How to Make Caramel Popcorn

Whether you need a late night snack, extra tidbits for a party spread or some munchies for your next movie night, a bowl of crispy and yummy caramel popcorn serves the cravings for both salty and sweet flavors. A simple coating of butter, brown sugar and vanilla can turn plain, boring popcorn into a deluxe treat. One of my favorite treats, caramel popcorn has become popular all across the world. With holidays and festivals around the corner, if you are planning to do something different this time, caramel popcorn can be a unique and delectable treat for family and friends. Making caramel popcorn at home may sound like an intimidating task for most people, however, following this recipe at home will not only make this task easy but fun too.

Caramel Popcorn

Things Required

• Small stock pot
• Wooden spoon
• Silicone spatula
• Candy thermometer
• Cookie sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper
• Measuring cups
• Large bowl
• 2 small bowls

Ingredients

• ½ cup of butter
• ½ cup of light corn syrup
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 1 bag light microwave popcorn

Directions

Take the stock pot and add brown sugar, butter and light corn syrup. Heat over medium heat and stir continuously with the wooden spoon until the mixture comes to a boil. Insert the candy thermometer to check if the mixture has reached hard ball stage i.e., when the thermometer shows a reading of 250 °F. In case you don't have a candy thermometer, drop a bit of sugar mixture into a cup of cold water. If the caramel instantly hardens, it is probably the right temperature. But if the caramel is still soft to touch when you take it out from the water, you need to cook the mixture a bit more. Now as soon as the sugar mixture comes to a boil and reaches the hard ball stage, turn off the heat. While stirring constantly, put vanilla in it but be careful as it may sizzle and hence, do not lean over the pot. When the mixture settles down, add the baking soda. Stir well as it will start foaming and raising up. Now add popcorn and mix well until each popcorn is coated properly with the hot caramel mixture. Stir constantly as it will become difficult to coat the popcorn if the mixture cools down. Once all the popcorn is coated, spoon the caramel popcorn onto the prepared cookie sheet. With the help of spatula, spread it evenly all over the sheet. Now, put the cookie sheet in a preheated oven at 250 °F for half an hour or so. With the spatula, stir the caramel popcorn over the sheet after every 10 minutes. This will prevent drying of the popcorn and at the same time will also avoid the popcorn to stick each other and form a thick blob. Now allow it to cool down and to maintain its freshness and crispness, store the caramel popcorn in an air tight container.

I hope after reading this article you will have a fair idea of making caramel popcorn. This was just a basic recipe for caramel popcorn that can be easily prepared at home. You can also add more flavors to your caramel popcorn recipe by experimenting with a variety of ingredients like chocolate, nuts and dried fruits. Since, most ingredients are readily available, try making caramel popcorn at home and surprise your loved ones. Enjoy!