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bowl of caramel corn on a wood cutting board with caramel corn on strewn around the bowl

Caramel Corn

Sheila
Homemade caramel corn is made with two basic ingredients: butter and brown sugar. It comes out of the oven absolutely perfect every time. It makes the perfect homemade gift or sweet treat for a party.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Appetizer, homemade gift, Snack, sweets, treats
Cuisine American
Servings 12 cups
Calories 931 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 3 quart sauce pan
  • air popcorn popper
  • ` large roasting pan

Ingredients
  

  • 12 cups popped popcorn NOT microwave, use air popper or pop over stovetop.
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup corn syrup
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda

Instructions
 

Preheat oven to 250°

  • Pop popcorn and place in a roasting pan or on two baking sheets. You will need space to mix with caramel
  • In a sauce pan melt butter, add brown sugar, salt, karo syrup, cook over medium heat until mixture because smooth and starts to boil. Let boil for 3 minutes, stirring continuously. If you have a candy thermometer check the temperature of the caramel and it should be 230- 240. I actually try to never let the temperature get past 230.
  • Remove from heat, add baking soda give it a good whisk, mixture will react and start to foam up, this is good. Stir for 1 minute making sure baking soda has fully dissolved.
  • Drizzle caramel over popcorn. With a spatula, fold caramel into popcorn gently. Place in oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, give caramel corn another fold, bringing the caramel up from the bottom of the pan onto the popcorn. Return to oven and bake for another 15 minutes. Repeat one more time for a total of 45 minutes in the oven. Remove and dump caramel corn onto parchment paper. Let cool. Break up any large pieces.

Notes

When doubling the recipe, if you are spreading the caramel corn out in an even layer on baking sheets you can keep the baking time the same.  If you are piling it up in a large roasting pan, add an additional 10 minutes of baking time, and stirring to your process. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupCalories: 931kcalCarbohydrates: 168gProtein: 18gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 340mgPotassium: 498mgFiber: 21gSugar: 48gCalcium: 41mgIron: 5mg
Keyword browned butter, caramel, from scratch, homemade, popcorn
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