Caramel Corn

I decided that I wanted to work on finding the best caramel corn.  Well, I made a batch on Super Bowl Sunday, and it was so good!  I knew that it was the one.  I had looked around for some recipes and saw this one in a few places.  The only differences were the amount of popcorn they called for.

I made another batch to give as valentine gifts.  That time I paid close attention to the amount of popcorn I used so that it would still be caramely but not overly caramely.

I decided that 12 (heaping) cups of popped popcorn was just right.  I would suggest to just pop 1 cup of kernels.  You will have a little left over, but that is ok.  Also, I prefer honey over corn syrup anytime.  The original recipe calls for corn syrup, but I switched it out for honey... yummy!

Caramel Corn

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup or honey
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
about 12 cups popped popcorn

Combine the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup/honey, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat.  Let mixture come to a boil, stirring constantly, for 5 minuets.
Stir in vanilla and baking soda.  Caution - it should bubble up some.
Pour immediately over the popped popcorn.
Mix to coat evenly.
Pour into 2 large pans.  I did just one big roasting pan.
Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

After baking, I spread the caramel corn onto a big piece of parchment paper.  That prevented it from getting all clumped together.

This was my valentine gift for some friends.

 

Enjoy!!