the extra mile, you could add some sprinkles. I did. But that's because I am bad ass.

Let it all sit for a little bit for the caramel to cool down and set a bit before you start breaking off chunks. I should say, try to let it sit for a bit. I did not. I dove right in. It was chewy but oh so good.

 

Oops. There's a glob of white chocolate. I call that piece.

 

Melted mini peanut butter cups, almost melted M&M's, drizzled white chocolate, and sprinkles on top of a bed of caramel corn. Holla.

Alright. Just like I was saying earlier, you could change this to fit your own caramel corn dreams. You can put whatever kind of candy you wish on the top. Chunks of toffee? Sure. Reese's Pieces? Do it. Mini chocolate chips? Yes, please. I mean, really. You can add nothing or anything.

I really doubt you can resist this one. I really did not know it was so easy to make caramel corn. For realz. I thought it was a big deal. This wasn't even close to a big deal. I know you want to so here are the numbers for you:

Caramel Candy Corn

Ingredients

8-10 cups of popped popcorn

1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
½ cup corn syrup
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda

1 cup M&M’s
1 cup white chocolate chips
sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

Line a roasting pan with a sheet of parchment. Spread your popcorn in it and set aside.

In a big pot, melt butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup over medium heat. While you are waiting, mix vanilla, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl. Once your caramel mixture is bubbling, remove it from the heat and add the vanilla mixture. Stir.

Pour the caramel mixture over the popcorn and stir until all the kernels of popcorn are covered.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Dump the caramel corn onto a fresh sheet of parchment. Sprinkle with M&M's and other candies. Drizzle with melted white chocolate. Add sprinkles.

If you want to check out where I got the recipe from, check it out at:
http://www.heatherchristo.com/cooks/2011/04/17/candied-popcorn-for-easter/