I have prepared this dish a few times before but never really shared it with you.
You see, there are a lot of similar recipes online, and I thought, who would want to see another recipe for caramel popcorn? Not only that, but I’ve also been posting too many sweet recipes lately.
The first time I made caramel popcorn I cooked the caramel for too long, added too much baking soda at the end, and left it in the hot pot instead of pouring right away into the popcorn. Refusing to accept that I had been defeated by cooking caramel, I decided to eat the mess I had created. Alas, the taste was not very good. In fact that burnt and almost bitter taste lingered in my mouth for a long, long time.
After remembering that incident, I realized I should share this recipe with you so you won’t follow in my footsteps and make the same mistakes I made.
And before you walk away and tell yourself that you’d rather buy caramel popcorn than make it, let me tell you that this is the easiest thing to make. It only takes 30 minutes from start to finish. And homemade is always better than store bought! Enjoy!
Caramel Popcorn with Peanuts
Ingredients:
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 14 cups popped popcorn
- 1 1/2 cup unsalted peanuts
- 1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup light corn syrup
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Preheat oven to 250°F. Lightly spray two rimmed baking sheets with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix popcorn and peanuts, set aside.
Mix the butter, sugar, corn syrup and salt in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until butter has melted. Stirring to combine. Bring mixture to a boil but without stirring. Continue to cook about 5 minutes. When candy thermometer reaches 248°F remove from heat; and real quick stir in baking soda.
Add caramel to popcorn and peanuts mixture and work as quickly as you can. Be careful with the hot caramel. Stir to coat. Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheets and spread evenly. Bake for 15 minutes, stirring halfway. Remove from oven and let the caramel popcorn set until cooled. Store in a covered container at room temperature.
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food
Makes 14 cups
