Friday, December 16, 2011

Soft Caramel Popcorn



This year I decided to try making a soft caramel corn and this recipe turned out great.  I found this recipe at www.thegirlwhoateeverything.com.  You can see a direct link to her blog post HERE.  She uses microwave popcorn, but I used my air popper to pop about 3 batches of popcorn. 

3 batches air-popped popcorn
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (I like to use salted butter since the rest of the popcorn is so sweet)
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Pop popcorn and make sure you get rid of any unpopped kernels. This seems like a lot of popcorn but trust me it will get eaten! Place popcorn in a large bowl...larger than you think you will need.

In a large saucepan melt together the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Bring mixture to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce to medium heat and add the can of sweetened condensed milk. With the rubber spatula, stir constantly for 5 minutes scraping the sides and especially the bottom of the pan to prevent any burning. The longer you cook it the firmer the caramel will be. I don't want it to be too soggy so I stir for at least 5 minutes.

Pour caramel over popcorn and stir until coated. This will take a lot of stirring to get it all incorporated. It's great warm or at room temperature. Feel free to add in M&Ms, nuts, or drizzle it with chocolate. I like it plain and classic. Enjoy!