Carmel Popcorn

Dia Minha · #1 10-01-2008, 10:20 AM

This one is for you M&M. Sorry it took so long.

1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla (Real vanilla extract is a must for a deep rich flavor.)

6 quarts popped popcorn

Melt butter; stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt.

Bring to a boil, stirring constatnly, than boil, without stirring for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in soda and vanilla. Gradually pour over corn, mix well. Turn into two large, shallow baking pans. Bake at 250 degrees F for 1 hour, stir every 15 minutes.

Remove from oven, cool completely. Break apart and store in tightly covered containers.

Dia's notes: I half all the ingredients, except the popcorn. This cuts down on the sugar and fat, but still gives you a nice sweet popcorn treat. Also I usually only boil mixture for 1-2 minutes. The longer you boil the thicker the mixture gets. Which makes it harder to coat the popcorn evenly. If I am giving this away or storing it I will bake it. However, if I'm making for my family to eat right away I don't bother. It makes it a little messier, because it is sticky, but you don't have to heat up your oven and house and of course you don't have to wait so long to eat it.
Enjoy!

Meticulous madness · #2 10-01-2008, 10:38 AM

YUM!

Can't wait to try it out. Thanks Dia!

Don't mean to be a dork...but how much is 6 quarts? Do you have a pre-popped measurement that you typically use? Like 1 cup, or 3/4 cup or something like that?

Dia Minha · #3 10-01-2008, 10:55 AM

Do you know what? I'm not even sure. I use three batches of my air-popped popcorn. That measures out to be about 1 cup.

I just looked it up and 1/2 cup unpopped is about 4 quarts popped. So I actually use closer to 8 quarts of popcorn and only half of the carmel.

Meticulous madness · #4 10-03-2008, 12:05 PM

K thanks!

natickgirl · #5 10-04-2008, 07:09 PM

Thanks for the recipe! I made it for my family and they loved it....even the one who says she "hates caramel." I sent it in for their school snacks, and all their friends wanted to trade them.

I halved the sauce, as recommended, and used about 8 cups of popcorn. It was plenty sweet. I think I might even use only 1/4 or 1/3 of the sauce next time--just enough to give it sweetness & flavor without being overpowering.

Dia Minha · #6 10-04-2008, 07:23 PM

Natick, Did you use 8 cups or 8 quarts? Your supposed to use quarts. 4 quarts popped equals 1/2 cup unpopped. So pop 3/4 cup of unpopped corn to get the six quarts needed for the recipe.

natickgirl · #7 10-04-2008, 10:49 PM

I used 2/3 cups premium unpopped corn--popped in two batches (which equals 1 c. regular corn, supposedly). Not sure how many quarts of popped corn that equals, but it filled my biggest bowl & two large baking sheets.

Dia Minha · #8 10-04-2008, 11:45 PM

That sounds about right.

Meticulous madness · #9 10-05-2008, 12:59 AM

So yeah...I went to the store for a new bag of pop corn and left with EVERYTHING, except that. Some days...SHEESE.

Meticulous madness · #10 10-05-2008, 02:04 PM

Heehee. THANKS a ton, DIA! You are awesome.

Meticulous madness · #11 10-07-2008, 09:48 PM

Made the popcorn today and it was a HUGE hit! Thanks, Dia. Unfortunately, though, it's what I ate for lunch.

Healthy, eh?

Even DH liked it, who claims he doesn't typically like caramel popcorn. He liked that it was crunchy (and not gooey-soft). It will be perfect for his lunches. I hadn't thought of that NG, so thanks for mentioning it in your post.

Have any of you tried the caramel popcorn in Valley Fair Mall? I can't remember the name of the shop, but it's by the west entrance/exit. Anyway, it's my mom's most favorite popcorn on earth. She will be ecstatic that this recipe tastes very similar (if not better). Mmmmmm.