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Caramel Popcorn
This old-fashioned popcorn candy is made with an easy homemade caramel sauce and baked in the oven for crunch. No thermometer needed!
YIELD 10 -12 cups
Ingredients
- 10-12 cups air-popped popcorn*
- ½ cup (1 stick or 115g) butter
- 1 cup (200g / 7 oz.) dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- Pinch of salt (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 200F/95C degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
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Place popcorn in a large bowl. Set aside. In a medium saucepan on medium heat, bring butter, sugar, honey, and salt to a boil. Let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes, whisking occasionally. Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately add vanilla extract and baking soda (be careful, the mixture will foam) and stir. Pour the caramel over the popcorn and toss until evenly coated. Spread popcorn evenly over prepared baking sheets. Bake for 1 hour, stirring the mixture every 20 minutes (twice total) to prevent burning. Cool completely on a wire rack. Once fully cooled, break up any popcorn that is stuck together (or, if preferred, break into clusters). Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Recipe Notes
*You can use 2 store-bought bags of microwave popcorn (natural taste with no added butter) or the following trick: put 3 tablespoons of popcorn kernels in a brown paper lunch bag and fold the top twice to seal tightly. Microwave on high for about 1 minute and 30-45 seconds. This method yields 5 cups, so you’ll need to repeat it for this recipe.