Have I ever mentioned that I love popcorn? Really, I love it in all forms… butter and salt like the movie theater, kettle corn with the whole sweet and salty thing, I’ve got recipes up on this here page for maple corn and spicy popcorn too. One recipe that I haven’t posted though is this one: straight forward traditional caramel corn. Yep, love that too. This recipe is actually very simple. Note the comment I have in there about popcorn *type*.
Ingredients
10 cups air-popped popcorn*
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Directions
Preheat the oven to 200F. Spread the popcorn out onto 2 large baking sheets. Take out any unpopped kernels or little pieces. Set aside.
Combine the sugar, corn syrup, butter, cream of tartar, and salt in a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat. Stir constantly and bring to a boil for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and quickly stir in the baking soda. Pour the caramel over the popcorn and stir gently until all the kernels are coated.
Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Allow to cool on the pan and break apart large clusters. Cover the popcorn tightly once cooled.
* Note: There are a number of types of popping corn, some better for covering with caramel than others, in my opinion. For example, there is “butterfly” style, which I think most people would recognize as the “movie theater” popping corn. This is sometimes also called “snowflake” popcorn. Another kind is called “mushroom” popcorn. This type is more compact and pops to a very uniform round shape. I think that the mushroom style is better for making caramel corn and kettle corn because it is less fragile and coats more evenly. While most popcorn like Orville Redenbacher’s, Pop Secret and Skinny Pop are the butterfly style, I specifically buy Just Poppin’ brand which is the mushroom style.
